NASCAR ratings hit yet another low in its penultimate race of the season.
The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs from Phoenix earned a 2.0 rating and 3.31 million viewers on NBC, down 9% in ratings and viewership from last year (2.2, 3.64M) and down 17% and 18% respectively from 2016 (2.4, 4.03M).
Excluding rainouts, Kyle Busch‘s win ranks as the lowest rated edition of the race since at least 2000 and the least-watched since at least 2001. The previous lows were set last year.
Four years ago, the race had a 3.1 and 5.09 million on ESPN. A decade ago, it had a 3.6 and 5.66 million on ABC. Way back in NASCAR’s mid-2000s heyday, it had a 5.0 and 7.43 million in 2005 on NBC.
Of the 31 races this season that have been run as scheduled, Phoenix was the 27th to post a decline in ratings and/or viewership, and the 26th to hit an all-time or decade-plus low.
In what constitutes a bright spot for NASCAR, Phoenix was just the seventh race this season to avoid a double-digit decline.
It also delivered the second-largest audience of the playoffs, behind Talladega (2.2, 3.51M), though that is not unusual for the second-to-last race of the season.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 11.13]
