NASCAR Is More Popular Than You Might Think

The average sports fan likely has no idea how many people actually watch NASCAR compared to other properties.

This past weekend, NASCAR’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin averaged 4.1 million viewers on Fox—double the average viewership for Luka Dončić’s Lakers debut game on Feb. 10. This follows Sundays where Fox got 4.6 million viewers at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and 6.8 million for the Daytona 500. 

If you separate out football, which is the ratings king in the U.S., these numbers for NASCAR more than hold their own when compared to the rest of the sports landscape. 

The NBA All-Star Game averaged 4.7 million viewers. On Christmas, the five NBA games combined to average 5.25 million viewers across ESPN and ABC (with Lakers-Warriors leading the way at 7.76 million). After that, the next highest-watched game this regular season so far was a later Lakers-Warriors on Jan. 25, which averaged 3.44 million viewers. 

Other tentpole games included the first night of the season when Lakers-Timberwolves drew 2.91 million viewers (there was intrigue for Bronny James that evening) on TNT. As previously mentioned, Dončić’s first game with the Lakers, versus the Jazz, averaged 2.01 million viewers on ESPN. 

Most NBA games are on cable, which is in about 15 million fewer homes than broadcast networks like Fox.

In men’s college basketball, the most-watched game so far this season was Illinois vs. Arkansas on CBS, which drew 5.2 million viewers. However, that game came with the caveat of airing directly after the NFL on Thanksgiving. The next most-watched college hoops game this season was Auburn vs. Alabama on Feb. 15 on ESPN, which averaged 3.2 million viewers. 

NBA playoffs and the NCAA tournament deliver higher viewership, but it would come as a surprise to most people how NASCAR fares versus regular-season basketball. 

In 2023, NASCAR signed a seven-year rights deal worth a total of $7.7 billion with Fox, NBC, Amazon Prime Video, and Warner Bros. Discovery that runs from this year through 2031.

As the fragmentation of the public’s attention has occurred with the advent of social media and ubiquitous streaming options, NASCAR’s viewership is not nearly at the levels it once was. This is true for virtually every non-football sport as well. 

Nevertheless, NASCAR’s viewership in the context of other sports has remained in a robust position.