NASCAR Brickyard TV Ratings plummet against Olympics
Last year’s Brickyard 400 telecast, which did not air against Olympic competition, earned a 4.6 household coverage rating and tied with the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway as ESPN’s highest-rated NASCAR Sprint Cup telecast of the year.
Indianapolis led all markets with a 10.9 U.S. rating for the telecast, followed by Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem at 9.8 and Charlotte at 9.7. Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville was fourth with an 8.9 rating with Norfolk fifth at 7.6.
Rounding out the top 10 markets for the Brickyard 400 telecast were Nashville, 7.0; Dayton, Jacksonville and Louisville, 6.6; and Richmond, 6.5.
ESPN’s live telecast of the inaugural NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 28, earned a 1.6 household coverage rating (1.4 U.S. rating), averaging 2,025,378 viewers. Last year’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Raceway earned a 1.5 household coverage rating.