The 2023 Daytona 500 was the longest in the race’s 65-year history, going to a second overtime period. The exciting finish, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. capture his first Daytona 500 victory, drew less viewership compared to last year’s event.
A reported 8.181 million viewers watched the event on FOX, which is down 8% from the 2022 edition. The 2022 race saw a three-year high in viewership at 8.868 million.
The 2023 race peaked with more than 10 million viewers during the final portion of the event.
While the decline in viewership could be viewed as a negative, the broadcast was the most-watched program of the weekend on any network, beating the NBA All-Star Game on TNT. FOX Sports claims the gap between the Daytona 500 and the NBA All-Star Game was 78%, an eight-year high.
In comparison to the Indianapolis 500 — INDYCAR’s most prestigious event — the 8.1 million total for the Daytona 500 is more than double the annual Memorial Day event for INDYCAR.
The top five markets for the Daytona 500 were Knoxville, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, Greenville/Spartanburg, Charlotte, and Birmingham.
