Daytona 500 outnumbers the NBA all-star games ratings

Daytona 500 outnumbers the NBA all-star games ratings

2022 Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric and NBA superstar LeBron James

NASCAR has been working hard for years to increase its viewership across the platforms as the sport fails to attract the young demographic and cater to their demands. The introduction of the Next-Gen cars and other systemic changes were brought forth by NASCAR to get fans behind the pinnacle of stock car racing.

The historic Daytona 500 has always been a much-anticipated event for NASCAR fans and its 2022 edition where the Next-Gen NASCARs made its official debut was extensively marketed to get fans on track. Now new TV ratings for Sunday shows the Daytona 500 securing more viewership then the NBA All-Star Game, which took place in Cleveland on Sunday.

FOX Sports Michael Mulvihill shared the TV ratings on Twitter which suggests “ The Great American Race” beat the NBA All-Star Game by +41% in rating points marking it the largest rating gap that has been recorded between the two major events in five years.

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What do the increased Daytona 500 ratings mean to NASCAR?

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Next-gen NASCAR

Though the increased ratings mean NASCAR is well on its track to attract more fans the complete picture of ratings is complicated. The main objective of NASCAR in 2022 ways to attract a young demographic than its traditional viewers consisting of adults aged over 50 and the data suggest that NBA is more successful in catering to the young than NASCAR.

When the total viewership which comprises of all demographics is broken down into groups it’s evident that the major boost in NASCAR viewership comes from its traditional viewers of adults over the age of ’50s as the NBA All-Star Game beat the Daytona 500 by +61% with adults under 50. It’s also worth mentioning that the viewership ratings are limited to US and the NBA has a much wider international reach than NASCAR.

When things are put into perspective it is evident that both events attracted demand from their usual viewers and have some works to do in order to bridge the gap. On the other hand, comparing the ratings of NASCAR and NBA does not yield any significant insights on the popularity of the sport other than some PR.

NASCAR will be hoping to keep the viewership up and attract the young generation to the sport as it hit the Fontana speedway for the Wise Power 400.

Also read: ‘The car allowed the drivers to put on a great race,’ NASCAR is ‘positive’ about Next-Gen car’s first point race