Sunday’s Daytona 500 may have had the closest finish ever in that race, but it didn’t pick up a win in the ratings for Fox. The race drew a 6.1 overnight, which was down 16 per cent from last year’s 7.3. It still beat the 2014 5.6, but that had a massive six-hour-plus rain delay, and it was 39 per cent lower than the 10.0 in 2013.
It’s not that the 2015 numbers were particularly exceptional, either. Last year’s Daytona was about on par with 2010 and ahead of 2014, but below every other one dating back to 2007. Being 16 per cent below that is highly problematic; as Sports Media Watch writes, the 6.1 here may lead to the second-lowest final rating since start-to-finish coverage began in 1979:
The 6.1 is the second-lowest for the race since at least 2008 (overnights prior to 2009 were not available). It is likely that the final rating will be the second-lowest since live start-to-finish coverage began in 1979; the current mark is a 7.3 for the 1990 race.
Compared to other sports, the Daytona 500 ranks well behind other major events — all six games of the NBA Finals, all five games of the World Series, the three-game Final Four and College Football Playoff, horse racing’s Triple Crown and both third and final round coverage of The Masters.
That raises questions of if there are issues with the overall appeal of NASCAR in general or Daytona in particular. USA Today’s Jeff Gluck tweeted that it may be more the former:
I honestly thought Daytona rating would be big. Very surprised. Seems like NASCAR had a perfect Speedweeks, everything was positive. Wow.
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) February 22, 2016
I hear you guys re: your reasons for ratings being down. There's a lot of discontent about NASCAR changes as a whole, not Daytona-specific.
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) February 22, 2016
It’s worth noting amidst the doom and gloom, though, a 6.1 is still a powerful rating overall, and one that will likely be in the top 10 for TV all week. So, there are still plenty of benefits to airing this race, and at least Jeff Gordon’s booth debut went well. The Daytona broadcast just didn’t work out anywhere near as well for Fox as it has historically.
