Its declines no longer stand out in an era of record-low sports ratings, but NASCAR remains on a downward trajectory.
Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Kansas averaged a 1.5 rating and 2.51 million viewers on NBC, marking the lowest rated Cup Series race on broadcast television since at least 2000 and the least-watched since at least 2001 (excluding makeup races). The previous lows were a 1.6 and 2.57 million for Pocono on FOX in June.
Joey Logano’s win also averaged the lowest rating and viewership ever for the fall Kansas race (dates back to 2001). Ratings declined 25% and viewership 24% from last year (2.0, 3.30M), marking the steepest year-over-year declines since the previous Kansas race in July (-25% in ratings and -32% in viewership).
Kansas was the sixth-straight Cup Series race to decline to a new low, joining Richmond, Bristol, Talladega, Charlotte and the three-year-old race at Las Vegas.
In other action, the Xfinity Series race at Kansas averaged a 0.43 and 697,000 on NBCSN last Saturday night — down 53% in ratings and 47% in viewership from last year on the NBC broadcast network (0.9, 1.32M). It trailed the Truck Series race there earlier in the day, which averaged a 0.57 and 892,000 on the FOX broadcast network.
Lowest rated, least-watched NASCAR races on broadcast TV
This year’s races highlighted
| Lowest rated (dates back to 2000) | Least-watched (dates back to 2001) | ||||||||
| # | YEAR | GAME | RTG | NET | # | YEAR | GAME | VWRS | NET |
| 1 | 2020 | Kansas (fall) | 1.5 | NBC | 1 | 2020 | Kansas (fall) | 2.511M | NBC |
| 2 | 2020 | Pocono (Sat.) | 1.6 | FOX | 2 | 2019 | Phoenix (fall) | 2.567M | NBC |
| 2019 | Phoenix (fall) | 1.6 | NBC | 3 | 2020 | Pocono (Sat.) | 2.570M | FOX | |
| 4 | 2020 | Charlotte (fall) | 1.7 | NBC | 4 | 2018 | Kansas (fall) | 2.748M | NBC |
| 2019 | Richmond (spr.) | 1.7 | FOX | 5 | 2020 | Homestead | 2.775M | FOX | |
| 2018 | Kansas (fall) | 1.7 | NBC | 6 | 2020 | Charlotte (fall) | 2.778M | NBC | |
| 5 | 2020 | Homestead | 1.8 | FOX | 7 | 2019 | Richmond (spr.) | 2.787M | FOX |
| 2019 | Charlotte (fall) | 1.8 | NBC | 8 | 2017 | Charlotte (fall) | 2.859M | NBC | |
| 2018 | Richmond (spr.) | 1.8 | FOX | 9 | 2019 | Brickyard | 2.969M | NBC | |
| 2017 | Charlotte (fall) | 1.8 | NBC | 10 | 2019 | Charlotte (fall) | 3.024M | NBC | |
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 10.24]
