Translation: the drivers are paying for the pleasure of racing. It took time, maybe too much time, but NASCAR is finally addressing the three biggest reasons for the decline of the sport. Now, NASCAR might say, Well, 3.759 million for a race in November, even if it is half as much as four years ago, is more than 0.000 viewers for no race. And ratings are slightly better overall when you include the Fox half, which is better than another plunge, as in 2018. The decision . 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Advertising and sponsorship deals are the lifeblood of spectator sports, that is why the TV spots for the Superbowl are some of the most expensive in television. Jimmie won a lot. Flat is better than down, but 2018 was also the year the once-mighty U.S.S. There are still 11 races on intermediate tracks, but its finally moving in the right direction. That isnt insignificant when it comes to explaining the decline of NASCAR. The crowd sold out it's 30% capacity soon after the event was . Compared to Week 2 of last year's USFL, which consisted of two games on broadcast and two on cable, the XFL's Week 2 audience was down just slightly (661K to 655K). Unless you are a die-hard fan of the sport, people would rather watch condensed snippets of the race or read the highlights instead of actually spending time watching or subscribing to NASCAR real-time races. No longer do young NASCAR racers start at their local tracks and work their way up. Home Media FOX NASCAR hits Las Vegas low. This isnt to say that the initial Car of Tomorrow wasnt a disasterit wasbut at the time, fans were plenty vocal about safety after the loss of the sports biggest icon. The trajectory is good. NASCAR teams get creative with sponsors following dip in ratings, attendance Rick Hendrick is seeking a new sponsor for Jimmie Johnson amid the departure of Lowe's. Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images Translation: the drivers are paying for the pleasure of racing. That's the first time in a decade that that has happened, Hebrst said. Those moments generate interestand rivalries, which every sport needs. That marks a 10% decline compared to the year-ago 87.1 million viewers, and a 16% drop compared to the analogous period during the 2018-19 campaign. U.S. NBA Social Justice Poll. This means that fewer televisions are being turned on around the country; however, the percentage of those people watching NASCAR is increasing. Statistics for NASCAR indicate that63% are male, 20% are minorities and 47% are between the ages of 18 and 44, with the majority of this age bracket being in the older end, the number of which is also dropping yearly. Overall, NASCAR brought in 114.231 million average viewers throughout the entire 2022 season which marks its best since the 2018 season (120.454 million average viewers). Ill start with a few things that I dont believe caused the decline of NASCAR, then Ill share what I think really did. The truth was of course far from that. Im not sure why people would think this, although Id actually had some heated debates with Tom Bowles at the Frontstretch about it. According to reports, the league saw a sharp 50% decline in viewership from week one to the next week.The 3.0 reboot is not going well. NASCARs TV ratings began to fall; the once all-mighty numbers began to show not an increase, but a decline. Which meant that other drivers didnt win a lot. It was boxy, ugly, and top heavyand its shape was part of the reason for the Indianapolis debacle of 2008. HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 17: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota along with his wife [+] Samantha and son Brexton pose with the trophy after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida. Photo credit: sidehike on VisualHunt / CC BY-SA [Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 3.9]. This was a problem that actually needed to be addressed and wasnt. Related: NASCAR power rankings during the 2023 season. Lack of manufacturer identity may have been a reason some hardcore fans left the sport in the early 1990s, but that doesnt seem to me to be a valid reason for the sports popularity plunge since 2005. I have been around and covered NASCAR for over two decades. Photo credit: wjarrettc on Visual hunt / CC BY (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images), Nascar's TV Future May Or May Not Include Streaming Its Top Tier Races. I cant imagine any fan of Dale Earnhardt Sr.and there were a lot of themnot wanting to see the sport take every measure it could to keep drivers safe after Daytona 2001. Photo credit: sidehike on Visual hunt / CC BY-SA Then they sharply declined in Week Two.The four XFL games in Week Two averaged 665,000 viewers, which is a 50 percent decline from the four XFL . I hope so. Jerseyball Millvilles Mike Trout and Aaron Cox, Precision Pistol Shooting For Greatness, The Power of Fun Dave Raymond, The Original Phillie Phanatic, Being Relentless The HEADstrong Foundation, Surviving Until Tuesday Sergeant Andrew Einstein. . Mark Martin has the best take on the decline in NASCAR attendance, ratings Comment Leave it to one of the coolest customers ever to sit behind the wheel in NASCAR to come up with an. Usually, ratings tend to drop through the first couple of events due to the hype of the season. What we try to do is boil it down to more simple sound bites that are A: true and B: accurate, Hebrst said. Affluence. With fewer fans at the track, you might think TV ratings would continue to rise and maybe even increase as those fans turned on the TV instead of spending money to go to the track. This ability to adapt however seems insufficient as NASCAR has recorded a staggering 50% viewership drop in the last 5 years along with substantial admission decline that has varied from 12 -30% percent from 2012 to 2018. Photo credit: PresidenBertho on Visualhunt.com / CC BY-SA After years of seeing its once enormous audience dwindle to almost nothing, NASCAR is finally righting the ship. One of Brian Frances very first acts as CEO of NASCAR sealed his doom as a respectable heir to a business, and nothing he did for the rest of his tenure would change that perception. And based on what we see today, NASCAR seems to be on an upward trajectory and shows no signs of slowing down. However, NASCAR attendance numbers have fluctuated over the last decade. The XFL's ratings were disappointing in Week One. Now72 years old, the racing organization has managed to evolve through the decades in order to meet the changing trends, technology, and preferences that directly affect the sport. Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race from Las Vegas averaged a 2.6 rating and 4.36 million viewers on FOX, marking the lowest rated edition of the race since it debuted in 1998 and the smallest audience since at least 2001 (viewership prior to 2002 was not available). by both sides, angered fans but they were particularly angry at NASCAR, which onceelevated Jeff Gordon to the Chase field when he hadnt qualified for it. Traveling out of town to attend a NASCAR event would sometimes require staying at a hotel in order to maximize the time and effort spent during getting there. Photo credit: brandonzeman on Visual Hunt / CC BY-SA The top of the mountain in NASCAR circles back then was known as the Grand National Division but in 1971, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., then-manufacturer of Winston cigarettes, contracted with NASCAR to become title sponsor and the Winston Cup Series (to be known thereafter as simply Cup, regardless of subsequent sponsorships) was born,. Anyone who was watching then could tell you that wasnt unusual at all. While this already marks the third time that NASCAR has seen the average viewership go down, there is one major positive to take away from it. The six-race consecutive increase in viewership prior to Talladega is something that everyone can understand and helps reinforce just how healthy NASCAR is. Q: You say NASCAR continues to grow and like you, . They got famous because of word-of-mouth (Hey, didja hear about that new kid blowin em away over at Hickory?), weekly newspapers like National Speed Sport News (called simply Speed Sport and whos Editors Notebook by the late Chris Economaki was a Must Read) and magazines like Stock Car Racing. I can also dispute other reasons for it that I see being offered today. Yet instead of focusing their marketing on Johnsons unequaled supremacy, NASCAR chose to put all of their marketing eggs into the Danica Patrick basket, believing a swimsuit model who could drive a racecar would save the sport. Though fewer fans were able to attend in person, with the improvements in internet bandwidth, and the rise of more and more cable channels, some were finding other ways to digest their favorite sports. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. [Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 11.9, network PR]. The season averaged 2.866 million sans-Daytona, down 1% from last year (2.91M) and a fraction of a percent from 19 (2.871M). So no, Johnsons domination wasnt directly a factor in the decline of NASCAR but their failure to market it most definitely was. If they hadnt, youd probably be reading articles today about the decline of Coca-Cola too. Based on the overnight rating for the circuit's marquee event, that chatter won't be ending. The last race at Auto Club took place in 2020 and had an average of 4.781 million viewers for the third event of the season. By: GP Racing. Ratings fell 19% and viewership 21% from last year, when it was the second race of the season (3.2, 5.50M). NASCAR looks beyond declining attendance, TV ratings They were even more upset when NASCAR changed its playoff system in January 2014 to create a winner-take-all race among four drivers in. or Disney plus; there's more competition for those eyeballs then there's ever been. I dont often see NASCARs ill-conceived playoff idea as a reason people cite for the decline of NASCAR in articles I read these days, but I promise you, that was not the case when I covered the sport. You couldnt entirely blame NASCAR for no longer holding events in places like North Wilkesboro or Rockingham or even Darlington, which lost a race on the schedule for several years. (Just in case you were wondering, Fox is unlikely to name a replacement for Darrell Waltrip if he is replaced, that is though we should find out more next month. The Yankees were always good for baseball. Compared to last years fourth race of the season, Phoenix, ratings fell a tick (from 2.7) and viewership 5% (from 4.58M). FOX has been touting the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season to date as the "best ever." Sorry, I'd give that honor to 1992 and wouldn't even provide 2021 to date a spot on my top-10 list of modern-era. 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