A year of declines for NASCAR ended with a double-digit drop in the overnights.
Sunday’s Ford 400, in which Jimmie Johnson clinched his 4th straight Sprint Cup title, drew a 3.2 overnight rating on ABC — down 11% from a 3.6 last year, down 16% from a 3.8 in ’07, and the lowest overnight for the race since 2000.
Overnight ratings for the race have declined every single year since ’04, with double-digit declines in 4 of the past 5 years. Since the 2004 race — the final race of the inaugural Chase for the Cup — overnight ratings for the Ford 400 have dropped 43% (5.6 to 3.2).
On a positive note, the 3.2 overnight is the second-highest of the season for a NASCAR race on ABC, behind only a 3.8 for the Amp Energy 500.
Overnight ratings for the Ford 400 since ’99
(Sports Business Daily)
