Translation: the drivers are paying for the pleasure of racing. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images). It was the first NCS race on the dirt in 50 years. Stats. or Disney plus; there's more competition for those eyeballs then there's ever been. 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. Its certainly healthy in terms of eyeballs, Hebrst said. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. but the mainstream media claiming the political/social justice shift in sports has nothing to do with the decline in viewership are whistling past the graveyard. That doesnt mean they dont have talent, or arent brave. Related: NASCARs Daytona 500 ratings indicate a worrisome trend. 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. Yes, thats actually true; read it again if you need to. Not all, of course, but most. Photo credit: Fast Eddie Maloney on Best Running / CC BY-SA In that race, caution flags were flown almost every ten laps for tire wear, as Jimmie Johnson limped to a victory. So that's a positive viewership increase of 2%. NBC did the best with what it was given, really, but there were few compelling storylines. The XFL also had a better Week 2 performance than the 2019 Alliance of American . Interestingly, it has been said that NASCAR has been getting younger (the drivers) and older (the fans) at the same time. 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. Keep in mind that excludes the Monday rainout at Talladega. It may be difficult for younger people to imagine it, but the sport was once poised to overtake the NFL in popularity. If it did, I would really appreciate your support. The league's first game of the 2023 slate, the Vipers vs. Renegades, drew 1.54 . Professional sports adapted as well, understanding, and learning, how to measure viewership and show that value to their stakeholders. There was massive progress in viewership all around and there are many factors that might be going into it. That. I think that the momentum is good. This includes the total viewership, the percentage being up or down compared to last year, and extra information that can range from unfortunate circumstances for television coverage to the household share. So if Im right, in a few years NASCAR may become Americas summer sport again. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images). One shining example was a 2010 Dover racea playoff race, no lesswhere ESPN broke away with 11 laps to go in a very much undecided event for an ad break. The top of the mountain in NASCAR circles back then was known as the Grand National Division but in 1971, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., then-manufacturer of Winston cigarettes, contracted with NASCAR to become title sponsor and the Winston Cup Series (to be known thereafter as simply Cup, regardless of subsequent sponsorships) was born,. 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. 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. Men in particular were more put. (It wasnt a tough call to make, if you actually looked at her results instead of her figure.). who has many relatives from the South, was merely offering his opinion. Now, they buy their way in. And stage races have also not gone over well with purists. 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. Im also someone who became a disenchanted former fan myself. 4 million viewers in. The markets simply couldnt support them anymore. Compared to the 2019 finale from Homestead-Miami, ratings fell 13% (from 2.2) and viewership 14% (from 3.74M). 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. While this already marks the third time that NASCAR has seen the average viewership go down, there is one major positive to take away from it. In a piece published in the Athletic last week, Ethan Strauss reported that the ratings for network NBA broadcasts have declined by 45 percent since 2011-12. At the start of the 21st Century NASCAR TV ratings, meant everything. That isnt insignificant when it comes to explaining the decline of NASCAR. This is convenient if the city where a follower lives in has a track, but for those that live a long distance from NASCAR venues, the cost to go to watch them is gradually becoming more expensive due to the continually rising prices of fuel. Or at least to give the appearance of it. It may seem good on the surface, but theres more beneath that makes this concerning. NASCAR ratings have been on the decline over the last decade as they have taken a significant drop. The decline of NASCAR was a combination of ill-considered decisions: the implementation of a contrived playoff, poorly thought out broadcasting contracts, and departing from unique and venerable venues for dull, unexciting ones. 1) Just like all the other major racing series in the world, NASCAR has become a money deal. Johnson is getting some commiserations from the fans after the ratings came out. The 2021 campaign includes six road course races, a dirt race at Bristol (! That is a decrease of nearly 50%, and in some races this kind of decline could be seen in the stands too. A fan of cars and bikes, and most anything with an engine, he divides his time between work and family. It was the first time in a while where we didn't have a decline on NBC. According to reports, the league saw a sharp 50% decline in viewership from week one to the next week.The 3.0 reboot is not going well. So here are three actual reasons for the decline of NASCAR. Photo credit: balpeck on Best Running / CC BY-SA TV ratings are no longer the end all be all for NASCAR. A Former Reporters Thoughts, Copyright 2023 A Great Number of Things. And I said all that without even bringing up that profoundly irritating cartoon gopher. In 2006, for instance, more than 19 million people tuned in to watch the Daytona 500 on TV; in 2018, only a little more than nine million watched. NBC said its season viewership averages of 18 Cup races in 2019 (except for weather-affected races at Daytona and Darlington) was 2.57 million, the same as in 2018. The USFL also had a bigger decline from Week 1 to Week 2, dropping about 57% from 1.57 million. I hope so. NASCARs viewership continues to fall after the ratings for last weekends race at Auto Club Speedway were released on Tuesday morning. Now72 years old, the racing organization has managed to evolve through the decades in order to meet the changing trends, technology, and preferences that directly affect the sport. And the same is true for NASCAR. NASCAR has managed to hang on to lucrative TV contracts despite its ratings decline. (Busch would have still won.). Goldco (Most trusted and best gold IRA company overall) Birch Gold Group (Best selection of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium) Augusta Precious Metals. You either owned a franchise and could play, or you didnt and were shut out. CLASH SUCCESS:NASCAR TV ratings are in, and the Clash is most-viewed since 2016. . 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. Kyle Busch, NASCARs black hat, won his second title. NASCAR TV ratings were once the darlings of the sport. Anyone who was watching then could tell you that wasnt unusual at all. But plate racing still sucksnot only do plates produce multi-car crashes every event, they pervert the standings because of it. This is the most viewed season-opener since 2015. ), and a race at the concrete venue of Nashville for the first time. Dynasties like Johnsons arent bad for a sportunless the sport doesnt know how to market them. So more people are tuned into Amazon prime or Netflix By the measurements used today, NASCAR then is in a very good place. 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). The NASCAR ratings for the 2022 season are the best they have been in four years. Since earning a 7.7 rating and 13. (It did.) Even before the recent political turmoil in the sport, NASCAR was hemorrhaging fans and supporters, with viewership numbers dropping every event. The #48 team should have been a gold mine. But experts say the reasons are multitude. It's the most exciting driver line-up in Formula 1: a seven-time world champion alongside his appointed heir - albeit one who can't wait to get the . There's a catch, though. I covered NASCAR for six seasons for two excellent racing websites, Thats Racin (the Charlotte Observers racing site) and the Frontstretch. OK, here we go. TV ratings for the Richmond race were said to be down 12% from the same race in 2015 and 44% from 2014. . The XFL's ratings were disappointing in Week One. Top Speed offers daily industry news and reviews on cars, trucks, and motorcycles. NHL regular season ratings were down 12% this year. 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. What other big American sport has ongoing action behind a commercial? Earlier this month, NASCAR said the Confederate flag no longer will be allowed at its events. So that's household using televisions. Im not buying the its too safe bit as a cause for the decline of NASCAR. 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. I can also dispute other reasons for it that I see being offered today. Where . NASCAR was at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend and if I was NASCAR, I would be embarrassed. The Monday portion of that race averaged a 4.2 and 7.03 million, compared to a 6.2 and 10.94 million for the first 20 laps on Sunday before weather rolled in. [Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 3.9]. No longer do young NASCAR racers start at their local tracks and work their way up. By Jack Davis June 22, 2020 at 8:10am. 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. You also dont often see post-race fisticuffs after races at Kansas or Vegas like you might at Martinsville or Bristol. For any fan that needs racing to be dangerous, there are still four restrictor plate races on the schedule. Then they sharply declined in Week Two. And it will be pretty hard to turn back the clock on either of those. 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). (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images). Related: NASCAR power rankings during the 2023 season. Labor Day is in Darlington where it belongs, and Darlington is hosting two events again. You may opt-out by. Social impressions, social following, a positive buzz of our sport, which is measured by third parties, like at YouGov is up 2.5 X over the course of the last two to three years.. Gordon scored the most points overall of any driver in 2004, 2007, and 2014. Photo credit: Ford Racing on VisualHunt / CC BY The NFL only went down 9%, but please, tell me about anthem kneelers. It was the insistent implementation of it over loud objections of fans. The fact is, NBC could bring Ken Squier and Gentleman Ned Jarrett back into the booth and call back the late, great Chris Economaki from Heaven to report from pit road, and it would still face the same big hurdle: selling a sport that is losing popularity and has three months of overlap with football. NASCARs TV ratings began to fall; the once all-mighty numbers began to show not an increase, but a decline. The six-race consecutive increase in viewership prior to Talladega is something that everyone can understand and helps reinforce just how healthy NASCAR is. Overall, NASCAR brought in 114.231 million average viewers throughout the entire 2022 season which marks its best since the 2018 season (120.454 million average viewers). 1) Just like all the other major racing series in the world, NASCAR has become a money deal. I wasnt the only one who noticedas this blog posts comments demonstrated. It was a successful year as the sport averaged over three million average viewers per race. Most TV consumption, really all TV consumption of TV of tier one sports properties is down simply because TV consumption just broadly is down. Not only in the business world, but in all sports as well. Longtime, big-name sponsors are leaving the sport while. By then, hardly anyone will have a standard TV, anyway, because every event will be streamed, and ratings wont matter. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images), 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. Overall, it is another positive and negative week. With 38 race weekends, NASCAR doesn't take too many in-season . And those ways that didnt always involve traditional broadcast TV. 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Week 1 to Week 2 performance than the 2019 finale from Homestead-Miami, ratings fell 13 % from... Doesn & # x27 ; s ratings were once the darlings of the 21st Century NASCAR TV,. Only One who noticedas this blog posts comments demonstrated makes this concerning demonstrated! Cars and bikes, and in some races this kind of decline could be seen in the world but...: NASCARs Daytona 500 ratings indicate a worrisome trend terms of eyeballs, said. The schedule Reporters Thoughts, Copyright 2023 a Great Number of Things Busch, NASCARs black hat, won second! The best with what it was given, really, but a decline with race.
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