What’s Happening?
Is it really that bad when the sporting event that walloped your sport is the biggest professional golf event of the year? The Super Bowl, college basketball’s Final Four…NASCAR’s Daytona 500: You name it, every sport has its top day of the year.
This past Sunday, NASCAR’s Dirt Race at Bristol attracted 3.5 million views, with the Masters golf tournament running away with the weekend with 12 million. NASCAR had the second-biggest sports event of the weekend, understandably. Last weekend, it was the NCAA Women’s Basketball final that beat out NASCAR’s race at Richmond.
So beyond the obvious (Masters having an effect), what else could have contributed to the dip? Let’s see what’s being said about it:
- There was a 500,000-viewer dip in viewership for the Bristol race in comparison to last year’s 4.0 million that tuned in for the same unique race. The Tennessee-based dirt race was broadcast on FOX in the evening this year in prime time, a rare Sunday night race. Still, the numbers were down.
- NASCAR’s most popular driver, Chase Elliott has been out with injury since early March, which many fans bring up as a key reason for the lower numbers.
- Is this just temporary, or a sign of how things will continue to be? Fans chimed in on whether it’s alarming or temporary.
In the Stands
Nugget Tweeted what many fans have said for weeks now — it’s because of Chase Elliott’s absence. Elliott’s return to racing could come soon after fracturing his tibia in a skiing accident back in early March.
The sentiment of @118thSpeaker chimed in with the “at least once a week” Elliott effect mention, which is echoed each time the race ratings are announced on Tuesday
NASCAR was up against some brutal competition, according to BuddLite11:
DavidGardiner71 said the drop in viewership might have to do with the surface:
John59PA Tweeted took the “half full” side of things, not the “half empty”
Regardless of why each race this year has gone down in viewership, race fans are always there to offer suggestions about why and what could be done to improve the situation.