It was likely due more to the schedule than to Chase Elliott‘s first career win, but NASCAR ratings increased for just the third time all season.
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Watkins Glen 355 had a 2.3 rating and 3.67 million viewers on the NBC broadcast network, up 15% in ratings and 13% in viewership from last year on NBCSN (2.0, 3.25M) and flat and down 4% from 2016, when the race aired on USA Network opposite the Olympic Games (2.3, 3.83M).
Elliott’s win was just the third Cup Series race all season to post an increase, joining Michigan in June and Chicagoland last month, though all three increases can be attributed to a scheduling change. Watkins Glen and Michigan both moved up from cable to broadcast, while Chicagoland moved from September (opposite the NFL) to July.
Watkins Glen was the tenth Cup Series race in the current television deal to move from cable to broadcast television. Nine of those ten have posted increases.
On a competitive sports weekend that included Yankees-Red Sox and Tiger Woods, NASCAR was the most-watched sporting event on any network. It edged the second-place final round of the Bridgestone Invitational head-to-head (2.3, 3.45M).
Despite the gains, it should be noted that Sunday’s audience was the second-smallest for the race since at least 2001. As recently as four years ago on ESPN, the race had a 3.1 and 4.94 million — though that was inflated by breaking news involving Tony Stewart in the hours before. The last time the race aired on broadcast, 2006 on NBC, it had a 4.6 and 7.03 million.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 8.7]
