From F1, Rally, Le Mans, Drifting, or Touring Car championships that are broadcast on TV or via the internet, viewers now have even more access to alternative motorsports events that can offer the same level of adrenaline fueled excitement that NASCAR can provide. NASCARs NextGen car shows promise and one huge issue, NASCARs Daytona 500 ratings indicate a worrisome trend. . Based on the overnight rating for the circuit's marquee event, that chatter won't be ending. Yes, you had to be able to prove that you knew what you were doing out there but if your car passed technical inspection and you could either qualify to race through time trials or qualifying races, you were in. Auto Club Speedway's racetrack seems to be adored by every . A driver dominates a race until the last lap and then gets crashed on purpose by the guy who goes on to win. Kyle Busch, NASCARs black hat, won his second title. So 16% drop in terms of total TV consumption of those TVs that are actually tuned in over the last two years, NASCAR shares up 18%. No longer will teams win titles by dominating speedways; driver skill will be more of a factor, as it should be. NASCAR has managed to hang on to lucrative TV contracts despite its ratings decline. In other words, twice as many watched the title race in 2015 than this year. The NFL only went down 9%, but please, tell me about anthem kneelers. The six-race consecutive increase in viewership prior to Talladega is something that everyone can understand and helps reinforce just how healthy NASCAR is. Gordon scored the most points overall of any driver in 2004, 2007, and 2014. Even though the Confederate battle flag was banned within Talledega Speedway on Sunday, outside the track, the initials "PC" stood for "publicly Confederate.". It was boxy, ugly, and top heavyand its shape was part of the reason for the Indianapolis debacle of 2008. Photo credit: royal_broil on Best Running / CC BY-SA The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season averaged 2.93 million viewers across FOX, FS1, NBC and NBCSN, down 4% from last year (3.06M), down 6% from 2019 (3.11M) and the least-watched season on record. In terms of tier one sports properties, he said. For the first time in over a decade and a half, they seem to be headed in the right direction. And while 2020 has been anything but usual especially in the sports world, NASCAR was the one sport that didnt suffer a significant ratings drop. He said its important to look at the bigger picture, a bigger picture that shows how media is consumed. That's the lowest TV audience ever recorded for the. Well, it might be as easy as the product fans are seeing on their televisions over the course of a race. Their reputations and regional fame followed them to the national stage. or Disney plus; there's more competition for those eyeballs then there's ever been. By then, hardly anyone will have a standard TV, anyway, because every event will be streamed, and ratings wont matter. News. After years of seeing its once enormous audience dwindle to almost nothing, NASCAR is finally righting the ship. However, these deals may be stopping the brand from adapting to consumers' changing viewing habits. I have reasons to believe that NASCAR can return to previous levels of popularitymaybe not on the verge of overtaking the NFL again, but at least back to a point where they have enough of a dedicated fanbase to be a solid performer in ratings and ticket sales. Sundays NASCAR Cup Series race from Las Vegas averaged a 2.6 rating and 4.36 million viewers on FOX, marking the lowest rated edition of the race since it debuted in 1998 and the smallest audience since at least 2001 (viewership prior to 2002 was not available). But plate racing still sucksnot only do plates produce multi-car crashes every event, they pervert the standings because of it. NASCAR blew off fan demand for picture-in-picture commercial breakssomething theyve since embracedwhile Fox Sportss indifference to fans went completely unchecked. Flat is better than down, but 2018 was also the year the once-mighty U.S.S. I hope so. NASCAR ratings have been on the decline over the last decade as they have taken a significant drop. Digital and social consumption is as important now, as it's ever been; probably more important now than it's ever been, he said. Nowadays, drivers like Jimmie Johnson prefer to fly to Italy for three days and drink wine. Photo credit: sarahstierch on Visualhunt.com / CC BY And stage races have also not gone over well with purists. And then, in 1979, came flag-to-flag TV coverage of the Daytona 500 and other NASCAR Cup races. Its not often noticed, but it was definitely noticed by Jeff Gordon fans: had NASCAR not implemented the Chase, the driver of the iconic #24 could have been the one standing aside Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty today with seven titles, instead of his protg Jimmie Johnson. NASCAR Home. Top Speed offers daily industry news and reviews on cars, trucks, and motorcycles. A fan of cars and bikes, and most anything with an engine, he divides his time between work and family. And forget Danica the non-stop promotion and ass-kissing of all things NASCAR by the announcers seriously, compare them against broadcasters of any other big-league sport has people who were once fans changing the channel permanently. For instance: The non-stop promotion of Danica Patrick, as if she was the Second Coming (she wasnt), turned off a lot of fans. . The Decline of NASCAR, Non-Reason #1: The Cars Are Too Spec I'll submit that this is a reason a few fans I know stopped watching the sport. (It did.) It was the insistent implementation of it over loud objections of fans. In addition, the current playoff format, while far from perfect, isnt nearly as unpalatable as the Chase was. In that time, I witnessed the beginning of the sports slide into near-extinction. Now, they buy their way in. The above car is a NASCAR entry that is supposed to look like a Toyota Supra. In todays world TV ratings arent the big deal they once were nor the only thing that matters. 500 MOMENTUM:Daytona 500 TV ratings: NASCAR opener ends two-year viewership decline. NASCAR sits on an upward trajectory for the first time in a while. News. The coverage goes through the entire event. This is all just ultimately my opinion, but its a carefully considered one. So if Im right, in a few years NASCAR may become Americas summer sport again. NASCAR Ratings Down: Decline All Season for Fox McCord Roberts June 5, 2009 Last week's Dover race marked the 16th consecutive week of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing on television that saw a major. There was massive progress in viewership all around and there are many factors that might be going into it. NASCAR viewership numbers on decline for years NASCAR viewers are down 19%. Then they sharply declined in Week Two.The four XFL games in Week Two averaged 665,000 viewers, which is a 50 percent decline from the four XFL . NASCAR vehicles evolved over the decades to become safer for the drivers and spectators, the result of which is that cars today are uniform, standardized vehicles with their bodies basically just shells on top of a chassis. This is the most viewed season-opener since 2015. And that is for the Indianapolis 500 of stock cars. Mark Martin has the best take on the decline in NASCAR attendance, ratings Comment Leave it to one of the coolest customers ever to sit behind the wheel in NASCAR to come up with an. Compared to the last time the Brickyard 400 was run in July (the 2017 race), Sunday's ratings were down 21 percent and viewership was off 23 percent. 2.27.2023. Comments Off on What Caused The Decline of NASCAR? The last race at Auto Club took place in 2020 and had an average of 4.781 million viewers for the third event of the season. Dr. Jon Lewis (aka Paulsen) has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. NASCAR still attempts to do the best it can when it comes to getting the word out. Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race from Las Vegas averaged a 2.6 rating and 4.36 million viewers on FOX, marking the lowest rated edition of the race since it debuted in 1998 and the smallest audience since at least 2001 (viewership prior to 2002 was not available). I have been around and covered NASCAR for over two decades. And we wont get into the murdering of the English language that goes on week after week, ad nauseum. The television ratings for sports in 2020 reflect the poll results and the frustration many feel toward the constant sloganeering and political pandering. Photo credit: wjarrettc on Visual hunt / CC BY They are the only one of the Big 3 Motorsports that still have this happen. But theyve also improved the schedule, the broadcasts, and the method of determining a champion. The problem was the tracks that replaced themnearly all of them were characterless, cookie-cutter speedways where aero package ruled the day. NASCARs viewership continues to fall after the ratings for last weekends race at Auto Club Speedway were released on Tuesday morning. The NASCAR ratings for the 2022 season are the best they have been in four years. NBC was slightly ahead of last years pace before the Nov. 10 race at Phoenix, but it drew 2.567 million, the least-watched Cup race on broadcast television since 2001 (not counting rainouts). . Furthermore, their retirements are probably not the sole reason for NASCAR's viewership issues either. So that's household using televisions. There are still plenty of obscene profit breaks, but its far less aggravating when you can still see the action and leader board on part of the screen. Ill start with a few things that I dont believe caused the decline of NASCAR, then Ill share what I think really did. who has many relatives from the South, was merely offering his opinion. Lack of manufacturer identity may have been a reason some hardcore fans left the sport in the early 1990s, but that doesnt seem to me to be a valid reason for the sports popularity plunge since 2005. While NASCARs ratings were a record low for a second event of the season, the NTT IndyCar Series found themselves with a massive jump in ratings. By Jack Davis June 22, 2020 at 8:10am. Saturday afternoon, they held a round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series there and there were so few people in the stands that they should have introduced them to the drivers instead of the other way around. I dont often see NASCARs ill-conceived playoff idea as a reason people cite for the decline of NASCAR in articles I read these days, but I promise you, that was not the case when I covered the sport. The first study focused exclusively on Bristol Motor Speedway, while the second study took other NASCAR race tracks into account, and both studies found that noise levels regularly exceeded 140 decibels when the race cars were accelerating at full throttle, and that the noise levels lasted, on average, about three to four hours, the average 1) Just like all the other major racing series in the world, NASCAR has become a money deal. Im not buying the its too safe bit as a cause for the decline of NASCAR. We try to do is take the complex and boil it down to something that is more easily understood by the fanbase.. Most TV consumption, really all TV consumption of TV of tier one sports properties is down simply because TV consumption just broadly is down. Interestingly, it has been said that NASCAR has been getting younger (the drivers) and older (the fans) at the same time. This marks a 25% lift versus NASCAR's analogous share in 2018, and is the strongest showing since Fox got off to a 10.5 share start in 2016. NASCAR needs side-by-side commercials during green-flag racing and then full-screen commercials during yellow flags. These fans would attend a race, then go sightseeing around the town so as to make the trip more worthwhile and as a result, even more money is required to be put in the budget in order to cover the costs for a dew days hotel stay. Atlanta has had some classics, but that was partly by virtue of the venue hosting the championship race, such as Alan Kulwickis unforgettable title win in 1992. It was, but even that wasnt the point. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images). The Patriots domination was great for the NFL. Photo credit: tequilamike on Visual hunt / CC BY Interestingly, it has been said that NASCAR has been getting younger (the drivers) and older (the fans) at the same time. The current NBA broadcast deal nets the league $2.6 billion a year, however, a new report says the next one may be closer to $8 billion annually. NASCAR did (and still does) market the possibility of spectacular wrecks. It may be difficult for younger people to imagine it, but the sport was once poised to overtake the NFL in popularity. Our share of those TVs that are tuned in is up 18%. Related:15 Abandoned And Forgotten NASCAR Race Tracks. Photo credit: PresidenBertho on Visualhunt.com / CC BY-SA Racing Ratings By Phillip Bupp on 06/23/2022. The Great Recession that swept across the landscape starting in 2008 changed everything. The playoff system eliminates 25 or more drivers from contention with nearly a third of the season still to go. Brandon Kochkodin. In NASCAR's pre-1990s heyday, when it was still very much a regional sport, manufacturer identity was a big thing. A leading business development, project manager in the auction and liquidation industry, and consultant for various local and national government offices in the Philippines. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. NASCAR Las Vegas ratings hit a new low. In 2014 the average viewership for Cup Series races was 5.3 million. This brought even more attention and money to the sport and school was soon out. Jimmie Johnson was a hallmark of ruthless efficiency in his prime, winning seven titles and five in a row. Home Media FOX NASCAR hits Las Vegas low. There were often timesand Im not exaggerating thiswhen a viewer would see maybe five laps of racing, a two-minute break, and then just two more laps of racing before another break. The future of IndyCar seems to be brighter when it comes to younger people. And abuse and manipulation of that system. Now, NASCAR might say, Well, 3.759 million for a race in November, even if it is half as much as four years ago, is more than 0.000 viewers for no race. And ratings are slightly better overall when you include the Fox half, which is better than another plunge, as in 2018. Last year, nearly 70 million unique viewers tuned in to . Stats. Bookmark this page for NASCAR ratings as another year of racing is officially underway! And I said all that without even bringing up that profoundly irritating cartoon gopher. With his brilliant head wrench Chad Knaus on the pit box, the #48 team for years remorselessly laid the field to waste when playoff time started. It was the first NCS race on the dirt in 50 years. The fan backlash was loud and intense. WWE Insider Says Yes, Fans might be tired of the novelty of the playoffs., selling a sport that is losing popularity and has three months of overlap with football. All that said, the unveiling of the Car of Tomorrow in 2007 certainly didnt help. The half-mile dirt track was a success on many levels. The fan base that is paying attention to our sport now than probably two or three years agopart of that is the economic model of our sport is a little bit more sounder, on solid footing; the introduction to the Next Gen car, it brings on new owners like Justin Marks and Michael Jordan, Pitbull et cetera. The erosion is even more pronounced when you . The NBA ratings are down 13% from last year's disastrous season going into the final week of the 2020-2021 regular season. They are now just one part of a bigger picture: one pixel of a screenshot. I expect that will be a boon to NASCARs future. Though Nielsen had been king of all things TV for generations, the truth was they were having trouble keeping up as people began to shift their viewing habits. . It would have saved a lot of time. As streaming services provide instant entertainment whileNASCARhas scheduled andlengthy race events,thecomparison is similar toordering drive-thru (cheap and convenient) versusdining at a fine restaurant (pricier and takes longer before you can eat). Photo credit: balpeck on Best Running / CC BY-SA In 1994, there were six events held at intermediate tracks of 1.5-2 miles in length. There was suddenly lots and lots of prize money available and other full-time competitors like Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip joined up to give chase. It was blatant condescension towards what was arguably the most loyal fanbase in sports. As one of motorsport's most popular race series, NASCAR has a long and colorful history that dates to the US prohibition erain the 1930s. Young fans want to watch the action. All four Cup Series races this season have declined from the corresponding weeks of last season, though this weeks drop was the smallest thus far. Oxford Gold . When you use this link to shop on Amazon, youll help subsidize this great websiteat no extra charge to you. It may seem good on the surface, but theres more beneath that makes this concerning. With fewer fans at the track, you might think TV ratings would continue to rise and maybe even increase as those fans turned on the TV instead of spending money to go to the track. Having followed the sport in the time frame when it began, I can offer what I believe are the real reasons for the decline of NASCAR. NASCAR TV ratings were once the darlings of the sport. Jimmie won a lot. which is a 50 percent decline . So that's a positive viewership increase of 2%. It would have been nice to have heard more during the championship race from Earnhardt. Ill never forget seeing Elliott Sadlers terrifying end-over-end crash at Talladega in 2003 and seeing it again in every single ad for Talladega races for the next 3-4 years. The Daytona Road Course averaged 4.750 million viewers during the event. Since early in the millenium, however, interest in NASCAR both at the speedways and on television has dropped off. LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 14: (L-R) Brian Herbst, NASCAR managing director, broadcasting, Scott Warfield, NASCAR managing director, social and digital content, Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Team Penske Ford Fusion, Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president and chief marketing officer and Laura Froelich, Twitter global head of sports partnerships, pose for a photo after NASCAR announces plans to live-stream in-car cameras on Twitter for the 2018 season on March 14, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. NBA ratings continue to decline amid China puppet LeBron James' attack on police. And one other thing about NASCAR in those days: the races were open to anybody who could qualify. People rooted for car brands as well as drivers, and car companies believed in the whole win on Sunday, sell on Monday mantra. NASCAR's meteoric rise was fed by the rise of Jeff Gordon, whom many consider to be NASCAR's first superstar, and the death of legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. Karlo watched a lot of Mcgyver back in the 90's and grew up trying to be a Mr. fixit/jack of all trades. Affluence. It was the first time in a while where we didn't have a decline on NBC. HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 17: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota along with his wife [+] Samantha and son Brexton pose with the trophy after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida. But for whatever reason, Junior not only didnt measure up to his fathers formidable reputation, he rarely even established himself as a contender. Schedule/Results. If they hadnt, youd probably be reading articles today about the decline of Coca-Cola too. NASCAR's TV ratings began to fall; the once all-mighty numbers began to show not an increase, but a decline. Ill submit that this is a reason a few fans I know stopped watching the sport. Herbst adds that small swings in the numbers show the steadiness of viewership week to week, and thats a very good thing. And it will be pretty hard to turn back the clock on either of those. It was another case of costly arrogance; as much as fans loved NASCAR, they didnt love it enough to put up with an endlessly saturated marketing campaign featuring occasional snippets of racing each week. As it happens, the first four official NASCAR races of 2022 are averaging a 9.73 share, which means nearly 10% of all homes that had TVs in use at the time of the broadcasts were tuned in to Fox. I wonder why Truck Series and Xfinity viewership(even from 2019) is up but Cup Series viewership is down. I was critical of the Chase in plenty of columns, but I felt like I really got the point across with this one about it. Maybe there is a segment of fans who tune in for death-defying calamities, but that has always been a part of the sport and still is. In the past NASCAR has tried to educate fans who might look at ratings and think the sport is in trouble and help them understand that things arent as bad as they seem. While viewership was down overall, it should be noted that the share the percentage of homes tuned to the race in the average minute out of the total number of homes using televisions increased 8% from last year and 11% from 2019. Should there be concerns with the current trend of viewership? Hes tasked with not only getting exposure for the sport but measuring that exposure and translating in a way that shows value to stakeholders. The sport has grown from. I covered NASCAR for six seasons for two excellent racing websites, Thats Racin (the Charlotte Observers racing site) and the Frontstretch. As the son of one of the greatest racecar drivers in history, Junior also had an impossible standard to live up to. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images). 2) When NASCAR established the franchise system in 2016, the league essentially became a closed shop. Professional sports adapted as well, understanding, and learning, how to measure viewership and show that value to their stakeholders.