FOX GETS 1.33 MILLION VIEWERS FOR SIMULATED NASCAR RACE

On Sunday, Fox Sports aired the Pro Series Invitational on both Fox and FS1. It earned a combined 0.81 rating and attracted 1.33 million viewers. This effectively broke last week’s record for the most-viewed esports event in U.S. linear TV history.

NASCAR turns to esports

NASCAR initially started the multirace exhibition series two weeks ago to give viewers something to watch. It also served in giving its drivers something to do during the Coronavirus shutdown. But now it’s become evident that the series has turned into positive advertising for NASCAR’s esports efforts.

The metrics are reported by ShowBuzzDaily and indicate the event earned 355,000 viewers during the 18-49 demo. The race itself was the second most-viewed esports related event of the weekend after a 1.45 rating and 2.36 million viewers watched WWE’s “Friday Night Smackdown” on Fox.

Comparing esports events

The first NASCAR esports event two weeks ago was only aired on FS1. It earned a 0.53 rating and brought on some 903,000 viewers. This past weekend’s race was simulcast on Fox and FS1 for the first time. But it was not picked up by other Fox affiliates across the country, including the NASCAR’s most popular region of Charlotte.

In the meanwhile, NASCAR has been working with IMG on distribution. They want this to reach a global audience. According to NASCAR, it can now be seen in 165 countries and territories across 25 broadcast networks and 400 million TV homes.

More numbers from Fox and Nielsen are expected to be released later today.

Ryan Goodrich

Ryan has been writing since long before he could even write. He's written resumes, software user guides, consumer electronic reviews, and myriad web content spanning a variety of industries. But now he's writing about video games, which is much more interesting.

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