Nascar’s Daytona 500 recorded an average viewership of 5.96 million on Fox after its weekend schedule was wrecked by rain.
Confirmed:
- Average viewership only tops 2021 edition of race, which hit a record low of 4.91 million viewers
- Compared to the previous Daytona 500 to take place on a Monday back in 2020, average viewership fell 21 per cent
Context:
The Daytona 500 is Nascar’s flagship event, drawing in the highest viewership of the season every year. With average viewership consistently dropping year-on-year, series executives will be disheartened to see weather play such a disruptive role.
For comparison, last year’s unaffected race averaged 8.18 million viewers, but this in turn highlights the plummeting viewership since the turn of the century, with the 2006 edition averaging 19.36 million viewers.
Three of the last five editions of the iconic race have now been detrimentally affected by rain. Despite this, the race still managed to be the most-watched sporting event of the weekend, beating out the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) All-Star Game, which averaged 5.4 million viewers.
Comment:
Coming next:
Nascar will hope this weekend’s race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway goes ahead without difficulties, with the Ambetter Health 400 getting underway on 25th February.