The numbers never lie. Last weekend’s Cup Series race at Phoenix was broadcast on FS1 and managed to draw a 1.43 rating and 2.82 million viewers. While these numbers look decent, they are nothing when compared to last year’s race on FOX’s main channel, which hit a whopping 4.028 million viewers, almost double of this year’s numbers. What’s even more concerning for NASCAR is that last year, the highest viewership on FS1 was at the Spring Darlington race, which saw 2.632 million viewers. This means that the Phoenix race this weekend performed only marginally better than a regular season race, despite having much higher hype by NASCAR regarding the race.
It has to be noted that, unlike the previous year, FOX will have fewer Cup races in their kitty. A total of 9 races will be moved to FS1 which will negatively impact compared to 11 Cup Series races that aired on the main channel. However, IndyCar’s big move to FOX will see the see them covering only 5 races this year. Not to forget, Amazon Prime Video and TNT are in the mix with a total of 10 races for the first time in the history of the sport.

Starting off with the Daytona 500, the FOX viewership pulled 6.761 million, this was followed by 4.586 million average viewers for the Ambetter Health 400 at in Atlanta. And the COTA race weekend backed 4.132 million viewers. All of these races have an uptick in the viewership but this positive trend could spiral down with races now moving on the FS1.

Well, the Phoenix Raceway wasn’t bad in terms of numbers but there’s a trend that upcoming races might take more hits with FOX shifting its focus to Roger Penske’s racing series. On the other hand, the Xfinity Series race, aired on CW saw a massive 13% year-over-year increase, with around 1.2 million viewers tuning in to watch. This proves that NASCAR has the potential to draw an audience even at a track like Phoenix, if it can deliver a product that people think is worth watching.