Final ratings for NASCAR’s spring Talladega race were the lowest in eighteen years.
NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Talladega drew a 4.0 final rating and 6.3 million viewers on FOX Sunday afternoon, down 9% in ratings and viewership from last year (4.4, 6.9M) and down 13% and 14%, respectively, from 2013 (4.6, 7.3M). The 4.0 rating is the lowest for the spring Talladega race since 1997, the last time it aired on cable (3.0*).
This is the third straight year ratings have been the lowest since 1997 and the fourth straight in which the race has had a year-over-year decline. Since hitting the 7.6 mark a decade ago, ratings have declined by 47%.
Even rainout coverage in 2006 had a higher rating (4.4).
The last four non-rained out races on FOX — Phoenix, Fontana, Texas and Talladega — have each had declines in ratings compared to last year. Three of the four have had declines in viewership. That comes after the first five races of the season each had year-over-year gains.
Despite the lower numbers, NASCAR on FOX was the top sporting event of the weekend outside of the Kentucky Derby. It easily topped ABC’s concurrent NBA doubleheader of Wizards/Hawks (2.1, 3.0M) and Grizzlies/Warriors (3.0, 4.7M).
* The 1997 rating is based on 2.9 million households in a Nielsen universe of 97 million homes.
(Sun. numbers via Sports Business Daily; 1997 numbers from The Auto Channel)
