NASCAR Ratings Are Up
The Claim
The Bubba Wallace "hoax" and confederate flag ban caused the lowest NASCAR ratings ever.
News posted on
Emerging story
A tweet circulating on Twitter originated by Donald Trump implies that the noose-tied rope found in a NASCAR garage and the elimination of confederate flags at races has caused the NASCAR ratings to be the lowest ever.
Other social media users repeated the assumption.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation shows that NASCAR’s ratings are actually substantially up, not down. According to NBC Sports, viewership for the famous Indianapolis motorsport event Brickyard 400 was up 46% compared to 2019.
This year was the most watched Brickyard event since 2017. And just after the confederate flag was banned from races, NASCAR raced in Martinsville, Virginia. Television ratings for the Cup Series race at Martinsville were up 104% from last year according to The Tampa Bay Times. The tweet was likely created by President Trump to please his supporters, some of whom support the confederate flag and disapprove of racial equality.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lack of other televised sports, it may be at least another year to find out the true impact of NASCAR’s actions and how viewership really compares to previous years. It is possible more sports fans may be watching NASCAR who would rather be watching baseball or another summer sport that has not yet resumed due to COVID-19.
