NASCAR Bristol ratings were the lowest in at least 20 years.
Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series Bristol Night Race earned a 1.4 rating and 2.33 million viewers on NBCSN, down 39% in ratings and viewership from last year on the NBC broadcast network (2.3. 3.82M) and down a third and 36% respectively from 2015, the last time it aired as scheduled on NBCSN (2.1, 3.61M).
Kurt Busch‘s win was the lowest rated edition of the race in at least 20 years and the least-watched since at least 2000. That includes the 2016 race, which was postponed a day due to rain and had a 1.5 and 2.7 million on CNBC.
As recently as five years ago, the Bristol Night Race had a 3.9 rating and 6.3 million viewers on ABC. That was part of a stretch from 2001 to 2014 in which the race had at least a 3.0 rating every year.
For the season, Bristol delivered the third-smallest Cup Series audience on any network, ahead of only Kentucky on NBCSN last month (2.26M) and Kansas on FS1 in May (2.04M).
Excluding rainouts, Bristol was the 19th of 22 Cup Series races this season to post a double-digit decline in both ratings and viewership. Each of those 19 has hit a multi-year low, with 18 falling to all-time or decade-plus lows.
For the weekend, NASCAR placed third among all sporting events behind Sunday’s coverage of the US Gymnastics Championships on NBC (1.9, 3.1M) and the final round of the PGA Tour Wyndham Championship on CBS (1.8, 2.6M).
NASCAR Bristol Night Race Ratings, Viewership, Past 20 Years
[Numbers from ShowBuzz Daily 8.21]
