NASCAR fans have changed the channel for good, and the alarming trend just hit a boiling point

The numbers are in, and they paint a disturbing picture for NASCAR as the series barrels toward its championship race in three short weeks.

Bottom line? Fans are leaving the sport … in droves.

Nobody is watching. And those who are watching, are complaining. A lot. About the car. About the tracks. About the lack of drama, and personality, and, frankly, about the TV channel.

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Most folks have turned it off completely. Those who have stayed aren’t thrilled.

I don’t need to tell you guys, but that’s not a great place to be.

Take a look:

Why are fans leaving NASCAR? It’s simple.

Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix drew a pathetic audience of just 1.2 million viewers. That number is alarming, folks. I’ve seen a lot of bad TV numbers for NASCAR over the years. Believe me.

It’s not like they’re hard to find.

But that’s a low number. It’s an unfathomable number given the series is smack dab in the middle of its playoffs. I never thought we’d see the day where a NASCAR Cup Series race drops below the Mendoza line (1 million), but we’re getting close. Too close.

For comparison’s sake, NASCAR averaged more than 4.5 million viewers per race in 2016, which was a really bad time for the sport. That’s when viewers were fleeing left and right. Jeff Gordon had retired. Tony Stewart was on his way out. Dale Jr. was right behind him.

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There’s been a nearly 50% drop-off in viewership since then! Through 33 races this season, the Cup Series is averaging 2.3 million viewers per race. Through seven Chase races (that’s what we’re calling the playoffs this season), the number drops to 1.5 million.

So, yeah — I’d imagine alarms are going off in the big glass building across from Daytona International Speedway this morning. At least they should be.

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Now, the obvious question they’ll be asking themselves is … why? Why is this happening? Where are fans going? Why are they leaving?

To me, it’s a fairly simple answer if everyone is just honest with themselves for 30 seconds. I’ll go in order from what I consider most pressing, to least:

1. The TV deal stinks. It brought in a lot of money, but it’s really poor for exposure. Do you know how many races have been on network TV this season? Seven. Seven! Six on FOX, one on NBC. That means there has been one race on network TV since the spring (Daytona in August). That’s awful. Asking folks to hunt down the USA Network, and TNT, and then download Amazon Prime, and also find FS1 for 26 of your 33 races is a slap in the face.
2. The schedule stinks. I don’t mean the tracks themselves, I mean the time of year. NASCAR is putting its 10-race “Chase” right up against college football and the NFL. That’s like taking a knife to a gun fight. No sport is going to win that fight, much less NASCAR. Chase Elliott said it years ago, and it’s still true today: The season needs to end around Labor Day weekend. There’s no upside in going up against the NFL.
3. The Next Gen car has been a bigger turnoff than a Kamala Harris cackle. Fans despise it. Drivers despise it. You can’t pass. You can’t push the car. God forbid you try to run in “dirty air.” Folks aren’t stupid. They’ve seen what it’s done to these races, and they’ve lost interest.
4. To steal a phrase from the great Rick Pitino, “Dale Jr. is not walking through that door.” There’s no real personality in the garage anymore, beyond Carson Hocevar. Like him or hate him, Carson has moved the needle all season. Nobody else does. Chase Elliott is your “Most Popular Driver” year in and year out, and he was supposed to be NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. replacement. That hasn’t worked out. Chase has no interest in carrying that torch.

Jeff Gordon is gone. Dale Jr. is gone. Tony Stewart is gone. Kyle Busch, tragically, died. He was, perhaps, the last of the “old guard” when it came to NASCAR. Beyond hoping someone goes viral and physically attacks Carson Hocevar every week, I’m not sure who NASCAR is looking at to bring in new fans. He doesn’t exist.

And finally …

1. Let’s be honest, the drama isn’t there anymore. At least it’s not what it’s been over the past decade. Yes, the shift back to The Chase format was popular amongst hardcore NASCAR fans. I get it. But the sport gave up elimination races in the process, which is naturally going to hurt interest from casual fans. People like drama. Having an elimination race every third race in the fall certainly helped with interest. Those are gone now.

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Now, let’s try to fix NASCAR …

OK, that was a long-winded “30 seconds” of honesty, but you get the picture. You add all those up, and I think it’s fairly easy to see how the series has cratered in terms of viewership over the past few years.

As for the answers? I don’t know. I’d shorten the season and own the summer. That’s probably atop my list. Utilize midweek races in June and July. End the regular season in July, and end the postseason on Labor Day weekend.

That’s probably the quickest and easiest fix.

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The TV deal is done, so I’m not sure you’re changing that any time soon. A new-era car would take a while to build, so that’s probably a ways off, too. As for the lack of personalities in the garage …

Yeah, I wouldn’t hold your breath. Carson Hocevar is gonna need to keep rattling cages for years to come, I fear.

So start with the schedule, and go from there. That’s my best suggestion …

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Because right now we live in a world where a WNBA Finals game is outdrawing a NASCAR postseason race.

And nobody wants to live in that world, folks.