There are few things more important to NASCAR than TV ratings. TV networks are largely responsible for funding the NASCAR circus, and TV is how most NASCAR fans watch races. This year, we will keep track of the 2024 TV ratings and compare/contrast them to the previous year.
We will keep track of TV ratings totals for the entire season along with individual races. The totals will be compared to the 2023 season totals. The individual races will be compared to what we consider the most comparable race on the 2023 calendar.
Some races have outside factors that influence TV ratings. We will provide a brief explanation for what those factors are, and what it really says about NASCAR TV ratings.
Fans are always curious about TV ratings. They understand how important ratings are, and that it impacts the sport heavily.
Viewership Comparison (2024 vs 2023): -2.136 Million (-58.6%)
*Note: The 2024 Clash at the LA Coliseum was both moved up one day due to weather and moved from free, over-the-air TV on FOX to a cable channel, FS1. This is why there was such a major drop in TV viewership.
Duels at Daytonaon FS1*
Strong start to Daytona Speedweeks! Thursday night’s @NASCAR Duel at Daytona scored 1,640,000 viewers on FS1, up +7% over last year’s 1,535,000 and good for the best performance for the event since 2020. It also ranked as the No. 1 sports telecast of the day 📈. pic.twitter.com/tu8XoneecG
Viewership Comparison (2024 vs 2023): +0.105 Million (+6.8%)
Daytona 500 on Fox
Per FOX:
The 66th running of the Daytona 500 posted 5,964,000 viewers for the make-up race on Monday which saw William Byron take the checkered flag. •Off 27% from last year’s showing of 8,173,000 viewers that aired as scheduled on a Sunday. •22% better than 2021’s…
Viewership Comparison (2024 vs 2023): -2.209 Million(-27.0%)
*Note: The 2024 Daytona 500 was moved from Sunday afternoon to Monday evening due to rain. The race did stay on Fox, and it pulled in almost twice as many viewers as the highest-rated Monday race of 2023, the Coca-Cola 600. It also peaked at just over 8 million viewers according to Fox, which was almost as high as the 2023 Daytona 500s average.
Atlanta (Spring) on Fox
.@FoxTV got 4.546 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta, up 5% from 4.315 million for the equivalent weekend last year at Fontana.
Viewership Comparison (2024 vs 2023): +0.231 Million (+5.4%)
Las Vegas (Spring) on Fox
.@FoxTV got 4.359 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas, up 9% from last year (3.991 million), the most watched sports event of the weekend in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/tipxbX6m3n
Viewership Comparison (2024 vs 2023): +0.368 Million (+9.2%)
Phoenix (Spring) on Fox
.@FoxTV got 4.028 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix, up 19% from 3.389 million last year and the most-watched sports event of the weekend.
Viewership Comparison (2024 vs 2023): +0.387 Million (+11.3%)
*Note: This race weekend was Atlanta in 2023, so, that’s our 2023 Viewership comparison. Bristol Dirt was held on Easter Sunday 2023, and that race garnered 3.45 Million Views.
COTA on Fox
.@FoxTV got 3.310 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race @COTA, up 6% from last year (3.129 million) and the fifth straight increase for the series. pic.twitter.com/UGqNdkmHfV
.@FoxTV got 3.310 million viewers for Sunday night's NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond; last year's spring race was on FS1 so there's no direct YOY comparison.
*Note: Richmond in 2023 was held during the day and on cable, whereas the 2024 race was at night on network TV. The 2024 race was also held on Easter Sunday, and it compiled 0.140 (4.1%) FEWER viewers than the 2023 Easter race (Bristol Dirt)
Martinsville on FS1
.@FS1 got 2.191 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville, nearly flat from 2.218 million viewers last year (the race @ChaseElliott returned from injury) despite immense competition from the @WFinalFour championship game, which got 18.7 million viewers. pic.twitter.com/gpDg5ZCGj9
*Note: The 8th race of the year in 2023 was Bristol Dirt, but, that was on Easter on network TV. We used the spring Martinsville race for this comparison since the two races were only one week apart. However, the Bristol race will be used for the “Season as a Whole” Comparison used below.
Texas on FS1
.@FS1 got 2.310 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas; there's no direct comparison to last year since @TXMotorSpeedway was held during the playoffs in fall of 2023, but that event got 2.0 million viewers on @USANetwork. pic.twitter.com/kJ3LCTV3Eo
*Note: The 9th race of the year in 2023 was the spring Martinsville race where Chase Elliott returned. We used the fall Texas race for this comparison since that was the same track, but, the time of year means there is no great comparison. The Martinsville race will be used for the “Season as a Whole” Comparison used below.
Talladega on FOX
.@FoxTV got 4.307 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR race @Talladega, down 5% from 4.554 million last year but still the second most-watched sport of the weekend after two @NBA playoff games. pic.twitter.com/Qvyic0S1VV
Note: The 2023 race was postponed to Monday, and run during the middle of a weekday on FS1. The viewership is much lower than a typical Cup Series race as a result.
Season as a Whole
Totals
2024 Total/Average Viewership to Date: 43.686Million/3.360 Million Per Race
2023 Total Viewership to Date: 45.193 Million/3.677 Million Per Race
Total Viewership Difference (2024 vs 2023): -1.507 Million (-3.3%)
Average Viewership Difference (2024 vs 2023): -0.317 Million(-8.6%)
Points Races
2024 Total/Average Viewership To Date: 40.535 Million/3.685 Million
2023 Total/Average Viewership To Date: 40.011 Million/3.637 Million
Total Viewership Comparison (2024 vs 2023): +0.524 Million(+1.3%)
Average Viewership Comparison (2024 vs 2023): +0.048 Million(+1.3%)
Exhibition/Qualifying Races
2024 Total/Average Viewership To Date: 3.151 Million/1.576 Million Per Race
2023 Total/Average Viewership To Date: 5.182 Million/2.591 Million Per Race
Total Viewership Difference (2024 vs 2023): -2.031 Million (39.2%)
Average Viewership Difference (2024 vs 2023): -1.015 Million (39.2%)
Cable
2024 Total/Average Viewership To Date: 10.053 Million/2.011 Million Per Race
2023 Total/Average Viewership To Date: 7.123 Million/1.781 Million Per Race
Total Viewership Difference (2024 vs 2023): N/A (Uneven at This Point in the Schedule))
Average Viewership Difference (2024 vs 2023): +0.230 Million (-12.9%)
Network
2024 Total/Average Viewership To Date: 33.633 Million/4.204 Million
2023 Total/Average Viewership To Date: 38.070 Million/4.230 Million
Total Viewership Difference (2024 vs 2023): N/A (Uneven at This Point in the Schedule)
Average Viewership Difference (2024 vs 2023): -0.026 Million (-0.6%)
