NASCAR TV Ratings Drop Amid Stiff Competition from NBA and NHL

The NASCAR race at New Hampshire has officially concluded, with Brad Keselowski emerging victorious. However, it seems that the viewership has not been something to write home about.

According to Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern, NASCAR is lagging behind the likes of the NBA and the NHL.

For this year’s edition of the New Hampshire race, around 2.21 million people tuned in to their television sets. This is a massive downturn from 2.79 million in 2019.

To make matters worse, the NHL, NBA, and MLB have also returned to action, so the competition has amped up. As a result of the three leagues’ return, NASCAR slipped down the ladder to occupy the ranks of the fourth most-watched sport in the United States.

Can NASCAR boost its viewership numbers again?

Last month, NASCAR drew in one of the best viewership ratings when the paddock visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In fact, it drew around 4.37 million viewers on NBC.

This was a 46 percent increase from the same race one year ago. In addition to that, it had the honor of being the most-watched Brickyard race since 2017.

So, it is honestly quite surprising that the viewership has dipped so dramatically. However, it is worth noting that up until now, NASCAR was one of the few major US sports that was active while the pandemic raged on.

So, when the likes of the NHL, MLB, and NBA resumed, people would have flocked to TV screens to watch them.

This is because the novelty is still there, while NASCAR has been around for a couple of months already. So, there is an off chance that in a few weeks’ time, NASCAR’s viewership will climb back up once again.

In all honesty, it is very difficult to compete against the likes of the NBA, which is one of the most popular sports in the USA.

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SOURCE- Adam Stern- Twitter