A NASCAR season marked by declining ratings ended with a record-low at Homestead.
Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series finale from Homestead earned a 2.5 rating and 4.15 million viewers on NBC, down 11% in ratings and viewership from last year (2.8, 4.66M) and down 29% and 32% respectively from 2016 (3.5, 6.08M).
Joey Logano’s Cup-clinching win delivered the lowest rating in the history of the race (dates back to 1999) and the smallest audience since at least 2001. The previous lows were set last year.
As recently as three years ago, the race had a 4.4 rating and 7.6 million viewers on NBC. That year, race coverage bled into NBC’s Football Night in America NFL pregame show. Ratings and viewership have declined in each year since.
Homestead completed a rough year for NASCAR. Of the 32 races that were run as scheduled this season, 28 posted a decline in ratings and/or viewership, and 27 hit all-time or decade-plus lows.
Only two races this season had a 3.0 rating, the Daytona 500 (5.3) and Atlanta the following week (3.3). In the final year of the previous TV deal, 2014, 22 races topped the 3.0 mark.
Overall, the 2018 Cup Series season averaged 3.34 million viewers on FOX, FS1, NBC and NBCSN, per Sports Business Daily — down 18% from last year (4.07M) and the smallest average on record. Viewership is less than half of what it was a decade ago (6.92M).
Despite the lows, Sunday’s race was the highest rated and most-watched NASCAR telecast since Daytona in July (2.7, 4.44M). It finished seventh for the season overall.
NASCAR Ratings, Viewership, This Season
Excludes rainouts; asterisk (*) indicates data was unavailable prior to listed year
| Race | Net | Rtg. | +/- | Lowest Since |
Vwrs. | +/- | Lowest Since |
| Daytona | FOX | 5.3 | -20% | ever | 9.30M | -22% | ever |
| Atlanta | FOX | 3.3 | -13% | 2014 | 5.61M | -15% | 2014 |
| Las Vegas | FOX | 2.9 | -19% | ever | 4.73M | -21% | 2001* |
| Phoenix | FOX | 2.8 | -15% | ever | 4.58M | -15% | ever |
| Fontana | FOX | 2.4 | -25% | ever | 4.03M | -22% | 2001* |
| Texas | FS1 | 1.7 | -37% | ever | 2.82M | -38% | 2001* |
| Richmond | FOX | 1.8 | -38% | 1999* | 3.03M | -34% | 2000* |
| Talladega | FOX | 2.9 | -17% | 1997* | 4.75M | -20% | 2001* |
| Dover | FS1 | 1.7 | -19% | 1998* | 2.77M | -17% | 2001* |
| Kansas | FS1 | 1.2 | -25% | ever | 2.04M | -22% | ever |
| Charlotte | FOX | 2.3 | -18% | 1996* | 4.09M | -12% | 2000* |
| Pocono | FS1 | 1.6 | -27% | 2000* | 2.67M | -25% | 2001* |
| Michigan | FOX | 2.2 | +19% | — | 3.70M | +18% | — |
| Sonoma | FS1 | 1.4 | -30% | 1998* | 2.33M | -28% | 2002* |
| Chicagoland | NBCSN | 1.6 | +14% | — | 2.55M | +10% | — |
| Daytona II | NBC | 2.7 | -16% | t-1997 | 4.44M | -18% | 2000* |
| Kentucky | NBCSN | 1.3 | -19% | ever | 2.26M | -16% | ever |
| New Hampshire | NBCSN | 1.5 | -23% | 1998* | 2.50M | -22% | 2000* |
| Pocono II | NBCSN | 1.7 | -23% | 1998* | 2.75M | -25% | 2000* |
| Watkins Glen | NBC | 2.3 | +15% | — | 3.67M | +13% | — |
| Michigan II | NBCSN | 1.6 | -20% | 1998* | 2.54M | -20% | 2000* |
| Bristol II | NBCSN | 1.4 | -39% | 1998* | 2.33M | -39% | 2000* |
| Darlington | NBCSN | 1.5 | -17% | 1999* | 2.66M | -14% | 2001* |
| Las Vegas II | NBCSN | 1.3 | no race | 2.14M | no race | ||
| Richmond II | NBCSN | 1.0 | -17% | 1998* | 1.77M | -17% | 2001* |
| Charlotte Roval | NBCSN | 1.95 | +6% | — | 3.22M | +13% | — |
| Dover | NBCSN | 1.2 | -8% | 2000* | 2.01M | -2% | 2001* |
| Talladega II | NBC | 2.2 | -21% | 1998* | 3.51M | -26% | 2001* |
| Kansas II | NBC | 1.7 | flat | t-ever | 2.75M | -0.3% | 2001* |
| Martinsville II | NBCSN | 1.3 | -24% | 1999* | 2.15M | -22% | 2001* |
| Texas | NBCSN | 1.4 | -13% | ever | 2.27M | -16% | ever |
| Phoenix II | NBC | 2.0 | -9% | 2000* | 3.31M | -9% | 2001* |
| Homestead | NBC | 2.5 | -11% | ever | 4.15M | -11% | 2001* |
UPDATE 11/27: Updated to include average viewership for the 2018 season.
[Sun. numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 11.20; Sports Business Daily 11.27]
