Even accounting for a lengthy rain delay that pushed the finish past Midnight ET, Daytona 500 ratings were surprisingly low.
Last Sunday’s NASCAR Daytona 500 averaged a 2.8 rating and 4.83 million viewers on FOX, easily the lowest in the history of the race. Ratings fell 36% and viewership 34% from the previous low set last year, when most of the race was run on a Monday afternoon (4.4, 7.33M). [Related: Daytona 500 ratings history.]
Keep in mind the race was halted for more than five hours due to rain and did not resume until after 9 PM ET. The restart and checkered flag were the latest in recent Daytona 500 history. The race averaged a 4.7 and 8.48 million in its first three quarter-hours before the delay, up from the comparable period in 2019 (last year’s race had a stronger than usual start coinciding with a cameo by the then-U.S. president).
There is a sense in NASCAR that the lengthy rain delay has more to do with the lower numbers than the broader trend of declines facing the sports industry. While it is typically far better for ratings to finish a race on the day it was scheduled, last year’s race may have held up better because the Monday make-up took place on a national holiday (Presidents Day). The last time Daytona was pushed to a Sunday night due to rain — 2014 — ratings and viewership were considerably higher despite facing the Winter Olympics (5.6, 9.30M). Keep in mind Dale Earnhardt Jr. won that year and sports ratings were generally higher then than now.
The Daytona 500 is just the latest marquee sporting event to suffer a sharp decline and record-low rating since the wave of cancellations and postponements that decimated the sports industry last year. The 38% drop in viewership is steeper than that of the World Series (-30%) or College Football Playoff National Championship (-27%) but less sharp than that of last year’s Kentucky Derby (-43%), NBA Finals (-49%), final round of the Masters (-58%) or Stanley Cup Final (-61%). Keep in mind the latter four events took place several months out of season and Daytona occupied its usual Presidents Day weekend slot.
Outside of the Stanley Cup, Daytona averaged a lower rating and fewer viewers than all of those events. The lowest rated and least-watched NBA Finals game still had a 3.1 and 5.99 million despite facing Sunday Night Football. The final round of the Masters checked in at a 3.4 and 5.59 million despite a morning timeslot and competing NFL games.
Notably, Daytona was not dramatically higher than last year’s Indianapolis 500, which was relocated from its usual May date to mid-August (2.3, 3.67M). Nor did it have a particularly big lead on Sunday’s second-place sporting event, the final round of the PGA Tour at Pebble Beach on CBS (2.55, 4.19M).
The Daytona 500 still ranks as the most-watched motorsports event since NASCAR’s first post-hiatus race at Darlington last May (3.7, 6.32M).
Daytona 500 ratings, viewership, past 20 years
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 2.17]
