FOX Sports averaged 2.82 million viewers for its presentation of the NASCAR Cup Series from Phoenix, making history as the most-viewed race on FS1 since 2021. Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal added that the race received a 1.43 rating on FS1, culminating as Christopher Bell won his third consecutive tilt within the series. Furthermore, the race peaked with 3.39 million viewers during the 6:45 to 7 p.m. EST quarter-hour and finished as the top telecast in all of cable television on Sunday.
Compared to the average of 2.39 million viewers for NASCAR races on FS1 last year, the presentation of the NASCAR Cup Series race from Phoenix Raceway was up 18%. There is not a direct comparable year-over-year metric since last year’s event averaged 4.03 million viewers on the FOX broadcast television channel.
FOX Sports currently televises 14 NASCAR Cup Series races per annum under a new seven-year media rights deal with the company that took effect this year, which coincides with the 25th anniversary of NASCAR on FOX. The company also has media rights deals with NBC Sports, Amazon’s Prime Video and TNT Sports that brings live coverage of all 38 NASCAR Cup Series races within the circuit through the 2031 season. As it pertains to FOX Sports specifically, the company also carries practice and qualifying races in the Busch Light Clash, Daytona 500 and NASCAR All-Star Race in addition to the 23-race NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
One day earlier, The CW presented the NASCAR Xfinity Race from Phoenix Raceway and amassed an average of 1.2 million viewers for the matchup, which is up 13% from the previous year. The CW serves as the home of the NASCAR Xfinity Series with 33 live races per year plus practice and qualifying events taking place each weekend. Races are produced by NASCAR Productions in collaboration with The CW Network.
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