Another week, another low for NASCAR.
NASCAR Cup Series racing from Fontana (CA) pulled a 3.2 final rating and 5.2 million viewers on FOX Sunday afternoon, down 20% in ratings and 24% in viewership from last year (4.0, 6.8M), down 26% and 29% respectively from 2015 (4.3, 7.3M) and the lowest rated edition of the race since at least 1998 (ratings prior to 1999 were not available). The previous low was a 3.8 for rain-delayed coverage in 2012.
Kyle Larson‘s win also ranks as the least-watched Cup Series race from Fontana since at least 2001.
By most standards, a 3.2 rating would be an excellent number opposite the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. Go back three years, however, and NASCAR posted a 4.2 rating on Elite Eight Sunday (at Martinsville). Six years ago, the rating was a 4.6 (at Fontana). Nine years ago, NASCAR actually beat an Elite Eight game head-to-head, with Martinsville (5.3) edging Memphis-Texas on CBS (5.1).
Dating back to 1999, only one Cup Series race has had a lower rating opposite the NCAA Tournament — Martinsville on Fox Sports 1 two years ago (2.4).
Overall, Sunday’s race delivered the fourth-lowest Cup Series rating ever on the FOX broadcast network (dates back to 2001), with the past two races ranking among the bottom five.
Since the Daytona 500 broke even in ratings and posted a modest increase in viewership, the past for Cup Series races have hit multi-year lows in ratings and viewership. Three of those races have hit at least a 10-year low in both measures, with Las Vegas and Phoenix both posting their lowest ratings ever.
Despite the historically low numbers, NASCAR was once again the top non-NCAA sporting event of the weekend, cruising past second-place coverage of the PGA-WGC Match Play (1.5, 2.3M).
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 3.28)
