Audience Analysis: Brickyard 400 Sets Mark For NBCSN, But Still Least-Viewed All Time

The annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past Sunday drew 4.7 million viewers on NBCSN, marking a record audience for the cable net, but an all-time low for the race dating back to its debut in ’94. The previous low for the race was 4.96 million viewers on ABC back in ’00 on a Saturday afternoon. ESPN aired the race from ’07 through last season, and its lowest Brickyard audience was 5.06 million viewers in ’12 (up against the London Games). On NBCSN, the Brickyard race set a new network record, topping viewership seen during the ’14 Sochi Games men’s hockey final and ‘14 NHL Western Conference Finals Game 7.

TRI HUGGERS: CONCACAF Gold Cup matches across Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 432,000 viewers this year, up 29% compared to 334,000 viewers on Fox and Fox Soccer in ’13. This year’s final featured Mexico beat Jamaica on FS1 (818,000 viewers), while two years ago, the U.S. defeated Panama on Fox (2.4 million viewers). Saturday’s third-place match (Panama-U.S.) only drew 290,000 viewers on FS2. Meanwhile, Univision’s Gold Cup telecasts averaged around 2.0 million viewers, up 40% from ’13. Univision had nine of the 10 most-viewed matches from the event, regardless of language. Univision on Sunday for Mexico-Jamaica averaged 6.0 million viewers, up 148% compared to the net’s U.S.-Panama title game in ’13.

YANKEE CLIPPER: FS1 on Tuesday night averaged 823,000 viewers for the Yankees’ 21-5 win over the Rangers, marking the cable net’s most-viewed MLB regular-season game to date. The exclusive telecast also drew 268,000 viewers among adults 18-49 -- another new regular-season game record for FS1. Meanwhile, the same matchup on Wednesday and Thursday drew a 4.1 local rating in the N.Y. market on YES Network, marking the RSN’s best Yankees game rating this season to date.

NOTES: The WNBA All-Star Game drew 583,000 viewers on ABC last Saturday afternoon, while its ESPN simulcast drew 163,000 viewers. Last year’s event aired solely on ESPN, drawing 476,000 viewers....MLB Network drew 448,000 viewers for the Baseball HOF induction ceremony last Sunday from 1:30-5:11pm....Fox finished with 2.5 million viewers for TJ Dillashaw-Renan Barao on “UFC Fight Night” on Saturday, leading to a win in primetime among broadcast networks in the 18-49 demo. That viewership figure is up 13% over 2.5 million for the comparable Robbie Lawler-Matt Brown fight in ‘14.