For the third straight year, NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 earned its lowest overnight on FOX.
NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Charlotte earned a 3.2 overnight rating on FOX Sunday evening, down 11% from last year (3.6), down 18% from 2014 (3.9) and the lowest overnight for the race since moving to FOX in 2001 — including rainouts. The race has now set or tied a multi-year low in five of the past seven seasons and each of the past three.
Overnight ratings have now declined for all-but-three Sprint Cup races this year, with seven of the 13 down by double-digits and six hitting a multi-year low.
The 3.2 overnight is not just low by Charlotte standards, tying the second-lowest overnight for any Sunday Sprint Cup race on FOX. This season has produced the three lowest Sunday overnights, with Bristol also earning a 3.2 and Richmond setting the low bar at 2.9.
For the holiday weekend, the Coca-Cola 600 ranked third behind the Indianapolis 500 on ABC (4.1) and Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference Finals on TNT (11.2), but ahead of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on NBC (2.7). While the Indy 500 usually earns a higher overnight than the Coca-Cola 600, with NASCAR taking top honors in the final nationals, this year’s percentage gap between the events was the largest since 2005 — making a reversal in the final tally unlikely.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
