NASCAR 2023 TV ratings: Least-watched season in history of the sport

While there were some wins this season with sellout crowds and a lot of enthusiasm, NASCAR TV ratings are telling a different story. In the year 2023, I’m not sure TV ratings are the right way to go about things. However, they show a disappointing season overall as far as viewers are concerned.

According to Sports Media Watch, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season saw a decline in viewership, including the championship race. Could Chase Elliott’s long-running injury and lack of a postseason run have something to do with that?

We can talk about the reasons why, but let’s just look at the numbers themselves.

Across FOX, FS1, NBC, and USA Network, the series is down 5% compared to a year ago. Just an average viewership of 2.86 million compared to 3.03 million a year ago.

Once again, the Daytona 500 was the marquee event. More than 8 million viewers tuned into the big race. The Chicago Street Course race provided the second-largest viewership with 4.62 million viewers.

There is some good news, the NBC portion of the schedule along with USA Network averaged 2.47 million viewers compared to 2.45 million in 2022. So, whatever is going on in the second half of the season, good, with some exceptions.

How should NASCAR view TV ratings?

I get it, TV ratings are a good indicator for enthusiasm, interest, and true fan passion for a sport or show. NASAR used to reign supreme, but the days of being the fastest-growing spectator sport in the country are over.

Not only that, TV isn’t what it used to be. It’s down across the board and will likely continue that way. With social media and the internet, there are so many ways to keep up with sports that don’t require you to tune in and watch every play or every lap in the case of NASCAR.

Right now, only the NFL seems to be able to put up major numbers in the TV ratings. College football is there as well, but it’s hard to get people to watch TV now.

I do believe that NASCAR putting the Xfinity Series on The CW in 2025 is a good move. It might be able to convert viewers to the Cup Series. However, I think NASCAR needs to look at other metrics for success.

Tim Clark, the SVP and Chief Digital Officer of NASCAR, showed that online numbers look impressive. Fantasy players, Playoff Grid Challenge players, Cup Series race day traffic increased for 2/3rds of the season, and Instagram followers have risen 235% since last year’s playoffs.