NASCAR’s Televised Return Draws 6 Million Viewers On May 17, NASCAR returned to television after a 10-week hiatus.
The Real Heroes 400 was held at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.
No fans were present in the racetrack’s 47,000 seats.
Only essential staff, such as teams and broadcasters, were permitted to attend.
They reportedly numbered around 900 people.
Virtual viewership on the other hand occurred in record-breaking numbers, with a total of 6.32 million viewers.
According to Fox, that makes the event the most-watched non-Dayton NASCAR race in more than three years.
Viewership was up 38 percent from NASCAR’s last race, which occurred pre-shutdown, according to Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal.
The race also averaged an additional 40,000 viewers on Fox Sports’ digital platforms. In terms of viewership, it trails only behind the 2020 Daytona 500 as the company’s largest NASCAR streaming audience.