A large chunk of NASCAR viewers this past Sunday were tuning in for the first time this season.
The racing league returned for fans around the country this past Sunday, and apparently drew in a lot of casual sports fans on Fox. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
According to Michael Mulvihill, Nielsen’s data showed 30% of viewers had watched zero NASCAR Cup races this season prior to The Real Heroes 400 this past Sunday.
30% of NASCAR viewers this weekend had not watched any NASCAR Cup races this season prior to the shutdown, per Nielsen.
— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) May 20, 2020
You know what this tells me more than anything? It doesn’t tell me people care about NASCAR. It tells me people will watch anything at this point.
People are so desperate for sports that anything on TV is pretty much good enough. Americans are tuning in for German soccer these days!
If that’s not desperation for sports to return during the coronavirus pandemic, then I don’t know what is.
The return of the Bundesliga on FS1 earned a .33 overnight rating for Dortmund’s emphatic win over Schalke.
That’s a +725% gain over the last FS1 Bundesliga match prior to the shutdown.
— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) May 17, 2020
Americans aren’t meant to live life without sports. We’re just not meant to. Competition is in our DNA. We crave it, and coronavirus has stolen that from us.
Luckily, things are slowly getting back to normal. There’s soccer in Europe, football is going to happen in the fall and the UFC is happening.
Viewing options are still limited, but we’re going to be back sooner or later. Once football arrives, you’re likely going to see TV ratings that are hard to comprehend.
Can’t wait!
