NASCAR - Television Ratings Thread

Road course fatigue is real, I think. They never drew well on TV to begin with but now that there’s a solid bunch of them any one in particular isn’t as much of a must-see. Especially Sonoma.

This. A lot of my NASCAR buddies could not care for them, adding more to the schedule was not a good idea. IMO they need to bring it back to 3 and run another short track to replace
 
The IndyCar race at Road America was up 25% over last year.
In fairness that's not an apples to apples comparison for the fact that last year the race was on NBCSN and this year the race was on NBC. What is more of an apples to apples comparison is comparing the 2020 Indycar race which was on NBC that had 1.05 million. So 2022 is essentially flat from 2020 with a more comparable comparison.
 
I've answered the what, 3 separate times now. You can either address what I said in those and tell me why you aren't concerned, or you can continue to play dumb. It's your choice.
What does that 43% have to do with you? How does it effect your viewing habits? Btw, I gave you the benefit of a doubt when you first came over but now I see you are just another "sky is falling type" and nothing of substance. I've asked you several times how it effects you other then being "concerned" and you've got nothing. I'm not concerned one bit. zero, nada, zilch over TV ratings. When they start sending me a check every week based on ratings I might get concerned. Try not to worry so much, its not good for you.
 
The IndyCar race at Road America was up 25% over last year.
Hey, don't you be bringing that blaspheming in here lol

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You've said three times that you're concerned the numbers are down. You haven't yet said WHY this is troubling you or should be bothering the rest of us. If the TV networks are happy, what's the problem?

Television viewing of live sports in the US is down across the board, even football. Attendance at races is down over the last 20 years. The sport isn't going anywhere.
Thank you
 
You've said three times that you're concerned the numbers are down. You haven't yet said WHY this is troubling you or should be bothering the rest of us. If the TV networks are happy, what's the problem?

Television viewing of live sports in the US is down across the board, even football. Attendance at races is down over the last 20 years. The sport isn't going anywhere.
I feel like the why is not really needed to be explained, but I will give you the why.

Why this is concerning to me is: Aren't sponsorship dollars tied to how many people are viewing what they are sponsoring. If in 2016 a sponsorship of a Cup car cost (I have no idea, just a guess) $20 million for the year, but I knew that I was going to reach an average of 6 million people per race, then okay cool! Well here we are 6 years later and it's probably still $20 million for the year, maybe higher (again don't know the exact dollar figure) but now instead of 6 million per race, it's closer to 4 million. That's a substantial drop and may impact how much I'd be willing to pay for that same sponsorship going forward.

which is what we've seen in the last 5-7 years. We once saw sponsors like GM Goodwrench, Dupont, UPS, M&M's, Budweiser, Target, Lowes, Hope Depot, Napa, and I could go on and on... sponsor every single race. So those sponsors were on the car every weekend, and investing millions of dollars into the sport, running ads and getting their drivers known by the general public.

What do we have now? We have FedEx, Ally and I think NAPA and that's it... for sponsoring a car each weekend. Otherwise it's a a bunch of 3 or 5 race deals from companies to scrap together the funds to go racing. What this has done (and Denny Hamlin agreed on Dale Jr Download) is not getting these new drivers out into the general public. 20 years ago just about everyone knew who Tony Stewart was, or Jeff Gordon, or Jimmie Johnson, you get the point. Walk into Home Depot today and ask someone if they know who Alex Bowman is, a lot less people would know who that is.

Loss of viewership is and should be concerning for anybody who loves racing. If ratings and viewership increases are good (which they are), I don't understand why when they are down big time for 6 short years ago, it wouldn't be concerning.
 
What does that 43% have to do with you? How does it effect your viewing habits? Btw, I gave you the benefit of a doubt when you first came over but now I see you are just another "sky is falling type" and nothing of substance. I've asked you several times how it effects you other then being "concerned" and you've got nothing. I'm not concerned one bit. zero, nada, zilch over TV ratings. When they start sending me a check every week based on ratings I might get concerned. Try not to worry so much, its not good for you.

1. What does it have to do with me? I love the sport, and would prefer to see more people watching it, not less. I thought you loved the sport too.
2. How does it effect my viewing habits? I never said it does. That is not a smart question.
3. I'm not a "sky is falling type". I said nothing close to that. I provided facts, and just like the last time we had a run-in about 3-4 weeks ago, you ignored the substance of my post each time.
4. You asked me several times, and I answered several times. I also provided several facts to back up my concern, it's not my fault you either didn't see them or simply chose to ignore them
5. I'm glad you aren't concerned about less people watching the sport you claim to love.
 
I feel like the why is not really needed to be explained, but I will give you the why.

Why this is concerning to me is: Aren't sponsorship dollars tied to how many people are viewing what they are sponsoring. If in 2016 a sponsorship of a Cup car cost (I have no idea, just a guess) $20 million for the year, but I knew that I was going to reach an average of 6 million people per race, then okay cool! Well here we are 6 years later and it's probably still $20 million for the year, maybe higher (again don't know the exact dollar figure) but now instead of 6 million per race, it's closer to 4 million. That's a substantial drop and may impact how much I'd be willing to pay for that same sponsorship going forward.

which is what we've seen in the last 5-7 years. We once saw sponsors like GM Goodwrench, Dupont, UPS, M&M's, Budweiser, Target, Lowes, Hope Depot, Napa, and I could go on and on... sponsor every single race. So those sponsors were on the car every weekend, and investing millions of dollars into the sport, running ads and getting their drivers known by the general public.

What do we have now? We have FedEx, Ally and I think NAPA and that's it... for sponsoring a car each weekend. Otherwise it's a a bunch of 3 or 5 race deals from companies to scrap together the funds to go racing. What this has done (and Denny Hamlin agreed on Dale Jr Download) is not getting these new drivers out into the general public. 20 years ago just about everyone knew who Tony Stewart was, or Jeff Gordon, or Jimmie Johnson, you get the point. Walk into Home Depot today and ask someone if they know who Alex Bowman is, a lot less people would know who that is.

Loss of viewership is and should be concerning for anybody who loves racing. If ratings and viewership increases are good (which they are), I don't understand why when they are down big time for 6 short years ago, it wouldn't be concerning.
Bud, this is the same ol same ol story we have heard here for years. The "concern" has been over years ago. It's a dead horse for the most part.
 
Bud, this is the same ol same ol story we have heard here for years. The "concern" has been over years ago. It's a dead horse for the most part.
I'd love nothing more then to be wrong. But what I don't understand is why folks like you, and spotter22 have to be a jackass when I express a genuine concern over a sport I love

I'm sorry you apparently ran into bad intentioned posters in the past, but I'm not them. I love NASCAR, and want to see it do well. I watch most every truck race, most every XFinity race and most every Cup races. I also watched about 12 hours of the 24 hours of Le Mans this past weekend, I watched the Indycar Road America race... I'm just a race fan. I'm going to the SCCA June Sprints this weekend, I just love racing.

If this website was around in the 90's or early 2000's.... seeing those massive jumps in viewership, attendance, and ratings, this place would be going crazy and rightfully so about how exciting it is that there is all this growth, curiosity and more viewership of what we love. So when the opposite is true, I don't know why that makes me a "sky is falling type".
 
1. What does it have to do with me? I love the sport, and would prefer to see more people watching it, not less. I thought you loved the sport too.
2. How does it effect my viewing habits? I never said it does. That is not a smart question.
3. I'm not a "sky is falling type". I said nothing close to that. I provided facts, and just like the last time we had a run-in about 3-4 weeks ago, you ignored the substance of my post each time.
4. You asked me several times, and I answered several times. I also provided several facts to back up my concern, it's not my fault you either didn't see them or simply chose to ignore them
5. I'm glad you aren't concerned about less people watching the sport you claim to love.
No I hate this sport. Its why I spent the better part of my life in it. Try xanax
 
This. A lot of my NASCAR buddies could not care for them, adding more to the schedule was not a good idea. IMO they need to bring it back to 3 and run another short track to replace
There is no road course fatigue in my house, but there certainly is short track fatigue around here. Just my opinion.

Actually, I was surprised to see FL's comment that the roadies don't rate well on TV. I'm not doubting the comment, it's just that I didn't know it before. I believe the short tracks generally pull small TV audiences as well as small live attendance.
 
I feel like the why is not really needed to be explained, but I will give you the why.

Why this is concerning to me is: Aren't sponsorship dollars tied to how many people are viewing what they are sponsoring. If in 2016 a sponsorship of a Cup car cost (I have no idea, just a guess) $20 million for the year, but I knew that I was going to reach an average of 6 million people per race, then okay cool! Well here we are 6 years later and it's probably still $20 million for the year, maybe higher (again don't know the exact dollar figure) but now instead of 6 million per race, it's closer to 4 million. That's a substantial drop and may impact how much I'd be willing to pay for that same sponsorship going forward.

which is what we've seen in the last 5-7 years. We once saw sponsors like GM Goodwrench, Dupont, UPS, M&M's, Budweiser, Target, Lowes, Hope Depot, Napa, and I could go on and on... sponsor every single race. So those sponsors were on the car every weekend, and investing millions of dollars into the sport, running ads and getting their drivers known by the general public.

What do we have now? We have FedEx, Ally and I think NAPA and that's it... for sponsoring a car each weekend. Otherwise it's a a bunch of 3 or 5 race deals from companies to scrap together the funds to go racing. What this has done (and Denny Hamlin agreed on Dale Jr Download) is not getting these new drivers out into the general public. 20 years ago just about everyone knew who Tony Stewart was, or Jeff Gordon, or Jimmie Johnson, you get the point. Walk into Home Depot today and ask someone if they know who Alex Bowman is, a lot less people would know who that is.

Loss of viewership is and should be concerning for anybody who loves racing. If ratings and viewership increases are good (which they are), I don't understand why when they are down big time for 6 short years ago, it wouldn't be concerning.
Bowmans car used to be sponsored by Lowes. Is this one of your facts? lol
 
No I hate this sport. Its why I spent the better part of my life in it. Try xanax
Congrats on once again ignoring the content of what was said just like you did about a month ago. That now makes 4/4 for you today alone, quite the accomplishment. If you aren't looking for a good on-point discussion then I'd suggest to just ignore me going forward, it may serve you better.
 
Congrats on once again ignoring the content of what was said just like you did about a month ago. That now makes 4/4 for you today alone, quite the accomplishment. If you aren't looking for a good on-point discussion then I'd suggest to just ignore me going forward, it may serve you better.
If you had something to add that made sense and hadnt already been discussed for years you might get a bite
 
There is no road course fatigue in my house, but there certainly is short track fatigue around here. Just my opinion.

Actually, I was surprised to see FL's comment that the roadies don't rate well on TV. I'm not doubting the comment, it's just that I didn't know it before. I believe the short tracks generally pull small TV audiences as well as small live attendance.
I checked back a few years on road courses and like most of Nascar races their ratings are pretty steady. The road courses pull in the high 1's like 1.8, 1.9 up into the low to mid 2's. My interest is to see if the rating hold for the increases amount of road courses in the schedule. I'm in the same boat prefer road courses to the smaller oval tracks.
 
What races did Lowes sponsor Alex Bowman?

Alex Bowman has been sponsored by Ally as far as I know.
It was Jimmie Johnsons long time sponsor and the same car and team that Bowman drives for now.Using Home Depot and Bowman in the same sentence is comical.
 
If you had something to add that made sense and hadnt already been discussed for years you might get a bite
I added something that made sense and wasn't already discussed for years. You either don't care, or didn't see it.

F1 has more total viewers in the 18-49 age demo in total numbers, compared to NASCAR, despite NASCAR having roughly 2.5x more viewership.


Miami F1 race saw 700k in that coveted demo watch
NASCAR Cup at Darlington saw 517k in that same demo.

How do I know this wasn't discussed for years on end? Because this trend started at the end of last year and has picked up into this year.

Let's see if you or anybody will address this factual post with rational discussion. I fear it'll be something else though, prove me wrong Spotter22 or StandOnIt
 
It was Jimmie Johnsons long time sponsor and the same car and team that Bowman drives for now.Using Home Depot and Bowman in the same sentence is comical.
Yea I know it was Jimmie Johnson's long time sponsor. The point was walk into any store today, Target, walmart, a great clips, your local grocery store, whatever... and ask a stranger who Alex Bowman is. If you did the same experiment 20 years ago, or even today with Stewart, Johnson, Gordon, or hell even Michael Waltrip... more would know them and have no idea who Bowman is.
 
How do I know this wasn't discussed for years on end? Because this trend started at the end of last year and has picked up into this year.
Maybe because you have been shown and told numerous times by many different posters. We aren't concerned. Slow learner I guess.
 
Maybe because you have been shown and told numerous times by many different posters. We aren't concerned. Slow learner I guess.
Okay, thankfully someone as NASCAR is aware that 80% of their viewers are over 50 years old and rightfully see it as concerning.

I give you Steve Phelps https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2022/02/24/Media/NASCAR.aspx
"Opportunities for us to get younger and more diverse (are) critical for us." He added, "For us, we have been trying to get younger and more diverse for a decade. You can say it, but to do it is another thing and ... we are very intentional in trying to do that." Phelps said it is about "working from an ownership perspective and it's working from a fan perspective importantly." Phelps: "If we think about where this sport is going, diversity is playing a huge part in it." He said NASCAR is "driving revenue" with these digital media initiatives, "but for us it's really about engagement, engaging these younger fans, engaging these diverse fans, getting them to sample NASCAR where they are"

At least Phelps is aware that it's a big problem. I thought supposed Cup fans would be concerned about the lack of younger viewers as well, but obviously not.
 
At least Phelps is aware that it's a big problem. I thought supposed Cup fans would be concerned about the lack of younger viewers as well, but obviously not.
It's a big problem for you. We have been down the trail about the ages of fans many times. It's a much younger crowd now.
 
Negotiations for the next broadcast contract(s) is/are expected to get underway at season’s end.

The current deals pay $8.8 Billion over their 10 year life ending at the conclusion of the 2025 season.

NASCAR is a content provider. The networks will decide whether or not the product has sufficient value. I am unconcerned that they will refuse to buck up and I am equally unconcerned about the mental health of anyone planning to worry about it for the next year.
 
It's a big problem for you. We have been down the trail about the ages of fans many times. It's a much younger crowd now.
It's a big problem for NASCAR, as admitted by NASCAR President Steve Phelps, but sure.
 
Road course fatigue is real, I think. They never drew well on TV to begin with but now that there’s a solid bunch of them any one in particular isn’t as much of a must-see. Especially Sonoma.

They’ve never been to wine country, or experienced the beauty of NorCal really
 
Yea I know it was Jimmie Johnson's long time sponsor. The point was walk into any store today, Target, walmart, a great clips, your local grocery store, whatever... and ask a stranger who Alex Bowman is. If you did the same experiment 20 years ago, or even today with Stewart, Johnson, Gordon, or hell even Michael Waltrip... more would know them and have no idea who Bowman is.

He’s not wrong on this point unfortunately
 
I sort of wish if Fox is going to have as many races on FS1 as they do, that they'd space them out a little more. The numbers are strong on Fox, but then they go on this stretch run (other than the 600) to the end of their portion of the schedule where all of the races are on FS1, and there's a loss of momentum that seems to last the rest of the season. And then NBC takes over and seldom puts a race on their main broadcast network until we're deep into the playoffs. I can see why NASCAR is hoping they can get more of their Cup races on a broadcast network during this next contract.
 
I sort of wish if Fox is going to have as many races on FS1 as they do, that they'd space them out a little more. The numbers are strong on Fox, but then they go on this stretch run (other than the 600) to the end of their portion of the schedule where all of the races are on FS1, and there's a loss of momentum that seems to last the rest of the season. And then NBC takes over and seldom puts a race on their main broadcast network until we're deep into the playoffs. I can see why NASCAR is hoping they can get more of their Cup races on a broadcast network during this next contract.

Or we could have 24/38 races on a main network like Fox, NBC, ESPN/ABC, CBS and the other 14 on cable networks. Instead of the 19-20 we get.

NASCAR would rather chase the dollars than the exposure it seems, unfortunately
 
The math doesn't add up lol.



But that is a pretty impressive statistic. I knew NASCAR was dominant, but those numbers really put it into perspective. That's probably like comparing the NFL to the other conventional sports.


Mulvihill is a Fox Sports exec and an interesting follow. Posts stuff not otherwise available, always somewhat skewed toward Fox and their content, but that's par for the course.

He didn't cite any methodology here. Based on the types of stats he often posts, I'm going to guess this is essentially total minutes consumed. Which is a measure that is going to favor NASCAR (more events, longer events). Still interesting. Nobody doubts NASCAR has by far the largest audience among American motorsports.
 
Nobody doubts NASCAR has by far the largest audience among American motorsports.
Eh, now, we had one that was seriously concerned so that is why I posted it. When they have 80% of the available racing market it explains our lackadaisical unconcerned responses.
 
Or we could have 24/38 races on a main network like Fox, NBC, ESPN/ABC, CBS and the other 14 on cable networks. Instead of the 19-20 we get.

NASCAR would rather chase the dollars than the exposure it seems, unfortunately

Yes. It just seems to me, when you have a 6-week stretch from May 1 to June 12 where only 1 race is on Fox, there's a tendency for "out of sight, out of mind" to set in, especially in this day and age where people are cord-cutting. And then after Nashville on NBC, 11 of the 13 next Cup races are on USA, which doesn't help matters. From May 1 through September 30, there's only 4 Cup races on either Fox or NBC this season.
 
The ratings have been old news to me since 2019. But it’s good there’s improvements and room for improvement.
 
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