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NASCAR has proven to be a sport with a huge audience in terms of viewership. It has slowly grown, winning the hearts of many and keeping them glued to the screen until the action is done.
With four consecutive racing weekends down the line, analysis shows the four events have been the most-watched sporting events across the United States. Surprisingly, NASCAR has also outshined other sports.
On Twitter, Adam Stern highlighted the viewership of the event, posting:
What has caught the attention of many, however, is how they have managed to outshine other sports in numbers of viewership but have not been able to beat its last year’s record of viewership. Compared to all other sports, the curve is in on the uptrend, but on its own graph, the curve is on the downtrend.
According to FOX TV, during the recently concluded event in Phoenix, the channel received a rating of 2.33 and a total viewership of 3.9 million. This was 9% less than last year’s race in Las Vegas, which attracted a total viewership of 4.396 million.
Despite the drop in their record, the Phoenix race was the talk of the town that weekend as well as the most viewed event in the United States.
Phoenix was not the only race to record a drop, with the 2022 Daytona 500 also under-performing in terms of viewership despite the hype and ticket being sold out. This year’s Daytona 500, which was won by Austin Cindric, NASCAR averaged a total viewership of 8.9 million.
These numbers were slightly lower compared to the 2019 Daytona 500, where they recorded a viewership of 9.17 million. The 2020 and 2021 Daytona 500 were rescheduled due to inconducive weather and they happened on Mondays.
Viewership of NASCAR Cup Series in past few years
Reflecting on seven years back, it's clear that NASCAR Cup Series is slowly losing viewership in its circle but gaining more popularity than other sports. In 2013, the sport averaged 16.65 million viewers in the Daytona 500 which is now halfway through – something that is not pleasing.
Nick Bromberg updated the viewership of the past several years, tweeting:
The Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana averaged a rating of 2.61 and a viewership of 4.570 million. It was the most-watched event of the weekend, but down from last year’s which had 4.75 million viewers.
Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Speedway was also the most-watched event of the weekend on March 6 with a viewership of 4.544 million and a rating of 2.71 million. There were slight improvements from last year’s, however, which had a viewership of 4.24 million and a rating of 2.5.
