NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Darlington earned a 2.6 overnight rating on NBC Sunday night, down 24% from last year (3.4) and down 19% from 2014, when the race took place on a Saturday night in May and aired on FOX (3.2). The 2.6 is the lowest for the Sprint Cup at Darlington, including the defunct 400 mile race that ended in 2004, since at least 2002. The 2.6 is also tied as the fourth-lowest for any Sprint Cup race on broadcast since at least 2004. Head-to-head, NASCAR on NBC was more-than-doubled by the competing Notre Dame/Texas college football game on ABC (7.0). Last year’s race faced no such competition.(Sports Media Watch), see race-by-race TV Ratings for 2016 and a comparison chart on the 2016 TV Ratings page.(9-7-2016)
UPDATE: NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Darlington earned a 2.8 final rating and 4.6 million viewers on NBC Sunday night, down 24% in ratings and 22% in viewership from last year (3.7, 5.9M) and down 22% and 23%, respectively, from 2014 – when the race took place on a Saturday night in May and aired on FOX (3.6, 6.0M). The 2.8 is also the lowest for NASCAR on Labor Day weekend since the same 2000 Southern 500.(Sports Media Watch)
