COTA Ratings Down But Not As Steep As Previous Weeks

What’s Happening?

On the downside, Chase Elliott’s return to FOX Sports (at least in a commentator’s capacity) didn’t do much in stopping the ratings slip that has been a hot debate amongst fans in 2023. That’s right, the decline in ratings continued coming out of COTA.

But there is a silver lining: the drop off is far less than the other races this year compared to the 2022 numbers.

You Need To Know:

• The ratings for Sunday’s race hat COTA scored a 1.81 with 3.129 million viewers. That’s down from 2022’s COTA rating from 2.18 of 3.731 million viewers.
• While ratings are still in decline from 2022, it should be noted that the 2023 COTA drop off from 2022 is less than the year’s average. Homes Using Television (HUT) is down 12% from last year.
• This has a lot of fans confused. The general consensus amongst the NASCAR fan base is that the racing at COTA was better than the last several weeks, some even commenting on the improved broadcast as well. While the ratings drop isn’t ideal, many fans are just relieved that the fall off is not as steep as the last several weeks when compared to 2022.

In The Stands

Skid on Twitter notes that the ratings are down, yes, but not as badly as the week prior.

GDB notes the drop in viewership for every FOX Sports hosted televised event so far in 2023. Take note that, thus far, COTA is down the least at 2.18%.

Eric Saylor theorizes that March Madness might have been responsible for the spike in drop off to double digit percentages.

Mark criticizes the NASCAR marketing machine as he expected a spike trending upwards in viewership.

On Your Screen

Darian Gilliam of Black Flags Matter comments on the continuous free fall.

David Land of YouTube also voiced his concerns.

From The Pressbox

Sports writer, Cody, breaks down what HUT means. Here he states that the 12% drop off in HUT alone is alarming.

Chase Elliott’s return to television, though in a broadcast capacity, wasn’t enough to keep NASCAR from continuing its ratings decline. Neither was the impressive slew of ringers set to compete. What does this say about where NASCAR is? Ratings are often seen as a measuring stick by fans. Could this continuous fall off over the last several years indicate declining interest?