The Daytona 500, rescheduled to Monday due to rain, saw a significant shift in viewership. The race, which was won by William Byron, attracted 6.0 million viewers, marking a 27% drop from the previous year's 8.173 million viewers who watched the race as scheduled on a Sunday. Despite the decline, this year's viewership was still 22% better than the 2021 rain-impacted race that finished on a Sunday night with 4.83 million viewers. The last Monday finish prior to this was in 2020, which drew 7.33 million viewers, notably when President Trump attended. The race's performance in polls revealed a 76.1% approval rating, placing it fourth among Daytona 500s and 19th among 37 superspeedway races.
The Daytona 500 move to Monday due to the rain resulted in a 27% decrease in viewership for Fox, with only 5.96 million viewers 📺 🏁 This is the second-lowest audience on record. Read more from @AustinKarp ⬇️ https://t.co/ramaoyhLX2
Monday (2/19) sports ratings: -- PPD Daytona 500 nears low, but laps field -- Plus: Daytona Xfinity race, plus Presidents Day matinees on FOX (WCBB) and ESPN (NHL) https://t.co/dL0fHLN6zR
Top five markets for the Daytona 500: 1) Greensboro - 8.0 2) Greenville - 7.1 3) Charlotte - 6.0 3) Indy - 6.0 3) Louisville - 6.0 🔲 The precise viewership was 5.964 million. 🔲 For comparison, @NASCARChicago got 4.632 million, and the Chicago market that day got a 9.3 rating. https://t.co/hfC9xVczrb
Fox received 6.0 million million viewers for this year's Daytona 500, which was moved to Monday because of rain. https://t.co/ulIaCZKntt
Per FOX: The 66th running of the Daytona 500 posted 5,964,000 viewers for the make-up race on Monday which saw William Byron take the checkered flag. •Off 27% from last year’s showing of 8,173,000 viewers that aired as scheduled on a Sunday. •22% better than 2021’s…
.@FoxTV got 6.0 million viewers for Monday's re-scheduled Daytona 500. 🔲 The last rain-impacted Daytona 500 in 2021 got 4.83 million viewers but that race finished Sunday night. 🔲 The last time there was a Monday finish was 2020 when Trump came; that got 7.33 million viewers. https://t.co/P4fMHHV1Hz
🚨📺⛳️ #TVNUMBERS — Genesis Invitational ratings on Sunday were down 5% from last year (3.2M vs. 3.4M in ‘23) per @JoshACarpenter https://t.co/xvLmZ8APRz
Was the Daytona 500 a good race? 76.1% of you said Yes. -- Ranks No. 4 of 7 Daytona 500s in the poll -- Ranks No. 8 of 15 Daytona races overall -- Ranks No. 19 of 37 superspeedway races -- For reference, last year's Daytona 500 got 71%