The 1979 Daytona 500 became one of the most coveted races and marked the rise of the sport’s popularity, garnering more than 15 million viewers and a 10.5 Nielsen rating. However, for last year’s Daytona 500 won by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the rating came down to a staggering 4.4. Why has there been such a steady decline in NASCAR’s viewership over the years? One might ask. Luckily, veteran spotter Brett Griffin has the answer.
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Fan experience is the key to success. Think about what’s been taken from the nascar fan in the last 5 years.
Pre-season at track, fan and media events gone.
Speedweeks in Daytona. Gone.
Practices and happy hour gone.
All star events in Charlotte gone.
3 day Cup shows…
— Brett Griffin (@SpotterBrett) January 17, 2024
In Griffin’s opinion, the key to success in NASCAR lies in the fan experience. He believes that over the past five years, several aspects of the fan experience have been taken away.
Things such as pre-season events at the track, fan, and media events, Speedweeks in Daytona, practices and happy hour, all-star events in Charlotte, three-day Cup shows, and driver appearances at the track have all contributed to this decline. Although the DBC spotter acknowledged that some of these losses could not be fixed, he believed that some of the others could be addressed.
Besides all of this, TV ratings for NASCAR have also come down significantly. Safe to say, people these days, opt for online streaming platforms like Hulu, Paramount, Disney +, Netflix, and Amazon. Nielsen reported that last year, 38.7% of the total TV usage fell into the court of online streaming platforms in July whereas, linear TV streaming viewership dropped below 50% for the very first time.
Fans rally behind Griffin to expose the sorry state of NASCAR’s fan experience
When Griffin commented on his post saying, “You say spoiled. I say deprived.”, longtime NASCAR fans poured in comments about how NASCAR has been turning a deaf ear to its fan’s demands. On that note, a user wrote,
It seems like NASCAR is doing the exact opposite of what the fans want. I don’t understand why. What’s the point of putting out all the surveys and polls if you’re not going to listen to anyone?
— WV Sports Talk (@SportsTalk_304) January 17, 2024
A fan added to Griffin’s list,
Less fun for fans every year. Souvenir haulers gone. Meet and greets gone. Driver/fan interaction? WTF is that?? Hemorrhaging fans, raising prices and wondering why numbers are falling. It’s not hard to see.
— Chris B (@USMC_NASCARFire) January 17, 2024
Someone else said,
Just from memories back in the day, fans were more excited about what you mentioned more than the actual race itself because it built more excitement leading up to the race.
— (@Mikey2082) January 17, 2024
Another one went back to the past days of NASCAR and remembered,
In 1996 I went to the Winston. It was my first ever NASCAR event. Drove 15 hours with a friend of mine and got to watch Michael Waltrip upset the world. Was only there for two days but all the track activation, the colors, the independent marketplace Was experience. I’ve never…
— Chris Phineas (@ChrisPhineas) January 17, 2024
Hinting at the good old days, another mentioned.
I remember going to the 600 and having stuff jam packed on both sides of the street that took the entire weekend just to see it all. Going on Thursday or Friday was the best day to take it all in and the best time to see drivers & owners just walking around relaxed and happy to…
— Mike Curry (@MC412) January 17, 2024
When someone like Griffin has got so much to say about the deterioration in NASCAR’s fan experience, the community is bound to be bothered by it. Will there be any changes to tackle the declining viewership? One could only hope so.
