Ratings Roundup: 2023 NHL Stadium Series Averages 1.1M Viewers, Up 23% From 2022

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, Fox’s Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum averages 3.65 million viewers; Baylor-Kansas is most watched men’s college basketball game of the week.

2023 NHL Stadium Series Sees Significant Viewership Increase

• The 2023 Stadium Series averaged 1.1M total viewers and is the most-viewed edition of the Stadium Series since 2019 (PIT/PHL)
• 2023 Stadium Series is up +79% from last year’s Stadium Series (TB/NSH) and is up +13% from 202’s Stadium Series (LA/COL)
• Viewership for the game peaked with 1.5M total viewers and it is the second most-viewed game of the season across all networks
• This year’s Stadium Series was the most-watched regular season game of all time in the Raleigh market.

Sunday’s Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on FOX Earned a 2.01 Rating and an Average of 3.65 Million Viewers, Becoming the Most-Watched NCS Telecast, of Any Kind, Since the 2022 Coca-Cola 600 in May Last Year on FOX (3.87 Million Viewers).

• • The race, which ran about a half hour longer than last year, seemed to benefit from the move to primetime. The 2023 Clash earned 540 million total tuning minutes, up +8% vs. last year (501 million)
  • The race ranked as the second most-watched sports telecast of the weekend behind only the NFL Pro Bowl on ABC (4.1 million)
  • Behind only last year’s inaugural Clash at the Coliseum, this also becomes the second most-watched non-points race since 2016, when The Clash also aired on FOX as the Sprint Unlimited (4.84 million viewers)
  • At peak, 4.0 million viewers were tuned in just prior to halftime
  • Viewership declines from year 1 to year 2 for this type of unique event are similar, although not down as much as some other sports. For example, MLB’s Field of Dreams / FOX broadcast in 2021 averaged 5.9M viewers, the ’22 broadcast drew 3.1M viewers in year 2 of the event (-47% in YOY viewers). TNT’s coverage of “The Match” (golf) in May 2020 drew 3.37 million viewers before earning just 1.04 million (-70% vs. May 2020) in November 2020. TNT’s latest version of The Match earned 742,000 average viewers in December 2022.
• NCS Practice & Qualifying: Sunday’s Qualifying races on FOX earned a 1.32 rating and averaged 2.37 million viewers, ranking within the Top-5 sports events of the weekend
  • • Qualifying coverage on FOX peaked at 2.5 million average viewers
  • Saturday night’s Qualifying ranked as the #1 sports telecast of the week on FS1, earning a 0.42 rating and 677,000 average viewers. Saturday night’s Practice ranked as the #2 sports telecast on FS1 for the week, earning a 0.35 rating and 589,000 average viewers
• 2023 Grammy Awards: Airing opposite the Clash on FOX, CBS’s telecast of the Grammy Awards averaged 12.54M viewers (+31% YOY). The 2019 Grammy’s, the most-recent edition to air in February, earned 19.96 million viewers

NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum
Aired Sunday, February 5^th on FOX

U.S. Rating                                                                                                         

2023:  2.01 on FOX

• -13% versus 2022 Clash on FOX (2.32)
• +116% over 2021 Clash on FS1 (0.93)
• +33% over 2020 Clash on FS1 (1.51)

Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2+)

2023:  3,647 (3.6 million)

• -15% versus 2022 Clash on FOX (4.3 million)
• +128% over 2021 Clash on FS1 (1.6 million)
• +49% over 2020 Clash on FS1 (2.5 million)

NASCAR Cup Series: Sunday’s DAYTONA 500 on FOX Earned a 4.37 Rating and an Average of 8.20 Million Viewers Tuned in Per Minute, Ranking NASCAR as the No. 1 Most-Viewed Sport of the Week, Larger Than the Combination of Both the NBA All-Star Game on TNT/TBS (4.6M) and Sunday’s Final Round of the PGA TOUR Genesis Invitational on CBS Featuring Tiger Woods (3.4M).

• Rating was down -7% YOY (4.70), while viewership was down -8% YOY (8.9M).
• • The telecast earned a 15.16 household share, up +2% YOY, and becoming the highest share produced across any race since the 2016 DAYTONA 500 (15.23)
  • The 2023 DAYTONA 500 also ranked as the No. 1 most-watched telecast of the weekend on any network, across all programming (not just sports)
  • This is the second most-watched NCS telecast, of any kind, since the 2019 DAYTONA 500, with viewership finishing up +66% vs. 2021 and up +11% vs. 2020 which were both impacted by weather
  • At peak, 10.1 million viewers were tuned in
  • Viewership for NCS events on FS1 leading into the DAYTONA 500 matched or exceeded comparable telecasts in 2022. Wednesday’s Qualifying averaged 795,000 viewers (up +6% YOY). Thursday’s Duel averaged 1.54 million viewers (+5% YOY, +3% vs. 2021). Friday’s NCS Practice averaged 395,000 viewers (Flat YOY)
• NASCAR Xfinity Series: the event earned a 0.93 rating and an average of 1.70 million viewers
  • The race ranked as the No. 1 most-viewed telecast of the week on FS1 and is the most-watched Xfinity Series race on cable since Daytona in February 2020 (1.81 million)
  • At peak, 2.1 million viewers were tuned in
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: the event earned a 0.60 rating and an average of 1.03 million viewers, despite being impacted by rain and running just 79 of 100 scheduled laps
  • This is the most-watched Truck series race since Bristol in April last year which ran later in prime (1.20 million)
  • At peak, 1.1 million viewers were tuned in