Sunday’s rain-shortened running of the 45th Daytona 500 still captured 29.4 million viewers, the event’s fifth-biggest audience ever, according to Nielsen Media Research. Despite televising approximately two-hours and ten minutes of race coverage during a four-hour and 38-minute broadcast, the Daytona 500 on FOX scored an impressive 9.8/21 preliminary national household rating/share, and ties the 1987 race as the fourth highest-rated Daytona 500 ever. At any given time, the 2003 race averaged 16.8 million viewers, the third highest in history. Even with Sunday’s rain delays, the Daytona 500 still posted the highest rating of any sporting event since Super Bowl XXXVII, and easily beat events such as the NBA All-Star Game and NFL Pro Bowl. The Daytona 500 also retains its title as the top event in motorsports. Sunday’s 9.8/21 out-rates the last 10 Indianapolis 500s. One national ratings point represents 1 percent of the 106,700,000 million estimated television households in the United States (1,067,000).( Fox Sports )(2-18-2003)
