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NBCSN Sets Audience Record With Brickyard 400, But Questions Linger About Race's Future

NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 on Sunday rebounded from record-low viewership last year to post the Sprint Cup event’s best audience since '13, as well as NBCSN's best audience on record. The race from Indianapolis Motor Speedway also marked the best Cup race on cable TV since the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on ESPN in '14. NBCSN finished with 5.22 million viewers for the race, up 11% from 4.7 million viewers last year -- which at the time was also an NBCSN record -- and up slightly from 5.2 million viewers on ESPN in '14. ESPN finished with 5.46 million viewers in '13. Sunday’s audience also is up from 5.06 million viewers in '12, but that race aired up against the London Games (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES BRICKYARD 400 AUDIENCE TREND
YEAR
NETWORK
VIEWERS (000)
'16
NBCSN
5,217
'15
NBCSN
4,701
'14
ESPN
5,196
'13
ESPN
5,460
'12
ESPN
5,055

WHAT TO DO: MOTORSPORT.com's Jim Utter wrote with NASCAR’s new five-year sanctioning agreements in place, there is "little use pondering the thought" of the Brickyard 400 leaving the circuit "anytime soon -- if ever." Utter: "But can anything be done to make the Brickyard great again?" From a prestige standpoint, "nothing has changed with how much it means to NASCAR competitors and teams to run on the iconic motorsports track, and even more so, winning on it." When it comes to the competitiveness of the racing itself, what takes place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with stock cars "has never held a candle to the spectacle that is produced by open-wheel cars." And there is "good reason for that -- the track was designed for open-wheel racing" (MOTORSPORT.com, 7/25). In Richmond, Randy Hallman writes NASCAR’s cars "aren’t particularly well-suited" for IMS. Although drivers are "keen to win at the historic track, often the competition has been less than thrilling." Eventually, that "takes a toll on attendance." It was a "grand experiment to undertake" in '94, but now there have been 23 NASCAR races there. The ticket-buying fans are "offering us a verdict on the experiment: It isn’t working" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 7/26).

IN DENIAL? The FLORIDA TIMES-UNION notes the "empty grandstands" at the Brickyard 400 were "hard to ignore." However, some drivers "preferred not to talk about the elephant in the room." Jimmie Johnson was asked about the crowd and said, "I don't think my mic is working." Matt Kenseth "suggested a heat wave may have kept fans from attending." Kenseth: "It was like 120 degrees out there. ... But I don't know. I'm the wrong guy to ask. I'm not a promoter or track owner" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 7/27). NBCSN's Steve Letarte said, "Let's be honest. It's Indianapolis. It isn't going to have the type of racing you're going to see at Martinsville or Bristol or Richmond. ... I think NASCAR is aware of it" ("NASCAR America," NBCSN, 7/25).

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