NASCAR Xfinity Series puts up massive ratings in CW debut
In the first-ever NASCAR broadcast on The CW, the ratings were through the roof. The over-the-air channel had 906,000 viewers tuned in. NBC handed The CW coverage of the final eight races of the season to get a jumpstart on 2025.
Next year, every single Xfinity Series race will be aired on The CW. If you have TV, even an antenna, will likely get you access to the station. This puts NASCAR into millions of homes, potentially hits at a younger audience, and gives The CW an anchor for its programming.
The 906,000 viewers made up the largest audience for the channel in eight months. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in the race and Cole Custer went on to dominate the final stage to win. It was also the regular season finale.
Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal had the details.
A swap to a completely different channel actually worked pretty well. This is going to be a great partnership in 2025.
With how much The CW is paying for the Xfinity Series, they are getting results immediately. It is hard to tell how much of it was Earnhardt and how much moving to a new network this late in the season hurt. It was also on a Friday night and not Saturday.
Time will tell just how fruitful this partnership ends up being. The CW has dived head first into the world of sports and they see the second tier of NASCAR as the powerhouse of their new sports programming.
The last time a program drew a larger crowd was the Barstool Bowl college football game. Wyoming and Toldeo drew 1.1 million viewers. Last November, Florida State and Northern Alabama drew in 1.3 million viewers.
Xfinity Series putting up numbers on The CW
This weekend is the Kansas race. This is a track that has gone from being slightly dreaded to being one that fans and drivers look forward to The Cup Series cars and Xfinity Series cars are able to put on great shows at these intermediate tracks.
This will also open up the playoffs for the Xfinity Series. Cole Custer is in great position to defend his championship. Of course, he has to get to Phoenix and perform well there in order to do that.
It is another full weekend of racing. Truck, Xfinity, and Cup will all race. The CW is going to have a lot of action and with the NBC talent helping on the broadcast, the overall product is great.
All three NASCAR national series are in the playoffs now. That means the action is only going to ramp up from here. One week with the Xfinity Series and The CW is seeing viewership unlike most anything they have put on their channel. Sounds like a win-win.