FOX’s overnight TV ratings for Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway were down seven percent over last year, according to Austin Karp of SportsBusiness Daily.
Bristol Overnight TV Ratings Dip; First Sprint Cup Race To See Decrease This Year
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That means Bristol, which Karp said dropped to a 3.9 overnight rating from a 4.2 last year, becomes the first race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season to have a decline in its television rating.
↵Ratings for the Daytona 500 and the following races at Phoenix and Las Vegas had all been up, sparking renewed optimism that the sport was over its recent struggles.
↵And while that may be the case in the long run, Bristol was a step back in both ratings and attendance; the 160,000-seat grandstand was only half full.
↵Bristol once sold out 55 consecutive races until it changed the track, so some fans blame the decline in attendance on the quality of the racing.
↵Others say gas prices and high hotel rates in the Bristol area are the primary culprits in the track seeing less fans attend its races.
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