The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series took an early hit on its TV viewership with rainouts at Daytona and the LA Clash. While NASCAR saw a slight increase in ratings this season, the question remains of how the sport would have done without its weather-affected races.
During the “State of the Sport” press conference on Nov. 8 in Phoenix, NASCAR President Steve Phelps reflected on this season’s TV ratings and the potential effects that weather had on them. Phelps focused on all the misfortune found in those races, particularly those like the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600 that gained attention from the casual viewer.
“If you had asked me at the beginning of the year, I will bet you that you can dig out of a 27 percent hole at the 500 and then two double-digital ratings decline on your next two highest-rated races or two of the three highest-rated races, I would have said, There is no way that’s going to happen.” — Steve Phelps, NASCAR President
Of course, they ended up in the green on ratings and viewership for NASCAR. According to our NASCAR TV Ratings Tracker, the 39 event schedule for NASCAR saw a +1.210% boost in viewers. This totaled out to 110.685 million viewers compared to 2023’s 109.362 million.
While this was an overall positive, the 2.209 Million viewers lost at the rain-delayed Daytona 500, which is a major blow to what could have been. With that question in mind, let’s dive into NASCAR’s 2024 viewership.
For our purposes, we will remove these races, all affected by weather, from the data set:
LA Clash:
Daytona 500:
Kansas (Spring):
Coca-Cola 600:
New Hampshire:
Nashville:
Chicago Street Race:
Michigan:
Obviously, some of those races saw slight boosts from 2023; this is due to factors such as a worse rain delay in 2023 and a better time slot due to a rain delay.
With the initial data, all 39 races, included, this is how 2024 NASCAR viewership looked at season end:
All races, including The Clash, The Duels, and the All-Star Race (39 Total)
As previously stated, this is an overall boost in viewership for the sport from year to year. However, if you remove the races affected by weather, this number rises accordingly:
All races, including The Clash, The Duels, and the All-Star Race (39 Total) Without Weather Affected Races
As expected, this data shows an all-around boost in viewership without these key races. NASCAR also benefited from boosts in other areas, alongside a healthy playoffs, in which there were no race days affected by weather
While this is not exact math as to what could have been for NASCAR in 2024, it is worth looking at the major impacts inclement weather can have on a season’s viewership.
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