Even a brand new race is not immune to the NASCAR ratings slide.
Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Las Vegas earned a 1.3 rating and 2.14 million viewers on NBCSN — down a tick in ratings and 7% in viewership from last year’s playoff opener on the same weekend (Chicagoland: 1.4, 2.31M).
Compared to the race it replaced on the schedule, New Hampshire, ratings were flat and viewership increased 7% from 1.99 million.
Excluding rainouts, Brad Keselowski‘s win tied the lowest NASCAR playoff rating ever (135 telecasts dating back to 2004). It matched last year’s races at New Hampshire and Dover. It was also the third-least watched, ahead of those same two races.
Among all Cup Series races, it tied the third-lowest rating since at least 2000, ahead of only Kansas in May and Richmond last year (1.2). It ranks as the fifth-least watched.
Las Vegas was the 14th Cup Series race with less than a 2.0 rating this year, surpassing last year’s full-season total of 12. Again, that excludes rainouts. It was the fifth race with less than a 1.5 rating, exceeding the previous 17 seasons combined (four).
Lowest NASCAR Ratings, Viewership (2001-Present)
| Lowest Rated | Least-Watched | ||||||||
| # | YEAR | GAME | RTG | NET | # | YEAR | GAME | VWRS | NET |
| 1 | 2018 | Kansas | 1.2 | FS1 | 1 | 2017 | NH (Sept.) | 1.992M | NBCSN |
| 2017 | Richmond (Sept.) | 1.2 | NBCSN | 2 | 2018 | Kansas | 2.038M | FS1 | |
| 3 | 2018 | Las Vegas (Sept.) | 1.3 | NBCSN | 3 | 2017 | Dover (Oct.) | 2.046M | NBCSN |
| 2018 | Kentucky | 1.3 | NBCSN | 4 | 2017 | Richmond (Sept.) | 2.135M | NBCSN | |
| 2017 | Dover (Oct.) | 1.3 | NBCSN | 5 | 2018 | Las Vegas (Sept.) | 2.138M | NBCSN | |
| 2017 | NH (Sept.) | 1.3 | NBCSN | 6 | 2018 | Kentucky | 2.264M | NBCSN | |
| 7 | 2018 | Bristol (Aug.) | 1.4 | NBCSN | 7 | 2017 | Chicagoland | 2.311M | NBCSN |
| 2018 | Sonoma | 1.4 | FS1 | 8 | 2018 | Bristol (Aug.) | 2.326M | NBCSN | |
| 2017 | Chicagoland | 1.4 | NBCSN | 9 | 2018 | Sonoma | 2.334M | FS1 | |
| 10 | Three tied | 1.5 | NBCSN | 10 | 2018 | NH | 2.497M | NBCSN | |
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 9.18]
