NASCAR TV ratings for 2024: Who watched, who didn’t and why battling the NFL is death

Here’s one way of looking at it: Some 330 million Americans, give or take, ignored televised NASCAR racing this past season. On a weekly basis, no less!

And another way to look at it: Nearly 3 million, on average, tuned in each week to watch the action from Daytona, Darlington and all points beyond.

Recently released numbers show a 1% increase in average viewership from last year, which is better than the alternative, but still you might be wondering …

If 99% of the folks aren’t watching, why is NASCAR still able to wrangle a multi-billion-dollar media deal from the networks?

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Why NASCAR can still get rich from Fox and NBC (and, starting next year, TNT)

Because live sports is still the king of ad sales, and ad sales produce the gusher from which the dollars flood. Your favorite sitcom or drama on network television might draw more eyeballs, but the ad execs and corporate marketing mavens know about your nasty little habit of fast-forwarding through the commercials.

Can’t do that during the Auto Trader EchoPark Automotive 400, can you? And yes, that’s the actual name of an actual automobile race.

Comparatively speaking, NASCAR’s average of 2.9 million viewers each week is about the same as the PGA Tour’s Sunday fare, and nearly twice the NBA average, though the NBA is broadcasting more games and more often, which leads to lower numbers.

NASCAR, others, dwarfed by NFL viewership

What about the NFL?

Let’s give the others a chance to turn their heads before revealing that.

It’s about 18 million sets of eyeballs per telecast. You can damn near combine all the others (including MLB, NHL and even ESPN’s occasional cornhole nationals) and not get to that number.

As usual, the Daytona 500 was the most-watched race, at 6 million viewers. Would’ve probably been higher if it hadn’t been postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain. I think. Monday offered no viable sporting alternative to NASCAR, so who knows if it helped or hurt?

The lowest, amazingly, was a playoff race — the Round of 12 opener at Kansas. Why? Football season, remember?

How much is the NASCAR network deal worth?

This past year brought the last season on the existing seven-year network contract with Fox, NBC and their cable affiliates (FS1 and USA). A new seven-year deal begins in 2025 with Fox, NBC, Amazon Prime and TNT.

NASCAR doesn’t disclose the rights fees, but industry insiders peg the overall seven-year deal at $7.7 billion, or an average of $1.1 billion per year.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR on TV: Millions watched, millions didn’t, then the NFL started