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A NASCAR official waves a caution flag as cars circle the track before the start of the NASCAR Cup series race on Sunday, June 2, 2024, at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison in front of a sellout crowd.
NASCAR’s Cup series roared into town last weekend for the third year in a row, again drawing a sellout crowd and earning positive reviews not only for the event but also the surrounding festivities.
Enjoy Illinois 300 TV ratings
The top-rated markets for Sunday's NASCAR Cup series race televised on FS1, per Nielsen. (The rating is the percentage of the market watching the telecast):
Rank | Market | Rating |
---|---|---|
1. | Charlotte, N.C. | 4.9 |
T-2. | Greensboro, N.C. | 3.6 |
T-2. | Greenville, S.C. | 3.6 |
4. | Dayton, Ohio | 2.8 |
5. | Birmingham, Ala. | 2.5 |
6. | Raleigh, N.C. | 2.4 |
7. | Tulsa, Okla. | 2.3 |
T-8. | Memphis, Tenn. | 2.2 |
T-8. | Norfolk, Va. | 2.2 |
T-10. | Buffalo, N.Y. | 2.1 |
T-10. | Hartford, Conn. | 2.1 |
T-10. | Indianapolis | 2.1 |
T-10. | Knoxville, Tenn. | 2.1 |
T-14. | Kansas City | 2.0 |
T-14. | Richmond, Va. | 2.0 |
T-16. | Orlando, Fla. | 1.9 |
T-16. | Portland, Ore. | 1.9 |
T-18. | Columbus, Ohio | 1.9 |
T-18. | Tampa, Fla. | 1.7 |
T-18. | West Palm Beach, Fla. | 1.7 |
T-21. | Denver | 1.6 |
T-21. | Cleveland | 1.6 |
T-21. | St. Louis | 1.6 |
But from a television standpoint, the novelty of having the traveling spectacle on wheels running at World Wide Technology Raceway might be wearing off locally, as Sunday’s race produced a lackluster ratings performance — St. Louis finished outside the top 10 markets nationally for the first time in the event’s history.
And it was a big drop. After St. Louis came in eighth for the inaugural running of the race and sixth last year for Round 2, the Gateway City slipped to a tie for 21st nationally this time. It’s an apples-to-apples comparison because all three races were shown on the same channel — cable’s FS1.
Nielsen, which tabulates viewership, reports that 1.6% of the market tuned in Sunday, a 33% decline over the 2.4 rating last year (when there was a long weather delay). It was down a whopping 45% from the 2.9 figure the inaugural race drew locally.
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Nationally, the race drew 2.46 million viewers, up 14% from last year’s figure of 2.16 million (but as mentioned, there was a lengthy stoppage then). The first running of the event attracted 2.5 million viewers.
Not surprisingly, the top spots among local ratings were held by NASCAR hot-spot areas, with the top three lines being filled by markets in the Carolinas — led by a 4.9 rating in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Of note is that Kansas City, which also is on the Cup series circuit, finished well ahead of St. Louis. The rating of 2.0 there tied for 14th in the country.