$820 million. That’s the amount NASCAR is set to make at the end of 2024 just from its television revenue. As with any sport, NASCAR and its teams’ revenues get a huge chunk of money from their viewers. The amount of viewers dictates the ad revenue, and the whole cycle continues. However, NASCAR is not the only sport in America. With the NFL season in full swing, NASCAR viewership took a clear hit, but there is some positive for the sport.

After seeing the 1.809 million viewership count, NASCAR fans banded together in a show of support for their sport, turning a new leaf in their comparatively lower viewership than the NFL game.

NASCAR suffers from falling viewership numbers with the beginning of the NFL season

NASCAR is a sport loved by Americans. Who doesn’t like seeing drivers fight for the title in some of the fastest cars in the world, right? Except when it is time for the football season. While NASCAR enjoys a healthy viewership, it has failed to meet expectations in recent years. The arrival of the NFL season brought an even bigger hit, an act witnessed by the legendary Watkins Glen track.

The 15th September weekend, alongside the NASCAR race at ‘The Glen’, saw a mammoth NFL game take place between the Chiefs and the Bengals. Both events took place roughly at the same time, meaning that viewership was split between both sports. While NASCAR viewership peaked at 1.809 million viewers, NFL viewership was over 14 times higher, at 28 million viewers.

Now this is not solely down to just a sport being more interesting. There is one thing that must be considered- the Taylor Swift effect. This is something that became evident in the last few months of 2023. The pop star’s public support for boyfriend Travis Kelce brought different viewer groups to the league.

This is exactly what NASCAR fans saw this weekend when the Bengals vs Chiefs game took place in parallel to the race at Watkins Glen. While the race started at 3 p.m. ET, the Chiefs game was at 4.25 p.m. ET later on. This meant some viewers may have just switched to Sunday football games over the race.

It did bring a lowered viewership count on the track compared to last year, but how are fans taking this?

Fans come to NASCAR’s defense in the face of a viewership crisis

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If one thought the count was bad this year, it was worse last year, when the viewership stayed at 1.76 million and 1.56 million for the races held in September. In comparison, ‘The Glen’ certainly brought a positive note, even though it is much lower than the 2.31 million from the same track last year. Reflecting the same, one fan wrote, “I’d say it’s a respectable bump compared to last year. Next week we can see how the Bristol Night Race does”. Bristol is the remaining hope for NASCAR, an incredibly popular track. Earlier this year when NASCAR visited the track, the viewership count sky-rocketed to 3.8 million on Sunday. The challenge will be the next round of NFL taking place on the same weekend.

Making things interesting will get more people involved right? That’s what the governing body thought as well when introducing the stage format for the race. Anybody could take points and the entire series became much more competitive. However, that may not be enough to sway the viewers from the traditional fun of watching their favorite football teams go head-to-head in an unchanging style. It was perfectly described by a fan, who wrote, “No matter how much chaos/excitement you introduce to the format, going against NFL football on Sunday afternoons and college football on Saturday nights is a REALLY tough hill to climb every fall.”

A common theme that fans spot here is the immense appeal that different sports have during the final quarter of the year. From September to the end of the year, a lot of sports across the United States see their playoff stages take place. One fan explained, “This time of year is the toughest hill to climb. You have NFL, NCAAF, MLB, IndyCar then MLB playoffs in Oct and the NBA and NHL start up in October as well.” 

Things become even tougher considering the massive leap the NFL took in the last year. A big part of that is Taylor Swift’s involvement in the rising viewership ever since she began dating Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce. Apart from the $330 million boost she brings to the brand value of the franchise as well as the NFL, her involvement encouraged younger female audiences to watch the sport. It goes on to show just how broad of a spectrum the football league is now able to target, as this fan explained, “That’s what happens when you go against the NFL. Numbers aren’t bad all things considered but it’s always going to look rough going against the American sports giant.”

In such a period when viewership gravitates towards the more dominant sport, a count of 1.809 million might actually be a cause to be happy, perhaps not to celebrate. This is what one fan emphasized, “Yeah, nothing is beating the NFL head-to-head any time soon. Almost 2 million people watching is actually pretty surprising considering the amount of NFL games on during the race.”

Accepting this for NASCAR fans might be the bitter truth, but one that they must acknowledge. Bristol will be a good testing point to see how NASCAR fares as a popular event rivaling the next NFL weekend.