With the racing better than ever and rule changes designed to please the fans, you’d think NASCAR’s ratings would have rebounded from the steady decline of the previous four years.
Report: Fox Says NASCAR Ratings Plummet In Key Demographic
↵But 2010 has actually seen a slight decrease from last year’s lows, and a SceneDaily.com report says the ratings have fallen sharply in the most important demographic.
↵The report, citing Fox numbers, says viewership among males ages 18-34 is down 29 percent from last year alone.
↵This has caused concern for Fox Sports chairman David Hill, the report says.
↵↵“The biggest problem facing NASCAR is that the young males have left the sport,” Hill says. “And if I was NASCAR, and I was an owner (of a race team), it would be something that I would be burning the midnight oil on a nightly basis, worrying where they’ve gone and how do I get them back.”
↵↵It’s not a stretch to imagine executives in NASCAR are looking at each other wondering what else they can do. The racing has been much more exciting than it was when the new car was first introduced (thanks to double-file restarts and multiple green-white-checkered finishes, among other things) and a return to the spoiler and standard start times have pleased traditional fans.
↵But if Hill is correct, NASCAR is going to need to figure out a new way to reach out to those younger male fans (whom advertisers covet the most). How can NASCAR convince them that the sport is worth watching?
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