The Daytona 500’s TV ratings suffered once again from bad weather for the first race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, but the Great American Race still produced the most-watched sports event of the crowded Presidents’ Day weekend.
Fox drew an average of 6.76 million viewers for Sunday’s race, which was delayed several hours by rainstorms in Florida. William Byron won his second consecutive Daytona 500 after taking the lead following a final-lap wreck.
Last year’s race, which was postponed to Monday, averaged 5.96 million viewers on Fox. In 2023, when the Daytona 500 ran as scheduled on a Sunday, Fox’s audience was 8.17 million viewers. Sunday’s race peaked at 7.95 million viewers shortly after it began, highlighting the ratings potential had there not been delays.
The delays meant the Daytona 500’s conclusion went head-to-head with the NBA All-Star Game, which averaged 4.7 million viewers Sunday night across TNT Sports platforms. Saturday night’s U.S.-Canada game in the NHL’s heralded 4 Nations Face-Off averaged 4.4 million viewers on ABC.
This is the first season of new seven-year, $7.7 billion media-rights deals for NASCAR with Fox, NBC Sports, Amazon, and TNT Sports.
Rain, Rain, Go Away
With rain in the forecast, NASCAR had moved the Daytona 500 start time from 2:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET. The race began shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday but was halted 11 laps in. President Donald Trump was in attendance for the race’s start but left before its conclusion.
Shortly before 6 p.m., the race restarted, only to suffer another brief delay. Finally, around 6:20, the Daytona 500 resumed and ran without any further stoppage. Byron took the checkered flag at roughly 9:37 p.m.
Weather has been a big issue for the Daytona 500 in recent years. The 2021 edition finished after midnight following delays, and the 2020 race was also postponed to Monday.
A Positive Trend
A bright spot for NASCAR over the weekend was strong ratings for the second-tier Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona. The CW, which is also in its first full season airing NASCAR races, averaged 1.8 million viewers for Saturday’s race, marking the most-watched Xfinity Series broadcast since the Talladega race in April 2022.
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