Now, they buy their way in. I have been around and covered NASCAR for over two decades. 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). 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). NASCAR scraped bottom. which is a 50 percent decline . Im also someone who became a disenchanted former fan myself. Hes tasked with not only getting exposure for the sport but measuring that exposure and translating in a way that shows value to stakeholders. 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. The Truck Series averaged 594,000, up 16% from last year (511K) and 13% from 2019 (549K). Earlier this month, NASCAR said the Confederate flag no longer will be allowed at its events. That doesnt mean they dont have talent, or arent brave. FONTANA, Calif. Most of NASCAR's Cup Series drivers feel like they're saying their final goodbye to a dear old friend this weekend. (Just in case you were wondering, Fox is unlikely to name a replacement for Darrell Waltrip if he is replaced, that is though we should find out more next month. (It did.) The Great Recession that swept across the landscape starting in 2008 changed everything. The XFL also had a better Week 2 performance than the 2019 Alliance of American . 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. A CBS spokesperson "declined to comment about the decision to keep LIV off of its station group.". NASCAR Fans Rebel Against Confederate Flag Ban. When not at work, Karlo spends his time at home, with family, either being the cook or fixit guy in his house. Even before the recent political turmoil in the sport, NASCAR was hemorrhaging fans and supporters, with viewership numbers dropping every event. Labor Day is in Darlington where it belongs, and Darlington is hosting two events again. Kyle Larsons win, which averaged 3.27 million including additional streaming data not tracked by Nielsen, was the seventh of the final ten Cup Series races this season to post an increase in viewership. 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. 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. For any fan that needs racing to be dangerous, there are still four restrictor plate races on the schedule. It may be difficult for younger people to imagine it, but the sport was once poised to overtake the NFL in popularity. 1) Just like all the other major racing series in the world, NASCAR has become a money deal. NASCARs NextGen car shows promise and one huge issue, NASCARs Daytona 500 ratings indicate a worrisome trend. The broadcasts really were over-saturated with ads enough to drive fans away. NASCAR polled fans about the idea on their website following the 2003 season, and fans overwhelmingly rejected it. A lot of people said they were done when the order from NASCAR to have at it, boys came down. The playoff system eliminates 25 or more drivers from contention with nearly a third of the season still to go. The league's first game of the 2023 slate, the Vipers vs. Renegades, drew 1.54 . And the same is true for NASCAR. This is the most viewed season-opener since 2015. Which might explain why, despite the denials, the people who are descendants of Big Bill France, the man who started it all, are quietly shopping the company around and hoping to get out while the goings good. 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. Though fewer fans were able to attend in person, with the improvements in internet bandwidth, and the rise of more and more cable channels, some were finding other ways to digest their favorite sports. Jerseyball Millvilles Mike Trout and Aaron Cox, Precision Pistol Shooting For Greatness, The Power of Fun Dave Raymond, The Original Phillie Phanatic, Being Relentless The HEADstrong Foundation, Surviving Until Tuesday Sergeant Andrew Einstein. Their reputations and regional fame followed them to the national stage. 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. So no, Johnsons domination wasnt directly a factor in the decline of NASCAR but their failure to market it most definitely was. But theyve also improved the schedule, the broadcasts, and the method of determining a champion. Most TV consumption, really all TV consumption of TV of tier one sports properties is down simply because TV consumption just broadly is down. NASCAR rose to prominence in the 1980s and 90s as TV became more and more involved. You can contact him here or on the Sports Media Watch Twitter page. 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. Auto Club Speedway's racetrack seems to be adored by every . As Juniors fortunes continued to trend downward even while driving for the strongest team in the sport, his fan base became turned off. If you were hot, you might wind up on the cover of that magazine and even more people would know about you. There's a catch, though. You can contact him here or on the Sports Media Watch Twitter page. Which meant that other drivers didnt win a lot. 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. In 2019, that number had dropped to just 2.92 million. Photo credit: Ford Racing on VisualHunt / CC BY Weekly races at smaller locales have come off even worse. Photo credit: sidehike on VisualHunt / CC BY-SA 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). They are the only one of the Big 3 Motorsports that still have this happen. Then they sharply declined in Week Two. The last race at. 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. Internal surveys show that 75 percent of Nascar fans overall approve of next year's schedule -- one that includes a dirt race at Bristol -- and 90 percent of the 18 to 34 demographic approves. You also dont often see post-race fisticuffs after races at Kansas or Vegas like you might at Martinsville or Bristol. The rise of social media as a tool, pastime, or source of information and entertainment has certainly affected most sports, NASCAR included. He is likely to build a fan base fast. NASCAR possessed one of the greatest dynasties in the history of sports during Jimmies reign. Herbst adds that small swings in the numbers show the steadiness of viewership week to week, and thats a very good thing. In NASCAR, the equivalent of a ref would be the flagmen, who not only flag the start and end of the race but flag drivers with caution warnings for safety and rules enforcement. Goldco (Most trusted and best gold IRA company overall) Birch Gold Group (Best selection of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium) Augusta Precious Metals. If it did, I would really appreciate your support. 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. (Busch would have still won.). 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. NASCAR viewership numbers on decline for years NASCAR viewers are down 19%. The previous days Xfinity Series finale drew a 0.6 (flat) and 1.01 million (+3%) on NBCSN and last Fridays Truck Series finale drew a 0.30 (+3%) and 473,000 (-4%) on FS1. 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. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-SA I covered NASCAR for six seasons for two excellent racing websites, Thats Racin (the Charlotte Observers racing site) and the Frontstretch. 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. The. In addition, the current playoff format, while far from perfect, isnt nearly as unpalatable as the Chase was. . It was a successful year as the sport averaged over three million average viewers per race. The Daytona 500 TV numbers have also declined over 47% in 10 years (from 2013 - 2022).The decline in NASCAR attendance and viewership is attributable to different factors: COVID-19, low ratings, etc. The drops: 10% in one year, 19% in two years, 38% in three years, and, good golly Miss Molly, 51% since 2015, when NBC picked up the second half of the season in a giant 10-year contract, with Fox doing the first half. Top Speed offers daily industry news and reviews on cars, trucks, and motorcycles. 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. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images). Fox Sportss coverage was particularly abominable, with a seemingly endless parade of commercial interruptions mixed with the Ford Cutaway Car, the Home Depot Pit Crew Member, the Viagra Boner Of The Race, whatever, all during green flag racing. But that in itself wasnt necessarily the crime. That metric is down 16% over the last 24 months. Tiger Woods was great for golf. I'll give you an example: TV, HUT (Households Using Television) levels, he said. 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. They are now just one part of a bigger picture: one pixel of a screenshot. Advertising and sponsorship deals are the lifeblood of spectator sports, that is why the TV spots for the Superbowl are some of the most expensive in television. Drivers. IndyCars race at St. Petersberg was also up from 1.219 million viewers last season. You could say it was NASCARs New Coke, except Coca-Cola was smart enough to change the formula back in response to furious customer backlash. One of Brian Frances very first acts as CEO of NASCAR sealed his doom as a respectable heir to a business, and nothing he did for the rest of his tenure would change that perception. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images). Below, we take a look at the NASCAR ratings over the course of the 2023 season with an up-to-date analysis of each event. As the son of one of the greatest racecar drivers in history, Junior also had an impossible standard to live up to. In terms of tier one sports properties, he said. The XFL's ratings were disappointing in Week One. Photo credit: PresidenBertho on Visualhunt.com / CC BY-SA And that is for the Indianapolis 500 of stock cars. Racing, like basketball and other sports, has seen year-to-year ratings decline. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo on Visualhunt.com / CC BY-SA No longer do young NASCAR racers start at their local tracks and work their way up. Statistics for NASCAR indicate that 63% are male, 20% are minorities and 47% are between the ages of 18 and 44, with the majority of this age bracket being in the older end, the number of which is also dropping yearly. . The household share was up 9% compared to 2022 and represented the largest share for the second race of the season since 2017. The Xfinity Series at Indianapolis had a rating of 0.67, with 1.249 million viewers, totaling more than F1 Pocono TV Ratings July 26, 2022 In todays media world they are now just a small part of what is used to measure the popularity of the sport. In the early 2000s, NASCAR was soaring. So that's household using televisions. Since earning a 7.7 rating and 13. If they hadnt, youd probably be reading articles today about the decline of Coca-Cola too. OK, here we go. Its not so much that the points reset NASCAR introduced in 2004 was a monumentally stupid idea. The cars already were mostly spec at that point, and the sport was doing just finebooming even. Karlo watched a lot of Mcgyver back in the 90's and grew up trying to be a Mr. fixit/jack of all trades. So what caused the decline of NASCAR to the point where the sport is desperately trying to remain relevant? Yet instead of focusing their marketing on Johnsons unequaled supremacy, NASCAR chose to put all of their marketing eggs into the Danica Patrick basket, believing a swimsuit model who could drive a racecar would save the sport. 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. You will find all of your NASCAR ratings coverage at Sportsnaut. Related:15 Rules Every NASCAR Employee Has To Follow. This is a BETA experience. And maybe this time, they will have learned from their mistakes. . You may opt-out by. The NASCAR ratings for the 2022 season are the best they have been in four years. What might have been acceptable, even colourful, in the last century just doesnt cut it today. Q: You say NASCAR continues to grow and like you, . Furthermore, their retirements are probably not the sole reason for NASCAR's viewership issues either. Young fans want to watch the action. The coverage goes through the entire event. Wallace took this as a victory over those claiming NASCAR ratings were down. NASCAR power rankings during the 2023 season, NASCAR odds: Betting lines for each race and championship futures, NASCAR ratings on big rise compared to recent years in 2022, NASCAR standings: Cup, Xfinity, and Truck points during the 2023 season, Share up 9%, largest for Race #2 since 2017, Share up 2%, largest for Daytona 500 since 2016, Second most-watched non-points race since 2016. 2 days ago The Kansas City Chiefs are expected to decline running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire's fifth-year option, which in turn makes him a logical candidate to be traded this offseason. NASCAR has managed to hang on to lucrative TV contracts despite its ratings decline. It was, but even that wasnt the point. The landscape starting in 2008 changed everything grow and like you might at or! Declined to comment about the decision to keep LIV off of its station group. quot! Course of the season still to go only one of the nascar ratings decline still to go is down 16 % last! 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