I'm Just questioning the timing, could Dodge pull a fast one and get back into Nascar? Brad keselowski is going to Roush Fenway Racing also been hearing that another Manufacturer is coming. I'm "WISHFUL THINKING"???
Last years NASCAR TV improved views may be related as the Country was coming out of COVID and was the only sport venue that was not only televised but also one to the public! I remind everyone that MLB, NFL, NBA and the NHL did not have a 'season' with spectators and NASCAR was the only thing going both in person and on TV! It would be interesting to see viewer stats this year especially after the other sports venues had spectators and viewers! I didn't sleep at the Holiday Inn last night but I would wager that NASCAR viewership declined at the start of the NFL and NBA season.NASCAR is no longer on a decline. It's stabilized and I believe has a lot of potential for another growth period.
The two races pointed out where ratings were down 40% was the Daytona 500 that got rained out and ran on a Monday when everyone was working. The other was a Saturday Pocono race that no-one knew was on a Saturday. Because the following day, the Sunday race of Pocono matched the previous years ratings.
If we are going to go after the drops in viewership, lets also talk about the gains.
The O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 had nearly 5 million viewers over the 3.2 million the previous year. The Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead had 4.2 million viewers compared to 2.7 the previous year. The Food City Bristol race had 3.1 million compared to 2.9 the previous year. Richmond had 3.3 million over 2.7 million. Talladega had 4.7 million over 2.0 million the previous year. Kansas had 2.7 to 1.4 million. Dover had 2.4 million over 1.7 million. The Coca Cola 600 was 4 million over 3.9. What I am saying is the majority of races this year have had their tv ratings up or about the same. Source I could go on.
NASCAR track attendance has been an ongoing issue, but has had many sell outs this year, which they were not having previous years. Road America was a completely overcrowded sell-out. Nashville was a sell out. Many other tracks have had lower than peak attendance, but they have had steady attendance and more than previous years.
To say NASCAR is declining is no longer the case. It is either reached it's position averaging roughly 3 million viewers a week, or being on the edge of another growth spurt with all the new drivers, new talent, and new people watching. Demographics from the tv ratings have shown lots of new viewers, but also the viewers watching on tv. NASCAR's biggest gains have been through people streaming races online, which are not included on tv ratings. Depending on where you look and for which race, this can add as much as 400,000 to a million new viewers per race, possibly more. This is coming from roughly 50,000 streamers just back in 2018.