NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing from Bristol had a 3.2 overnight rating on FOX Sunday afternoon, down 27% from 2013, the last time it was run as scheduled (4.4). The race was deluged by rain the past two years, with FOX airing just a few laps before handing off to Fox Sports 1. The network’s abbreviated coverage had a 2.9 overnight last year and a 4.1 in 2014. Excluding rainouts, the 3.2 is the lowest for the spring Bristol race since it moved to FOX in 2001. The previous low was a 3.9 in 2011. It is also the lowest overnight for a Sunday Sprint Cup race on FOX, falling below a 3.3 for Dover in 2014. Overall, the 3.2 is tied as the fourth-lowest for any Sprint Cup race on FOX, regardless of day – matching Darlington in 2014 and ahead of only Texas the previous week (2.5), Texas last year (2.9) and Richmond in 2014 (3.0). Head-to-head, #19-Carl Edwards’ win trailed competing coverage of the Pistons/Cavaliers NBA playoff game on ABC (4.1). As NASCAR ratings tend to rise from the overnights to the final, while NBA ratings decline, the race could still come out ahead when the final numbers are released (Spoirts Media Watch / Sports Business Daily)(4-19-2016)
UPDATE: NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Bristol (TN) earned a 3.4 final rating and 5.5 million viewers on FOX last Sunday afternoon, down 26% in ratings and 27% in viewership from 2013, the last time the race was run as scheduled (4.6, 7.5M). Both last year and in 2014, FOX aired only brief snippets of the race due to extensive rain delays. The network drew a 3.3 and 5.1 million for less than 15 minutes of racing last year, and a 4.5 and 7.3 million for 45 minutes of coverage in 2014. Despite the lower numbers, NASCAR on FOX was still the most-watched sports broadcast of the weekend – edging ABC’s Pistons/Cavaliers NBA playoff game (5.4M).(Sports Media Watch)
