For the second straight week, FOX earned one of its lowest ever NASCAR ratings.
NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Bristol (TN) earned a 3.4 final rating and 5.5 million viewers on FOX last Sunday afternoon, down 26% in ratings and 27% in viewership from 2013, the last time the race was run as scheduled (4.6, 7.5M).
Both last year and in 2014, FOX aired only brief snippets of the race due to extensive rain delays. The network drew a 3.3 and 5.1 million for less than 15 minutes of racing last year, and a 4.5 and 7.3 million for 45 minutes of coverage in 2014.
Excluding rainouts, the 3.4 rating is the lowest for the spring Bristol race since at least 1998 — falling below the previous mark of 3.7 on ESPN in 2000. As recently as a decade ago, the race had a 6.2 rating and 9.9 million viewers.
The 3.4 rating is also the lowest ever for a regularly scheduled Sunday race on FOX, falling below the previous mark of 3.5 for Dover in 2014. It ranks as the network’s fourth-lowest Sprint Cup rating regardless of day.
Despite the lower numbers, NASCAR on FOX was still the most-watched sports broadcast of the weekend — edging ABC’s Pistons/Cavaliers NBA playoff game (5.4M).
Lowest NASCAR Sprint Cup Ratings Ever on FOX
Saturday night races in bold
| Rating | Frequency | Race |
|---|---|---|
| 2.7 | Once | 2016 Texas |
| 2.9 | Once | 2015 Texas |
| 3.3 | Once | 2014 Richmond |
| 3.4 | Once | 2016 Bristol |
| 3.5 | Twice | 2014 Kansas, 2014 Dover |
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily)
