Good news race fans — Full Speed, Netflix’s look behind the scenes at NASCAR, has had a positive impact on the sport. According to The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck, as Full Speed appears on Netflix’s Top 10 from time to time, NASCAR’s television ratings are up compared to last season.
Gluck says that NASCAR has seen ratings increase across four straight races, outside of rainouts. The last two races, the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix and the Food City 500 at Bristol, were up double digits year-over-year — a 19 percent year-over-year increase for Phoenix and 11 percent for Bristol.
Better still, Nielsen data found that 88 percent of first-week Full Speed viewers didn’t watch last fall’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship race, meaning the sport is potentially attracting newer fans. Adding to the joy for NASCAR, five of the six race winners this season are featured on Full Speed: William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, and Tyler Reddick.
“To see 88 percent of new fans watching that show, and then you roll into the season and you have some terrific racing and you have a number of winners who were actually featured on Netflix, it really matched up to what we’d hoped for,” NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell said via The Athletic. “It’s impossible to say exactly how much it’s driving the ratings, but you’ve certainly got to look at that stat and say we exposed the sport to a new audience.”
Netflix’s produced sports content has been hit or miss for the most part — but when it hits, it hits big. The original Netflix sports series, Drive to Survive, was a massive hit for Netflix and Formula 1. The NFL’s show Quarterback captured mainstream attention and was recently renewed for a second season called Receiver, which will follow five top NFL receivers instead of QBs.
However, there are misses when compared to the success of its other popular properties. Break Point, Netflix’s look at tennis pros, never seemed to catch viewers’ attention and was canceled after two seasons. Likewise, its golf show Full Swing was renewed for a second season but was criticized for not featuring enough about the LIV Golf/PGA Tour controversy that ran rampant during Season One.
