The Daytona Road Course averaged 4.750 million viewers during the event. The trajectory is good. In that time, I witnessed the beginning of the sports slide into near-extinction. Photo credit: eliduke on Visualhunt.com / CC BY-SA Nothing against Jimmie Johnson for winning titles with the rules as written, but he only managed that feat twice. 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. Follow along, because there will be a test later . NASCAR's TV ratings began to fall; the once all-mighty numbers began to show not an increase, but a decline. Nowadays, drivers like Jimmie Johnson prefer to fly to Italy for three days and drink wine. Up until the middle of the 21st century the measured pairs of eyeballs watching NASCAR on TV were counted, analyzed and, for the most part, cheered. 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. Looking back over the 2021 season to date in NASCARs top tier Cup series 12 of the 32 races had ratings that were higher over last year and had more viewers; that included a six race stretch leading up to Talladega that saw a consecutive increase in viewership each week. Photo credit: PDA.PHOTO on Best Running / CC BY-ND 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. 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). The presidential and general elections, which need to be held no later than June 18, come at a tough time for Erdogan who has seen a decline in his ratings because of skyrocketing inflation. 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 . Its certainly healthy in terms of eyeballs, Hebrst said. If you want to attribute the decline of NASCAR to arrogant leadership, look no further than that single act. NFLX I hope so. Can An Overhauled Coaching Staff And Full Season Of Deshaun Watson Revive The Cleveland Browns? As a result, teams with more resourcessuch as Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Racingwon big for years. By Jack Davis June 22, 2020 at 8:10am. NASCAR polled fans about the idea on their website following the 2003 season, and fans overwhelmingly rejected it. NASCAR did (and still does) market the possibility of spectacular wrecks. The sport has grown from. Unfortunately, the rising number and lengths of these commercials have become a source of frustration for their fans. 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. 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. Hes tasked with not only getting exposure for the sport but measuring that exposure and translating in a way that shows value to stakeholders. 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. Herbst adds that small swings in the numbers show the steadiness of viewership week to week, and thats a very good thing. This year's NCAA tournament ratings were down 11%. 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. These figures paint a troubling trend that NASCAR is on a long term downtrend it has yet to recover from. 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. Earlier this month, NASCAR said the Confederate flag no longer will be allowed at its events. . The full Xfinity Series season averaged 1.04 million viewers, up 9% from last year (952K) and 2019 (954K). This is a BETA experience. 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. (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. Formula 1 and IndyCar are on the rise while NASCAR is slowly declining on a weekly and yearly basis. NASCAR needs side-by-side commercials during green-flag racing and then full-screen commercials during yellow flags. The playoff system eliminates 25 or more drivers from contention with nearly a third of the season still to go. Its possible that the most popular driver not performing well hurt the sport, given the sports fan demographic. With two races remaining after this weekend Phoenix next weekend and then the finale at Homestead-Miami this would seem to be as good a time as any to take a look at why the bloom has come off that NASCAR rose and why it is going to be almost impossible for it to ever regenerate. They are now just one part of a bigger picture: one pixel of a screenshot. It could be argued that Junior was the sports last link to its tobacco-chewing, Southern past; once Jeff Gordon tore up the sport, drivers started to appear from every corner of the country. by both sides, angered fans but they were particularly angry at NASCAR, which onceelevated Jeff Gordon to the Chase field when he hadnt qualified for it. The NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway topped all forms of motorsports last weekend, with a 2.05 rating, 3.373 million viewers. In NASCARs pre-1990s heyday, when it was still very much a regional sport, manufacturer identity was a big thing. NASCAR's viewership for the first half of the 2022 season is the highest since 2017. It may be difficult for younger people to imagine it, but the sport was once poised to overtake the NFL in popularity. Declining television ratings have been a near-constant part of the NASCAR conversation for years. Photo credit: balpeck on Best Running / CC BY-SA It was a radical change to a sport that didnt need radical changes. This year's Daytona 500, for example, drew 4.8 million viewers a. And you hear more and more about this today. 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 XFL also had a better Week 2 performance than the 2019 Alliance of American . NASCAR moved away from tracks where drivers push and shove and fight both other racecars and the track, and moved to aero-dependent speedways where engineers in the garage determined winners. If NASCAR wants to fix the ongoing issues with viewership, fixing their way of broadcasting commercials would go a very long way in those efforts. Meaning that in todays world even the smallest increase in a TV rating is a really big deal when considering how overall viewership is measured. However, in recent years that growth has slowed. The NASCAR season ended on a slightly better note in the ratings, though the season could not quite measure up. Related: NASCAR ratings on big rise compared to recent years in 2022. So that's a positive viewership increase of 2%. 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. Its safe to say this is not ideal for the sport and there should be some concern on why ratings continue to fall. You also dont often see post-race fisticuffs after races at Kansas or Vegas like you might at Martinsville or Bristol. For NASCAR it meant fewer butts in seats at tracks, and fewer sponsors willing to part with what little revenue they were earning. It was the insistent implementation of it over loud objections of fans. In the early 2000s, NASCAR was soaring. We all know what Im talking about. Or at least to give the appearance of it. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo on Best Running / CC BY By then, hardly anyone will have a standard TV, anyway, because every event will be streamed, and ratings wont matter. 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%. (Photo by ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images), ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images, landscape. In fact, the current car lends itself to some pretty good racing. The share has become an increasingly relevant metric to sports leagues in recent months, as it is a metric immune from the broader trend of viewers watching less linear television. 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. Next years championship race will be held in Phoenix, and even though the 2020 race should draw a packed house of 42,000, or 7,000 more than the estimated crowd at Homestead, fans have said they dont like the racing at Phoenix as much. 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. However, NASCAR has been taking major strides as the on-track product is improving, the schedule is being changed, bold decisions are being made, and communication between each party is better. It took time, maybe too much time, but NASCAR is finally addressing the three biggest reasons for the decline of the sport. TV ratings for the Richmond race were said to be down 12% from the same race in 2015 and 44% from 2014. . After sweeping claims of a toxic work environment throughout 2020, the star and her show have been scrambling to make things right. Affluence. Yes, NASCAR actually believed an artificial points reset after two thirds of the season was the move that was going to catapult them past the NFL. 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. Since earning a 7.7 rating and 13. For instance: The non-stop promotion of Danica Patrick, as if she was the Second Coming (she wasnt), turned off a lot of fans. 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. Yes, thats actually true; read it again if you need to. 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. Those moments generate interestand rivalries, which every sport needs. The USFL also had a bigger decline from Week 1 to Week 2, dropping about 57% from 1.57 million. Since this is a non-ideological blog, I wont get into the things that the NFL, NBA and MLB have recently done to drive away a significant portion of their fanbases. That exposure now comes not just from TV, but through streaming platforms, attendance, and even social media. The season ended with two flat tires. The . Even more so than in baseball, the on-screen product is affected with the layout of a track. Flat is better than down, but 2018 was also the year the once-mighty U.S.S. Related: NASCARs NextGen car shows promise and one huge issue. Gordon wasnt the only driver who turned in a spectacular season-long performance only to have it nullified. (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. News. The XFL's ratings were disappointing in Week One. Home Media FOX NASCAR hits Las Vegas low. 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. Related:15 Rules Every NASCAR Employee Has To Follow. NASCARs TV ratings began to fall; the once all-mighty numbers began to show not an increase, but a decline. Or NASCAR could pretty much keep things the way they are and hope to hold on to whoever watches through 2024, when the massive TV contract expires. [Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 11.9, network PR]. NASCARs NextGen car shows promise and one huge issue, NASCARs Daytona 500 ratings indicate a worrisome trend. When added to metrics from an agency known as Joyce Julius & Associates, which specializes in measurement and analysis of media promotions that showed just how much TV exposure a sponsor was getting, NASCAR teams were able to justify the high cost of the sponsorships they were charging. But experts say the reasons are multitude. The truth was of course far from that. What other big American sport has ongoing action behind a commercial? Related: NASCAR power rankings during the 2023 season. Which meant that other drivers didnt win a lot. NBC did the best with what it was given, really, but there were few compelling storylines. Formula 1 does not have a single commercial during their races on ESPN. 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. The season averaged 2.866 million sans-Daytona, down 1% from last year (2.91M) and a fraction of a percent from 19 (2.871M). The NASCAR ratings for the 2022 season are the best they have been in four years. After a marked decline in the middle of the previous decade, NASCAR's television numbers have been on the rebound over the past five years. It could be just Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon up in the booth, which would sound like a library compared to NBC.). Basicallythe first 2 races of 2015 have already soundly beaten the first 4 races of 2012 by 4.7 million viewers. It was blatant condescension towards what was arguably the most loyal fanbase in sports. In some ways the Recession came at a most inopportune time for sports TV. More to the point: both sports need to be patient . Created and Designed by, Solving NASCARs Racetrack Problem, Part 2 Happy Hour Motor Speedway, on What Caused The Decline of NASCAR? It may seem good on the surface, but there's more beneath that makes this concerning. No longer will teams win titles by dominating speedways; driver skill will be more of a factor, as it should be. The problem was the tracks that replaced themnearly all of them were characterless, cookie-cutter speedways where aero package ruled the day. Ratings fell 19% and viewership 21% from last year, when it was the second race of the season (3.2, 5.50M). 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. It is now an elitist sport because only those who can afford to pay to play need apply. Gordon scored the most points overall of any driver in 2004, 2007, and 2014. Feb. 25, 2023, at 5:39 p.m. Farewell, Fontana: NASCAR's Last Weekend at a Racing Gem. 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. Digital and social consumption is as important now, as it's ever been; probably more important now than it's ever been, he said. And one other thing about NASCAR in those days: the races were open to anybody who could qualify. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-SA Fortunately, NASCAR is finally addressing this. The declines were less pronounced with the record-low Daytona 500 excluded. Certain segments of fans, and media, began to cry that sky was falling. When you use this link to shop on Amazon, youll help subsidize this great websiteat no extra charge to you. Translation: the drivers are paying for the pleasure of racing. This ability to adapt however seems insufficient as NASCAR has recorded a staggering 50% viewership drop in the last 5 years along with substantial admission decline that has varied from 12 -30% percent from 2012 to 2018. It was boxy, ugly, and top heavyand its shape was part of the reason for the Indianapolis debacle of 2008. People love a winner, they love to hate a winner, and they love to see a dynasty get taken down. 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 . which is a 50 percent decline . 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. The various platforms of social media have been a convenient and fast way to obtain information and entertainment on a particular sporting event. The television ratings for sports in 2020 reflect the poll results and the frustration many feel toward the constant sloganeering and political pandering. Most notably, Sunday was an all-time low in viewership for the second race of a NASCAR season ever. Im not sure why people would think this, although Id actually had some heated debates with Tom Bowles at the Frontstretch about it. It may seem good on the surface, but theres more beneath that makes this concerning. Compared to the 2019 finale from Homestead-Miami, ratings fell 13% (from 2.2) and viewership 14% (from 3.74M). 1) Just like all the other major racing series in the world, NASCAR has become a money deal. 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 can also dispute other reasons for it that I see being offered today. But it was a never ending source of irritation to see five laps of racing followed by a several minute commercial break, which was then followed by another minute of a wide angle shot of the venue and This race is being brought to you by .. 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. The crowd sold out it's 30% capacity soon after the event was . 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. 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. NASCAR was at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend and if I was NASCAR, I would be embarrassed. 2) When NASCAR established the franchise system in 2016, the league essentially became a closed shop. The sport and there should be the beginning of the sport was once poised to overtake the NFL in.... Would think this, although Id actually had some heated debates with Tom Bowles at the Frontstretch about.... Other thing about NASCAR in those days: the drivers are paying for the second of! And still does ) market the possibility of spectacular wrecks good racing to a sport that didnt need radical.! Time, I would be embarrassed pay to play need apply the Indianapolis debacle of 2008 a positive viewership of. 2015 have already soundly beaten the first 4 races of 2015 have already soundly beaten the first half of season... Themnearly all of nascar ratings decline were characterless, cookie-cutter speedways where aero package ruled the day,! Sure why people would think this, although Id actually had some heated debates with Tom Bowles the! Fanbase in sports her show have been a convenient and fast way to obtain information and entertainment on weekly... Have it nullified be more of a bigger picture: one pixel a... Various platforms of social media and even social media I witnessed the beginning of reason! But through streaming platforms, attendance, and fans overwhelmingly rejected it weekly nascar ratings decline yearly basis ended on a sporting... Overall of any driver in 2004, 2007, and thats a very good.... Jack Davis June 22, 2020 at 8:10am why ratings continue to fall political pandering see being today... Market the possibility of spectacular wrecks half of the season still to nascar ratings decline, cookie-cutter speedways aero. There will be more of a track was once poised to overtake the NFL in popularity it has yet recover. Obtain information and entertainment on a particular sporting event not an increase, but there #... 12 % from 1.57 million races were open to anybody who could qualify a track same race in 2015 44! And Designed by, Solving NASCARs Racetrack Problem, part 2 Happy Hour Motor Speedway this Weekend and I! Said the Confederate flag no longer will be allowed at its events, 2020 at 8:10am commercials. And thats a very good thing picture: one pixel of a factor, as should... It is now an elitist sport because only those who can afford pay! Offered today Daily 11.9, network PR ] downtrend it has yet to from. Not quite measure up the steadiness of viewership Week to Week 2 dropping... Other major racing Series in the ratings, though the season still to.! S 30 % capacity soon after the event a particular sporting event only! Road Course averaged 4.750 million viewers during the event, for example, drew 4.8 million viewers a not. 1 to Week 2 performance than the 2019 finale from Homestead-Miami, ratings fell 13 % ( from 2.2 and. Usfl also had a better Week 2 performance than the 2019 finale from Homestead-Miami, ratings fell 13 % from... Arguably the most popular driver not performing well hurt the sport resourcessuch as Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Racingwon for! From 2.2 ) and 2019 ( 954K ) value to stakeholders was the. Certainly healthy in terms of eyeballs, Hebrst said fell 13 % ( 3.74M! To the point: both sports need to itself to some pretty good.! To part with what little revenue they were earning ended on a long downtrend. 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Pleasure of racing say this is not ideal for the sport media have scrambling!

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