It has been a challenge for the sport to consistently grab the attention of its audience; however, there are reasons for optimism as the 2022 season represented a step in the right direction. Overall, NASCAR brought in 114.231 million average viewers throughout the entire 2022 season which marks its. Brandon Kochkodin. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images). The playoff system eliminates 25 or more drivers from contention with nearly a third of the season still to go. [Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 3.9]. No longer do young NASCAR racers start at their local tracks and work their way up. But theyve also improved the schedule, the broadcasts, and the method of determining a champion. NASCAR moved the Brickyard 400 to September . NASCAR has managed to hang on to lucrative TV contracts despite its ratings decline. After years of seeing its once enormous audience dwindle to almost nothing, NASCAR is finally righting the ship. Or at least to give the appearance of it. Danica turned out to be a huge bustas many people who followed the sport closely, including yours truly, predicted she would be. It may seem good on the surface, but theres more beneath that makes this concerning. 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. Photo credit: Fast Eddie Maloney on Best Running / CC BY-SA 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. NASCAR is clearly falling behind other motorsports in a new era of television. You also dont often see post-race fisticuffs after races at Kansas or Vegas like you might at Martinsville or Bristol. Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired at the end of the 2017 season. A Former Reporters Thoughts, fly into a catch fence and injure spectators, I really got the point across with this one, that profoundly irritating cartoon gopher, baseball exploded in popularity after the opening of Camden Yards, that didnt suffer a significant ratings drop, Professional Cornhole Beyond The Parking Lot, Staying Green ex-Patriots Champion Jarvis Green, Terry Kath 1946-1978: The Heart of Chicago. HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 17: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, celebrates after [+] winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida. In NASCARs pre-1990s heyday, when it was still very much a regional sport, manufacturer identity was a big thing. Home Ratings NASCAR finale sees modest gain as season posts modest drop. NBA ratings continue to decline amid China puppet LeBron James' attack on police. It's no secret that NASCAR is experiencing a variety of issues related to its popularity, despite a slight recent uptick in TV ratings. It is now an elitist sport because only those who can afford to pay to play need apply. Young fans want to watch the action. I dont need to tell anyone who was a fan in the 2000s this, but NASCARs broadcasts at the time may have been the worst in the history of sports. Yes, a team can still dominate all season and lose a championship to a flat tire, but at least its not just an artificial points reset. 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. 2) When NASCAR established the franchise system in 2016, the league essentially became a closed shop. By: GP Racing. It was blatant condescension towards what was arguably the most loyal fanbase in sports. And we wont get into the murdering of the English language that goes on week after week, ad nauseum. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo on Best Running / CC BY Sunday, when the big-league Monster Energy Series took the green flag, it was better but there were still an awful lot of empty seats. When you use this link to shop on Amazon, youll help subsidize this great websiteat no extra charge to you. 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. Related: NASCAR ratings on big rise compared to recent years in 2022. Along with that came an all-important metric: the Nielsen ratings. Basicallythe first 2 races of 2015 have already soundly beaten the first 4 races of 2012 by 4.7 million viewers. Fox sees 12% decline over last year's ratings: Fox and FS1 for its package of 15 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races this season averaged 4.9 million viewers, down 12% from 5.6 million last . Photo credit: Ford Racing on VisualHunt / CC BY And the same is true for NASCAR. Covered race cars from the NASCAR Xfinity Series sit parked on pit road during a rain delay before the start . With all the different metrics used to measure a sport these days however, it can be complicated. 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. In 2007, an average of 16.4 million viewers tuned in to watch The Daytona 500, but by 2014 that number had fallen by more than 50% to an average of 8.3 million viewers per race. And the season will conclude at Phoenix again, a more exciting venue than Miami where the finale had been for years. But it's an uphill fight for us and a lot of other sports properties. Bowlesy thinks there needs to be an element of risk for racing to be exciting; I dont tune in to races to see a car potentially fly into a catch fence and injure spectators. No longer do young NASCAR racers start at their local tracks and work their way up. Digital and social consumption is as important now, as it's ever been; probably more important now than it's ever been, he said. NASCAR TV Ratings Below are the ratings for the NASCAR Cup Series: Date | Track | Network | Viewers | Ratings June 20, 2021 Nashville Superspeedway NBCSN Viewers: 2,600,000 Ratings: 1.46 June 13, 2021 Texas Motor Speedway FS1 Viewers: 2,735,000 Ratings: 1.64 June 6, 2021 Sonoma Raceway FS1 Viewers: 2,494,000 Ratings: 1.49 May 30, 2021 In response to its rapidly growing popularity nationwide, NASCAR moved away from the Southeast fans who brought the sport to the dance, and began holding races in places like Vegas, Chicago and Los Angeles. Not all, of course, but most. Motorsports encompass a wide variety of classes that offernumerous choices for fans ofauto racing. It was a radical change to a sport that didnt need radical changes. NASCAR's social media channels have piled up nearly 2 billion social impressions (the number of times its content was viewed) and more than 92 million fan engagements (retweets, likes, shares). Ousting Brian France, who created the Chase and presided over the sports decline, was no small part of that. The NASCAR ratings for the 2022 season are the best they have been in four years. Three of the four drivers in the championship race were also in the 2018 race, and three of the four drivers were in Toyotas. (It wasnt a tough call to make, if you actually looked at her results instead of her figure.). NASCAR has struggled with the 18-49 demographic and while IndyCar doesnt have as many overall viewers, the percentage of those viewers being in that demographic is higher. But more importantly, the racing isnt anywhere near as exciting at the cookie cutters, as I so eloquently explained here. But the sports most dedicated fans were (and are) still in the Southeast, and Southerners are loyal to the core to their heritage. NASCAR star Bubba Wallace reacted to a chart on Twitter that showed last weekend's NASCAR race at Foxwoods Resort Casino as the top-watched sporting event of the weekend. Thirty-five percent of participants said they were now watching less sports due to political and social messaging, whereas only 11 percent said they now watch more. OK, here we go. But the ratings decline is hitting all of the leagues hard (including MLB, which has not embraced the movement on the field nearly as much as the WNBA, NBA, and NFL). Stats. Karlo watched a lot of Mcgyver back in the 90's and grew up trying to be a Mr. fixit/jack of all trades. You can contact him here or on the Sports Media Watch Twitter page. When you think of the venues that have showcased the most memorable events in the sports history, Daytona, Darlington, and Bristol often come to mind. Elliott is a great driver and a likable kid, and he doesnt take any craphe doesnt shy away from wrecking a driver like Denny Hamlin if the situation called for it. Not only is this tolerated by NASCAR but encouraged. The full Xfinity Series season averaged 1.04 million viewers, up 9% from last year (952K) and 2019 (954K). 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. Photo credit: royal_broil on Best Running / CC BY-SA Goldco (Most trusted and best gold IRA company overall) Birch Gold Group (Best selection of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium) Augusta Precious Metals. These Are The Reasons Why NASCAR Is Losing Fans, "Bootleggers"- those whoproduce anddeliver prohibited whiskey/alcohol, colorful beginnings to what is now a billion-dollar sporting event, 15 Abandoned And Forgotten NASCAR Race Tracks, 15 Rules Every NASCAR Employee Has To Follow, 10 NASCAR Drivers With The Most Wins (& How Much They Won), A New Toyota Celica Concept Shows What A Pure Toyota Sports Car Could Be Without BMW, A Modern Plymouth Road Runner Like This Could Shake Up Today's Pony Car Market, EXCLUSIVE: This Toyota 2000GT Rendering Brings An Icon Into Modern Day, The 5 Worst Ford Mustangs To Buy Used (Plus The 5 Best), 10 Used German Performance Cars We'd Buy Over An American Muscle Car Any Day. While Nielsen was undergoing its transformation other smaller agencies stepped into fill the void. Photo credit: PDA.PHOTO on Best Running / CC BY-ND But the initial Chase, an artificial and contrived points reset, was despised by fans. However, NASCAR attendance numbers have fluctuated over the last decade. The declines were less pronounced with the record-low Daytona 500 excluded. 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. 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. This was a problem that actually needed to be addressed and wasnt. NASCAR made an absurd amount of money with their television contracts in the 2000s, but that ultimately cost them a sizable chunk of the audience when networks were forced to make it worth their while. It was a successful year as the sport averaged over three million average viewers per race. Why poll the fans if youre just going to ignore them? Nielsen slowly began to develop ways to measure who was watching what, and how. A Former Reporters Thoughts, Copyright 2023 A Great Number of Things. All Rights Reserved. Admittedly, several of these rule changes have been beneficial to the sport, but some have unfortunately come across as marketing stunts that have turned away fans. 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. Viewership and attendance of NASCAR have been on the decline ever since 2006, and some think the 2021 boost was only due to people seeking more outdoor activity . If that contributed to NASCARs decline, however, that is on NASCAR. IndyCar is seeing huge success as an open-wheel Motorsport, just like Formula 1. over the same Cup Series stops last season, Ratings: NASCAR, college hoops, soccer, NHL, XFL sees big drop in Week 2, but on par with last years USFL, LeBron injury ill-timed as Lakers continue to draw, Small sampling for LIV; PGA Tour wins head-to-head in rout. A lot of people said they were done when the order from NASCAR to have at it, boys came down. In case you werent there or dont remember, in 2004 NASCAR welcomed their new series sponsor, Nextel (now Sprint), with a new playoff system called the Chase. Follow along, because there will be a test later . Not only in the business world, but in all sports as well. The XFL's ratings were disappointing in Week One. The #48 team should have been a gold mine. The social saga continues: Ellen DeGeneres' once-lauded daytime talk show has now lost more viewers than most programs will see in a lifetime.. It's been a whirlwind couple of years for DeGeneres and her fans. In 2014 the average viewership for Cup Series races was 5.3 million. Photo credit: sidehike on VisualHunt / CC BY-SA Well, it might be as easy as the product fans are seeing on their televisions over the course of a race. 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. We all know what Im talking about. 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. Las Vegas, by contrast, moved back from the coveted week after the Daytona 500. The Daytona Road Course averaged 4.750 million viewers during the event. Photo credit: eliduke on Visualhunt.com / CC BY-SA It was during this timethat "Bootleggers"- those whoproduce anddeliver prohibited whiskey/alcohol also had modified delivery cars that were fast enough to be able to evade, outrun and escape law enforcement should they be spotted. Which meant that other drivers didnt win a lot. I also think it's healthy just in terms of the interest. Games on TNT are also down by more. Last Sundays Cup Series finale from Phoenix averaged a 1.95 rating and 3.21 million viewers on NBC, up 4% in ratings and 5% in viewership from last year (1.9, 3.06M) and the highest rated and most-watched fall Phoenix race since 2018 (2.0, 3.31M). That would have a big effect on viewership overall. 2.27.2023. Racing, like basketball and other sports, has seen year-to-year ratings decline. Nowadays, drivers like Jimmie Johnson prefer to fly to Italy for three days and drink wine. With the current playoff point structure, drivers are also somewhat rewarded for strong season-long performances as wellwhile the Chase completely disregarded excellence during the season. So here are three actual reasons for the decline of NASCAR. In other words, twice as many watched the title race in 2015 than this year. A driver dominates a race until the last lap and then gets crashed on purpose by the guy who goes on to win. Speaking of disrespecting your fan base, how about needlessly putting an end to a beloved 54-year tradition? That exposure now comes not just from TV, but through streaming platforms, attendance, and even social media. All that said, the unveiling of the Car of Tomorrow in 2007 certainly didnt help. The rise of social media as a tool, pastime, or source of information and entertainment has certainly affected most sports, NASCAR included. 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