The first NASCAR race on NBCSN sank double-digits compared to last year on TNT.
NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Kentucky drew 3.2 million viewers on NBCSN Saturday night, down 10% from last year (3.6M) and down 19% from 2013 (4.0M), both on TNT, and the smallest audience in the history of the race (dates back to 2011).
The race ranks as the second-least watched of the season on any network, ahead of only rain-delayed coverage from Kansas on Fox Sports 1 (2.5M). Excluding delayed and postponed races, it ranks as the least-watched Sprint Cup telecast in at least eight years — and likely much longer than that.
All seven Sprint Cup races on NBCSN and FS1 this season have declined double-digits from last year’s comparable races, which aired on FOX and TNT.
Though low for NASCAR, Sunday’s race did quite well for NBCSN. Only Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Final drew a larger audience on the network this year (4.0M for each). Prior to Sunday, its top motorsports audience was a mere 642,000 viewers for a 2011 IndyCar race.
(Sat. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
