The NASCAR Cup Series audience decline reached a historic low in 2024, as average viewership for the season dropped 15% to 2.5 million and hit its lowest mark ever. This significant decrease came during the start of a major new media rights agreement involving Fox, FS1, Prime Video, TNT/truTV, NBC, and USA Network.
Viewership Trends for the Cup Series and Final Race
This year’s Cup Series finale, held at Phoenix, attracted 2.8 million viewers, a 5% drop compared to 2023, despite the drama of an overtime finish in which Kyle Larson claimed his second championship. The title race also faced strong network competition, coinciding with a popular Chiefs-Bills game on CBS, which drew significant nationwide sports attention away from NASCAR.
According to Fox’s Mike Mulvihill, races aired on broadcast television in both 2025 and 2024 actually saw a modest 3% increase this season. However, cable-televised races during both years suffered a 15% decrease. Events that switched from broadcast to streaming drew 27% fewer viewers, while moving from broadcast to cable — a situation that applied to many playoff races — resulted in a 32% drop. The only notable gain occurred for races moving from cable to streaming, which edged up by 2%.
NASCAR Xfinity Series and Truck Series See Mixed Results
The NASCAR Xfinity Series, entering its first full season broadcast exclusively on The CW, achieved an average of 1.03 million viewers across 33 races. This marked the series’ strongest result since 2021 and was a 10% improvement over the previous year, when events were split among Fox, FS1, NBC, USA, and The CW. The NXS championship, held in Phoenix on Saturday and going head-to-head with Game 7 of the World Series, tallied 1.02 million viewers, slightly less than last year’s 1.11 million on The CW.
Meanwhile, Fox and FS1’s coverage of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series recorded an average audience of 483,000 in 2025, representing a 5% decline compared to 2024’s numbers.
Implications for the Future of NASCAR Broadcasting
The pronounced NASCAR Cup Series audience decline in 2024 highlights the challenging environment for sports broadcasters, as fragmented viewing options and broadcast platform shifts continue to affect ratings. The shift from broadcast to cable or streaming has affected the reach of key races, especially during the playoffs. With the new rights deal in its early stages and strong sports competition from events like NFL matchups and the World Series, the coming seasons will be key in determining whether audience numbers can recover or if this downward trend will persist.
