NASCAR on Prime Sees Sky High Viewership Across Races This Season

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, the NBA Finals Game 7 was most-watched NBA Finals Game in six years; WNBA secures 1.7 million viewers with third most-watched WNBA game in history; and more.

NASCAR Viewership for Pocono and the Conclusion of Prime Video’s 2025 Coverage

• NASCAR Cup Series: Sunday’s race earned a 0.86 household rating with an average of 1.87 million viewers on Prime Video
  • The races Median Age was 56.1 years old
    • Prime Video races now rank #1-#5 for the youngest NASCAR audiences this season to-date
  • At peak, 2.1 million viewers were tuned in
  • The five races on Prime Video (Charlotte-Pocono) averaged 2.14 million viewers per minute, in line with the 2024 NCS cable race average (2.18 million)
    • The five races Median Age was 56.8, nearly 6 full years younger than the 2024 NCS average of 62.4
  • NCS results reflect Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel data stream, which includes first party Prime Video data
• NASCAR Xfinity Series: Facing competition from various sports airing across all other major U.S. broadcast networks, Saturday’s event earned a 0.59 household rating on The CW with an average of 1.12 million viewers tuned in per minute, up +21% over 2024 NXS New Hampshire which took place this same week last year and up +10% over 2024 NXS Pocono which took place in July (1.0 million)
  • This is the most-watched Xfinity race from Pocono since 2020 (1.17 million)
  • For the 16^th time in 16 races this season, NXS ranked as the #1 telecast of the week on The CW
  • Viewership peaked with 1.6 million viewers tuned in
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Friday’s event on FS1 earned a 0.19 household rating with an average of 331,000 viewers tuned in per minute, up +14% over 2024 NCTS Pocono, which aired in July
  • The race ranked as the #1 sports event of the weekend on Fox Sports 1, ahead of MLB and CONCACAF Gold Cup competition
  • Viewership peaked with 439,000 viewers tuned in

• IMSA: Sunday’s event at Watkins Glen averaged a 0.32 household rating and averaged 529,000 viewers per minute on NBC, up nearly 2X YOY when the event aired on USA Network (272,000)
  • At peak, 658,000 viewers were tuned in
• Cable news: Following Saturday evenings breaking news of U.S. military involvement in Iran, viewership across cable news network’s rose significantly compared to the Sunday of the prior week
  • Sunday’s 4:30P-7:45P window, during NCS coverage at Pocono, was 1.4X the viewership the previous Sunday across CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and FOX News (4.1 million from 2.9 million)
    • For comparison, viewership was 2.9X Sunday to Sunday following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, 1.9X for the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, and 3.4X following Donald Trump’s assassination attempt in July 2024 (also opposite Pocono)

• Weekend Motorsports, ranked by audience size:
  • NCS (Pocono): 1.869 million viewers on Prime Video
  • NXS (Pocono): 1.120 million viewers on The CW
  • IndyCar (Road America): 781,000 viewers on FOX
  • NHRA (Richmond): 597,000 viewers on FOX
  • IMSA (Watkins Glen): 529,000 viewers on NBC
  • NCTS (Pocono): 331,000 viewers on FS1
  • ARCA (Elko): 59,000 viewers on FS2

Note: In 2024, Pocono weekend took place in July, the same weekend the Donald Trump assassination attempt took place, which occurred on Saturday. Analysis showed a significant number of TV viewers were watching cable news on Sunday afternoon, as coverage of Saturday’s events unfolded. Similar cable news consumption comparisons for 2025 are detailed above after U.S. military involvement in Iran occurred Saturday evening.

NASCAR Cup Series The Great American Getaway 400 – Aired Sunday, June 22^nd on Prime Video

• U.S. Rating                                                                                                         
  • 2025: 0.86 on Prime Video
  • No direct YOY comparison
• Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2+)
  • 2025: 1,869 (1.9 million)
  • No direct YOY comparison

NASCAR Xfinity Series Explore the Pocono Mountains 250  – Aired Saturday June 21^st on The CW

• U.S. Rating                                                                                                         
  • 2025: 0.59 on The CW
  • Up +9% over 2024 New Hampshire on USA Network (0.54)
  • Up +2% over 2024 Pocono on USA Network (0.58)
• Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2+)
  • 2025: 1,120 (1.120 million)
  • Up +21% over 2024 New Hampshire on USA Network (926,000)
  • Up +10% over 2024 Pocono on USA Network (1.0 million)

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series MillerTech Battery 200  – Aired Friday June 20^th on FS1

• U.S. Rating                                                                                                         
  • 2025: 0.19 on FS1
  • Up +6% over 2024 Pocono on FS1 (0.18)
• Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2+)
  • 2025: 331 (331,000)
  • Up +14% over 2024 Pocono on FS1 (291,000)

Prime Video’s final NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) race of the season from Pocono Raceway posted 1.87 million viewers (AMA P2+) on Sunday, after a rain delay pushed back the green flag by more than two hours. Race winner Chase Briscoe executed a suspenseful fuel strategy to hold off Pocono’s all-time winningest driver during the final stage of the race—beating Denny Hamlin by .682-second to capture his first NCS victory.

Among total viewers, the event was essentially flat with the NCS race from New Hampshire that occupied the same calendar weekend in 2024 (1.94M), but Prime Video once again attracted strong year-over-year gains among all key adult demos under the age of 55:  P18-34 (+94%), P18-49 (+43%) and P25-54 (+49%).

After the checkered flag, NASCAR on Prime presented a 67-minute post race show, averaging 797k viewers (AMA P2+), retaining an impressive 43% percent of the race audience.

Below, find viewership highlights from Sunday’s race in Pocono’s Tricky Triangle.  A full-season viewership recap of Prime Video’s inaugural NASCAR campaign will be distributed tomorrow.  Please note that all figures listed are from Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel measurement.

• • According to Nielsen, Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on Prime Video averaged 1.87 million viewers (AMA P2+).
    • Race coverage on Prime Video peaked at 2.13M viewers (7:15pm – 7:29pm ET).
  • NASCAR on Prime delivered a median age of 56.1 on Sunday, which is more than seven years younger than last year’s NCS race from New Hampshire that occupied the same calendar weekend (63.2).
  • Among viewers in the coveted P18-34 demographic, NASCAR on Prime averaged 227k viewers on Sunday, registering an increase of +94% vs. 2024’s comparable event (117k, 6/23/24 from New Hampshire).
  • Among viewers in the P18-49 demographic, NASCAR on Prime averaged 502k viewers on Sunday, registering an increase of +43% vs. 2024’s comparable event (351k, 6/23/24 from New Hampshire).
  • Among viewers in the P25-54 demographic, NASCAR on Prime averaged 673k viewers on Sunday, registering an increase of +49% vs. 2024’s comparable event (452k, 6/23/24 from New Hampshire).
  • Sunday’s NASCAR Live from Pocono pre race show on Prime Video averaged 872k viewers (AMA P2+).

• Sunday’s 67-minute post race edition of NASCAR Live from Victory Lane  averaged 797k viewers (AMA P2+), retaining 43% of the race audience.

Prime Video Finishes Groundbreaking First Season of Exclusive NASCAR Coverage

Full-season average of 2.16 million viewers across five events, and double-digit, year-over-year gains among all key adult demos under the age of 55:  P18-34, P18-49 and P25-54

NASCAR on Prime’s median age of 56.1 marks the lowest by any NASCAR broadcaster in more than a decade, and nearly seven years younger than 2025 average on broadcast and cable

Comprehensive post race shows averaged 60 minutes in length and retained 43% of race audience

Introduction of AI-powered broadcast enhancements in collaboration with AWS, including “Burn Bar” and “AI Radio Scanner,” bringing fans closer to the action than ever before

Full-season of uninterrupted green-flag action on the track, and an average of 47 laps of commercial-free racing to conclude each race

Successful launches of NASCAR-themed Prime Originals “Earnhardt” and “American Thunder: NASCAR to Le Mans,” as well as Amazon Music Original and NASCAR on Prime anthem “Up Around the Bend”

Third Most-Watched WNBA Game Ever on ESPN: Indiana Fever Vs Las Vegas Aces Averaged 1.7 Million Viewers

• Sunday, June 22
  • 1.7 million average viewers
    • Peaked at 2.2 million
    • Up 52% vs. last year’s WNBA on ESPN regular season average
  • WNBA Countdown presented by Google
    • 443 thousand viewers
    • Up 33% vs. last year’s regular season average on ESPN
  • 2025 WNBA coverage across ESPN up 14% from last season

Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Game 7 on ABC and ESPN+ is Most-Watched NBA Finals Game in Six Years

ABC’s presentation of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 7 Championship victory over the Indiana Pacers is the most-watched NBA Finals game in six years, since 2019, according to preliminary data from Nielsen. The winner-take-all Game 7 averaged 16,353,000 viewers and peaked with 19,281,000 viewers from 9:45-10 p.m. ET across ABC and ESPN+.

The seven-game series averaged 10,266,000 viewers and delivered the seven most-watched broadcasts on all of television since the first week of May. The audience for the 2025 NBA Playoffs across ESPN and ABC – 34 games – averaged 6,118,000 viewers, up 10 percent from 2024.

Prime Video’s NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Race from Mexico City on Sunday Attracted an Average Audience of 2.10 Million Viewers

The event, won by road-racing boss Shane van Gisbergen, outperformed both IndyCar (1.20M) and F1 (1.57M) on broadcast television, as well as all other live events across linear, except for the final round of the U.S. Open.

The penultimate event of Prime’s inaugural five-race season of NCS coverage drew its youngest audience yet, as well as the youngest audience for any Cup Series race since 2017. Through four events, NASCAR on Prime continues to post double-digit increases among P18-34 (+24%), P18-49 (12%), and P25-54 (+21%), when compared to the four NCS races that occupied the late-May, mid-June stretch of 2024 (Coca-Cola 600, Illinois, Sonoma, Iowa).

Sunday also marked NASCAR on Prime’s most-watched post race show of the season, as an audience of 1.07M (AMA P2+) remained to watch SVG launch a celebratory footie into the grandstands and a full-service recap of the race.

• • According to Nielsen, Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on Prime Video averaged 2.10 million viewers (AMA P2+).
    • Race coverage on Prime Video peaked at 2.45M viewers (6:15pm – 6:29pm ET).
  • Through four races, NASCAR on Prime has presented the four youngest NASCAR audiences of the 2025 season, and is delivering a median age of 56.0, which is more than six years younger than audiences watching NASCAR Cup Series races this season on linear networks (62.8).
  • Among viewers in the coveted P18-34 demographic, NASCAR on Prime averaged 243k viewers on Sunday, registering an increase of +7% vs. 2024’s comparable event (227k, 6/16/24 from Iowa).
    • Through four races, NASCAR on Prime is averaging 235k among P18-34, which is +24% above the comparable stretch of NCS events from 2024 (189k).
  • Among viewers in the P18-49 demographic, NASCAR on Prime averaged 629k viewers on Sunday, and is averaging 623k through four races, which is +12% above the comparable stretch of NCS events from 2024 (558k).
  • Among viewers in the P25-54 demographic, NASCAR on Prime averaged 788k viewers on Sunday, and is averaging 837k through four races, which is +21% above the comparable stretch of NCS events from 2024 (690k).
  • Sunday’s NASCAR Live from Mexico City pre race show on Prime Video averaged 553k viewers (AMA P2+).

• Sunday’s 55-minute post race edition of NASCAR Live from Victory Lane on Prime Video averaged 1.07M viewers (AMA P2+), marking the show’s largest audience of the season.

• NCS: NASCAR ranked as the #2 sport of the day on Sunday behind only the U.S. Open (golf) Final Round, with the event in Mexico City earning a 0.87 household rating with an average of 2.097 million viewers per minute on Prime Video
  • At peak, 2.4 million viewers were tuned in
  • The races Median Age was 54.3 years old, ranking as the youngest NASCAR audience of the season
    • Prime Video races now rank #1-#4 for the youngest NASCAR audiences this season to-date
  • Post-race coverage on Prime Video averaged 1.1 million viewers tuned in per minute (6:54PM – 7:48PM), ranking as the most-watched post-race coverage on Prime Video through 4 races
  • NCS results reflect Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel data stream, which includes first party Prime Video data
• NXS: The event in Mexico City earned a 0.49 household rating on The CW with an average of 868,000 viewers tuned in per minute
  • NXS ranked as the #1 sport of the week on The CW
  • At peak, 938,000 viewers were tuned in
• Weekend Motorsports, ranked by audience size:
  • NCS (Mexico City): 2.097 million viewers on Prime Video
  • Formula 1 (Canadian GP): 1.335 million viewers on ABC
  • IndyCar (WWTR): 1.012 million viewers on FOX
  • NXS (Mexico City): 868,000 viewers on The CW
  • ARCA (Berlin): 102,000 viewers on FS1

NASCAR Cup Series Viva Mexico 250 – Aired Sunday, June 15^th on Prime Video

• U.S. Rating                                                                                                         
  • 2025: 0.87
  • No direct YOY comparison
• Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2+)
  • 2025: 2,097 (2.1 million)

NASCAR Xfinity Series The Chilango 150  – Aired Saturday, June 14^th on The CW

• U.S. Rating                                                                                                         
  • 2025: 0.49
  • Flat versus 2024 Iowa on USA Network (0.49)
• Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2+)
  • 2025: 868 (868,000)
  • Flat versus 2024 Iowa on USA Network (871,000)

DIGITAL

NASCAR’s Digital Platform Experiences Massive Audience Engagement this weekend

• The Mexico City race weekend drove nearly 4 million visits, 13 million page views, and 700,000 video views across NDM.
• Traffic from Mexico was 3x higher than an average race weekend on NASCAR.com, signaling strong regional interest.

Innovative AI Translation for MRN Broadcast

• Successfully launched a proof of concept translating MRN Radio into Spanish in real time using AI.
• Available through the NASCAR Mobile App and desktop Scanner for both Xfinity and Cup races.

Free Scanner Drives Major Usage Surge

• Enabled free access to Scanner, resulting in usage doubling from 120K to 245K—a 2X increase over the average weekend.

Cross-Platform “Logistics Story” Campaign

• Collaborative Editorial + Social campaign highlighting the logistical feat of moving the circuit south of the border.
• Deployed across .COM, Instagram, X (Twitter), and Facebook.
• Resulted in 1 million+ views of logistics-related content, including interviews, border-crossing footage, and exclusive hauler stories.

Immersive On-Site Mobile Storytelling

• Doubled the volume of mobile stories compared to prior markets.
• Heavy use of on-the-ground visuals (cell videos, photos) created a vibrant, localized narrative.
• Generated nearly 500,000 views of Mexico-specific mobile content.

ROBLOX

• A big spike in Daily active users (~400k on Saturday) & visits (2m on Saturday) to NASCAR World with the new Mexico drop
• (More data to come on this front)

FAN REWARDS UPDATE (not Mexico specific)

• Currently has just over 325,000 members.
• We’ve seen a 60% increase in membership YoY.
• Additionally, the members who are enrolling and participating are more active than they’ve ever been. 83% of members actively participate in the program and the number of member engagements have increased 80% year over year.

NASCAR on Prime Outperforms F1 and IndyCar on Broadcast TV

Prime Video’s NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) race from Mexico City on Sunday attracted an average audience of 2.10 million viewers (AMA P2+).  The event, won by road-racing boss Shane van Gisbergen, outperformed both IndyCar (1.20M) and F1 (1.57M) on broadcast television, as well as all other live events across linear on Sunday, except for the final round of the U.S. Open.

The penultimate event of Prime’s inaugural five-race season of NCS coverage drew its youngest audience yet, as well as the youngest audience for any Cup Series race since 2017. Through four events, NASCAR on Prime continues to post double-digit increases among P18-34 (+24%), P18-49 (+12%), and P25-54 (+21%), when compared to the four NCS races that occupied the late-May, mid-June stretch of 2024 (Coca-Cola 600, Illinois, Sonoma, Iowa).

Sunday also marked NASCAR on Prime’s most-watched post race show of the season, as an audience of 1.07M (AMA P2+) remained to watch SVG launch a celebratory footie into the grandstands and a full-service recap of the race.

Below, find viewership highlights from Sunday’s historic race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Please note that all figures listed are from Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel measurement.

• According to Nielsen, Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on Prime Video averaged 2.10 million viewers (AMA P2+).
  • Race coverage on Prime Video peaked at 2.45M viewers (6:15pm – 6:29pm ET).
• Through four races, NASCAR on Prime has presented the four youngest NASCAR audiences of the 2025 season, and is delivering a median age of 56.0, which is more than six years younger than audiences watching NCS races this season on linear networks (62.8).
• Among viewers in the coveted P18-34 demographic, NASCAR on Prime averaged 243k viewers on Sunday, registering an increase of +7% vs. 2024’s comparable event (227k, 6/16/24 from Iowa).
  • Through four races, NASCAR on Prime is averaging 235k among P18-34, which is +24% above the comparable stretch of NCS events from 2024 (189k).
• Among viewers in the P18-49 demographic, NASCAR on Prime averaged 629k viewers on Sunday, and is averaging 623k through four races, which is +12% above the comparable stretch of NCS events from 2024 (558k).
• Among viewers in the P25-54 demographic, NASCAR on Prime averaged 788k viewers on Sunday, and is averaging 837k through four races, which is +21% above the comparable stretch of NCS events from 2024 (690k).
• Sunday’s NASCAR Live from Mexico City pre race show on Prime Video averaged 553k viewers (AMA P2+).
• Sunday’s 55-minute post race edition of NASCAR Live from Victory Lane on Prime Video averaged 1.07M viewers (AMA P2+), marking the show’s largest audience of the season.

ESPN Formula 1 Viewership Notes After Canadian Grand Prix