NASCAR Crown Jewel in Crisis as Southern 500 Ratings Crash Despite TV Friendly Playoffs

Remember 2018? The NASCAR Cup Series finale at Homestead aired on NBC, and the broadcast posted what was at the time a jaw-dropping record low TV audience. A 2.5 rating, translating to 4.15 million viewers, down 32% from just two years prior, felt like a siren. It was the smallest since the early 2000s and marked the steepest television ratings collapse in recent sports memory. And fast forward to today, the crown jewel Southern 500 at Darlington has landed smack dab in the same troubled pocket. With the viewership drop discussions already rampant, are NASCAR’s biggest races in trouble?

The ‘Lady in Black’ has always offered and proved to be one of NASCAR’s most exciting races. In 2024, the grandstands, infield camping, and suites sold out completely for the 75th annual Cook Out Southern 500. That marked four consecutive sellouts post-pandemic, underscoring how much that crown jewel matters to fans. Darlington hasn’t released official attendance numbers for this year’s Southern 500 yet, but the TV viewership has taken a beating.

The USA Network presentation pulled in a whopping 1.88 M viewers, which is a sizable dip from the 2.4 million who watched last year’s edition on the same channel, and that is a steep 22% slide. But what gave racing a run for its money? College football. The Miami versus Notre Dame game aired on ABC simultaneously and pulled in 10.404 million viewers between 7:37 pm and 11 pm ET, while Darlington ran from 6:09 pm to 10:05 pm ET. Still, fans stuck around. Jeff Gluck, from The Athletic, posted a weekly poll where 23,230 fans, 61%, rated the event as a good race.

To provide some context, let’s talk about other crown jewel events. The Daytona 500, a curtain raiser that usually kicks off the NASCAR season with a bang, still stacked up 6.76 million viewers on FOX despite a gnarly four-hour rain delay; it was a 13% boost compared to last year’s rain-delayed edition of 5.96 million. It even peaked at 7.95 million right after the green flag, proving that drama plus persistence equals eyeballs. So even when considering whether to delay at Daytona, viewers didn’t bail; they hung on and drove the numbers up.

But flip over to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s marathon under the lights, and now in the world of streaming. In Prime Video’s first NASCAR race broadcast, the event averaged 2.72 million viewers, peaking at 2.92 million and drawing in a notably younger crowd. Meanwhile, another tally places it at around 2.6 million, which is about 16% less than last year’s FOX broadcast of 3.1 million. So yes, the crown jewels are feeling the pressure from weather, streaming, and fierce scheduling.

In a broadcast world increasingly splintered by streaming, like Amazon Prime, Max, Peacock, TNT, NBC, Fox, and even the CW, NASCAR fans are often left juggling platforms as much as following races. Roughly 35% of the fans admitted to being confused about needing Prime Video just to watch selective events, while 16% called it a major issue. The headaches don’t stop there; buffering, choppy fees, and subscription costs averaging $88 per month leave over 57 percent of sports fans frustrated, with 30% unable to access the events they want due to the availability gaps.

That is why USA Network remains NASCAR’s safe harbor. Reaching roughly 70 million households and backed by decades of NBC sports experience, it trumps the tech drama—no platform hunt, no spinning load wheels, no extra paywalls. For the sports court audience, especially during high-stakes playoff races like the Southern 500, USA offers a friction-free, familiar way to watch, proving that sometimes the old school channel lineup still beats the new age streaming maze.

This isn’t your cookie-cutter recap. It is a wake-up call. NASCAR’s glory days, when the weekend finale drew tens of millions, are under siege by shifting media habits, broadcast appeal, and fierce competition. And in the middle of it all, Chase Briscoe’s iconic Southern 500 win has gained its own enemies.

Rusty Wallace on Briscoe’s iconic 500 win

Scoring back-to-back victories at Darlington is the kind of thing that launches a driver into rarefied air, the NASCAR version of joining an elite secret Society. Chase Briscoe’s electrifying performance at Darlington Raceway last week wrote a new chapter in NASCAR history. His dominant display turned heads but also gained a touch of envy from some of the sport’s most iconic names, including none other than Rusty Wallace. It is a track where greatness gets measured. Just ask Jeff Gordon, seven-time 500 winner, or the late great Dale Earnhardt, who took this beast of a track nine times. Their names are archived in Darlington lore. But after Briscoe’s latest triumph, the garage buzz wasn’t just about the win; it was about how the legends, the Titans of the past eras, reacted to seeing a new name crash the party.

Enter Rusty Wallace, NASCAR Hall of Famer, Darlington Warrior, and proud owner of 11 top-five finishes and six spring victories at the track. Speaking on the NASCAR LIVE podcast, Wallace didn’t hold back in praising Briscoe’s dazzling command of a racecourse notorious for punishing the slightest misstep. Despite a Cup Series career that boasted an eye-popping 55 wins and a 1989 championship, the Southern 500 always remained just out of Wallace’s grasp.

He got heartbreakingly close to winning in the late 80s, but second-place finishes and elusive crown jewels slipped through his fingers. With honest candor and unmistakable reverence, Wallace reflected, “It was a hell of a performance. He just didn’t get lucky at anything. He just dominated the entire week. I mean, now to win two Southern 500s back to back, that’s pretty strong. I wish I could do something like that. I’ve done that on the short track series, you know, winning short tracks back-to-back, but Southern 500s, that’s the one I wish I could have won.” 

However, Rusty Wallace still tipped his cap to Briscoe’s top-to-bottom excellence, from blistering qualifying laps to ruling every growing mile with an iron grip. It is only a matter of time to see if Briscoe can maintain his lead over the other drivers in the upcoming rounds.