Despite the playoffs, NASCAR continues to do poorly on television


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Another week, more bad ratings news for NASCAR.

The Turtles 400 earned a 1.4 rating and 2.3 million viewers, down from last year's 1.6 and 2.7, respectively, according to the Sports Business Journal.

It's quite possible the numbers were hurt by competition from other sports -- pro and college football, and baseball has several exciting races as it heads into the final weeks of its season. It's also possible running the races on cable is killing the sport.

But it's a continuation of bad ratings news for NASCAR.

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Sports Media Watch did an analysis of the Southern 500. It attracted 3.10 million viewers on NBCSN Sunday night, and the rest of the numbers were equally as terrible. Ratings were down 36%; viwership down 33% in viewership from last year, and it was even worse from 2015 -- ratings were down 51% and viewership 48%.

Denny Hamlin's win --  which ended up being encumbered -- was the lowest-rated Darlington race since at least 1998 and the least-watched since at least 1999.

 

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