Lather, rinse, repeat: NASCAR ratings are down again.
NASCAR Cup Series racing from Chicagoland, the first race of the playoffs (nee Chase For the Cup), had a 1.4 rating and 2.3 million viewers on NBCSN Sunday — down 13% in ratings and 14% in viewership from last year (1.6, 2.7M) and down 26% and 28% respectively from 2015 (1.9, 3.2M).
Excluding rainouts, Martin Truex Jr.‘s win ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Cup Series race at Chicagoland (dates back to 2001) and the lowest rated and least-watched playoff race at any track (dates back to 2004).
The 1.4 is also the second-lowest for any Cup Series race since at least 2000, ahead of only a 1.2 for Richmond the previous week.
Ratings and viewership have now declined for the Chicagoland race each year since 2005, when it had a 5.7 and 9.0 million on FOX. As recently as a decade ago, the race had a 4.0 and 6.4 million on TNT. Keep in mind it did not face the NFL in those years. Three years ago, it had a 2.3 and 3.7 million on ESPN — figures that were historically low at the time but would now constitute a strong performance.
A whopping 22 of 26 Cup Series races this season have posted a decline in ratings and viewership. Chicagoland was the 21st of those races to at least tie an all-time or decade-plus ratings low, and the 19th to do so in viewership.
Keep in mind that last year’s NASCAR ratings were cause for concern, even garnering front-page attention on The Wall Street Journal prior to the start of this season.
[Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 9.20]
