Hampered by a three-hour rain delay, NASCAR opened the NBC portion of its schedule on a down note.
Rain-delayed NASCAR Cup Series racing from Chicagoland earned a 1.4 rating and 2.41 million viewers on NBCSN Sunday evening, down 13% in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (1.6, 2.55M), but flat and up 4% respectively from 2017, when the race took place in September opposite NFL games (1.4, 2.31M).
Race coverage was delayed after 11 laps and did not resume until three hours later. Ratings and viewership are for the post-delay portion.
Keeping that caveat in mind, Alex Bowman‘s win tied the lowest rating ever for the race and posted its second-smallest audience (dates back to 2001). Only the 2017 race had fewer viewers.
The race also ranks as the second-least watched of the 2019 season, ahead of Kansas in May (2.18M).
In a season that has included more increases than usual, Chicagoland was the eighth of 15 races to decline (excluding rainouts).
Despite the lower numbers, NASCAR still ranked second among all sporting events last weekend, behind only the Yankees-Red Sox London game on FOX Saturday (1.9, 2.86M). It ranked further down the list in adults 18-49, trailing two additional Major League Baseball windows, a Women’s World Cup match, and a competing NBA free agency special on ESPN2 — among other events.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 7.2]
