The NASCAR playoffs got off to a better start in the ratings.
Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener from Las Vegas averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.38 million viewers on NBCSN, up a tick in ratings and 12% in viewership from the inaugural edition of the race last year (1.3, 2.14M). This year’s race aired in primetime after an afternoon start last season.
Martin Truex Jr.‘s win was the 11th Cup Series race this season to post an increase in ratings and viewership, the most in a single season since 2013 (20). By comparison, only four races increased all of last season.
The race also ranks as the most-watched playoff opener in three years — since Chicagoland averaged 2.69 million in 2016 — and the most-watched playoff race on cable overall since Texas in 2017 (2.70M).
Head-to-head, it was of course no match for NBC’s Sunday Night Football (10.3, 17.64M), but doubled ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (0.7, 1.08M).
Even with the increase, Las Vegas still averaged the fourth-smallest audience of the Cup Series season (excluding postponements). It ranks ahead of Kansas in May (2.18M), Kentucky in July (2.08M) and Darlington earlier this month, a race that was pushed to a late night start due to inclement weather (1.86M).
[Nielsen estimates via ShowBuzz Daily 9.20]
