No one knew what kind of response the Netflix docuseries “NASCAR: Full Speed” would produce. The obvious hope is it would be positively received, but more importantly, help be compelling enough to bring new fans into the sport, and maybe, just maybe, reintroduce some of those former ones who have been estranged from the sport for so long but wanted to give it another chance after seeing the latest cast of characters.
Based on the television ratings we’ve seen in the first four weeks of the season, all of these fans have enjoyed what they’ve seen and keep coming back for more.
According to Fox Sports PR’s X account, two weeks ago the network recorded 4,546,000 viewers for the race, a 33% increase over the 2023 Atlanta race and a 5% bump over the second race last year at Fontana. It was the most-watched sporting event of the weekend.
Last weekend at Las Vegas, revealed similar trends in the ratings. Sunday’s Cup race in Sin City saw 4.36 million viewers, an 8.5% increase over 2023 and the 3.991 million viewers that tuned in for the spring race in Sin City. Once again, it was the most-watched sporting event of the weekend.
@FoxTV had 4.36 million viewers for the Sunday Cup Series race at Las Vegas, which was an 8.5% increase over 2023 and the 3.991 million viewers that tuned in for the spring race in Sin City. It was the most-watched sporting event of the weekend.
— Kyle Dalton (@kdsportswriter) March 5, 2024
And this week’s numbers are in, and it’s a familiar refrain. Fox had 4.028 million viewers for Sunday’s Cup race from Phoenix, up 19% from the 3.389 million that tuned in last year. And a trend is developing as it was the most-watched sports event for a third consecutive weekend.
.@FoxTV got 4.028 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix, up 19% from 3.389 million last year and the most-watched sports event of the weekend.
🔲 Last year's race went up against the @MarchMadnessMBB selection show and @THEPLAYERS championship. pic.twitter.com/zGkNhzP9LI
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) March 12, 2024
NASCAR’s Competition Losing Ground
While NASCAR is clearly riding a wave of momentum, its motorsports competition is trending in the opposite direction. Sunday’s IndyCar opener on NBC from St. Petersburg pulled in 975,000 viewers, down 18% from 1.189 million in 2023. F1 was no different. Airing on ESPN2 instead of ESPN, the Saturday race from Saudi Arabia recorded 920,000 viewers, down a whopping 40% from the 1.523 million viewers last year for the Sunday race.
.@ESPN-2 got 920,000 viewers for Saturday's @F1 race from Saudi Arabia, down 40% from 1.523 million viewers last year, though that event was on the main ESPN channel and held on a Sunday. pic.twitter.com/taJVx2trK4
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) March 12, 2024
Over the last several years, not long after the Netflix docuseries “Drive to Survive” debuted, F1 saw a surge in popularity in the US. It still never came close to NASCAR’s numbers, but did show steady increases. Now, it appears that interest is waning — Max Verstappen’s weekend drubbings a main contributing factor.
But don’t discount the effect of NASCAR’s little partnership with Netflix. Social media reveals many who’ve become fans following the docuseries. And now they’ve watched four races, and not only not seen dominance by one driver, but they’ve watched four different drivers win, including one winning by .003 of a second. In other words, suspense-filled entertainment.
Netflix got this kickstarted, and NASCAR has taken the wheel. It’ll be interesting to see where it goes the rest of 2024.