Ratings Roundup: FOX Sports Secures Most Watched MLB Telecast This Season; NBA Playoffs Up 15% vs. Last Year
Story Highlights
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, NASCAR secures highest viewership across both the NASCAR Cup Series and FS1 with over 2 million fans tuning in to both races; and more.
NASCAR Viewership Info – Kansas w/ FOX Season Overall Numbers
- NASCAR Cup Series: the NCS event at Kansas earned a 1.12 household rating with 2.32 million viewers tuned in per minute on FS1, up +1% YOY and ranking NASCAR as the #2 sport of the weekend on cable behind the NBA Playoffs
- NCS ranked as the #1 sports event across FOX Sports this week (including FOX broadcast network)
- At peak, 2.9 million viewers were tuned in
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Saturday night’s event earned a 0.27 household rating on FS1, with an average of 470,000 viewers tuned in per minute
- The race ranked as the #2 sports event of the week on FS1 behind only NCS
- At peak, 552,000 viewers were tuned in
- Weekend Motorsports, ranked by audience size:
- NCS (Kansas): 2.319 million viewers on FS1
- IndyCar (Indy Grand Prix): 710,000 viewers on FOX
- NCTS (Kansas): 470,000 viewers on FS1
- IMSA (Laguna Seca): 439,000 viewers on NBC
- Supercross (Salt Lake City): 153,000 viewers on USA Network
- ARCA (Kansas): 142,000 viewers on FS1
NASCAR Cup Series Advent Health 400 – Aired Sunday, May 11th on FS1
- U.S. Rating
- 2025: 1.12 on FS1
- Down -11% versus 2024 Kansas I on FS1 (1.26)
- Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2+)
- 2025: 2,319 (2.3 million)
- Up +1% over 2024 Kansas I on FS1 (2.3 million)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Heart of Health Care 200 – Aired Saturday, May 10th on FS1
- U.S. Rating
- 2025: 0.27 on FS1
- Down -27% versus 2024 Kansas on FS1 (0.37)
- Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2+)
- 2025: 470 (470,000)
- Down -26% versus 2024 Kansas on FS1 (631,000)
Overall FOX Numbers
The 2025 NASCAR Cup Racing season on FS1 averaged 2,534,000 viewers for 8 races,
- Up 6% from last year’s 2,389,000 viewers for all 6 races that aired on FS1.
The 2025 NASCAR Cup Racing season on FOX/FS1 averaged 3,364,000 viewers for 12 races (4 FOX, 8 FS1),
- Virtually flat with last year’s 3,369,000 viewers for all 16 races that aired on FOX/FS1 (10 FOX, 6 FS1).
- The 2025 Cup season was up 7% on P18-49 impressions (677,000 vs. 630,000)
The 2025 NASCAR season on FOX (4 telecasts) averaged 4,986,000 viewers,
- Up 24% vs. last year’s 4,006,000 viewers for FOX’s slate of races (10 telecasts)
- Up 8% vs. last year’s 4,559,000 viewers for the same 4 races on FOX (Daytona/Atlanta/COTA/Talladega). Note that this year’s Daytona 500 was weather-affected but finished on Sunday while last year’s Daytona 500 aired on Monday.
NBA Playoffs on ESPN Platforms Up 15 Percent From Last Year
- The Boston Celtics vs. The New York Knicks on May 12th on ESPN
- 6.13 million viewers
- Peak audience: 8.54 million viewers
- +50% vs. last year’s comparable game
- Most-watched program of the day across television and in all key demos
FOX Sports Delivers Most-Watched MLB Telecast This Season on Any Network
2,021,000 viewers tuned in Saturday night on FOX for a two-game BASEBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA slate, featuring the Chicago Cubs’ 6-5 victory over the New York Mets in most of the country as well as the Minnesota Twins’ 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants
- Marks the most-watched MLB telecast this season on any network
FS1 Continues to Drive NASCAR Viewership Growth
- 2,319,000 viewers watched Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson score his third victory of the year and the first Stage sweep by any driver this season. With the dominant win, Larson takes the NASCAR Cup Series points lead
- Up +1% from last year’s 2,296,000 viewers for the Kansas race on FS1
- The race peaked at 2,916,000 viewers from 6:00 to 6:15 PM ET
- 2025 NASCAR Cup Series races on FS1 averaged 2,534,000 viewers across eight races, up +6% from last year’s 2,389,000 viewers across six races
