THE SUPERCARS eSports series has been a ratings success for Fox Sports – and the story is very much the same in the United States, too, as The Race Torque reports.

WORDS: Richard Craill

TRT has been charting the ratings for the Supercars eSeries, with the show averaging more than 70,000 live viewers a week on Fox Sports 506, making it the most watched program on the network since the Coronavirus shutdown began.

The story is much the same in the United States with the latest ratings for NASCAR and IndyCar eSeries action comfortably entrenching Motorsport as the big winner from the virtual sports boom of late.

RATINGS WATCH: Click for our TV ratings story archive

NASCAR’s recent rRacing round at a virtual Talledega Superspeedway drew over 1.24m people to the primary FOX channel and FS1, their cable alternative, making it the second most-watched eSports broadcast in history.

NASCAR hold the top nine spots on that list, with the Texas round a week prior drawing an incredible 1.4 million people to the ‘tube.

NASCAR’s biggest benefit is that while a majority of eSports competition has been broascast solely on cable TV channels, their four biggest events have also been shown on the free-to-air FOX broadcast network, giving them an enormous potential reach.

The gamble for FOX has clearly paid off with three of the four races they have broadcast alongside their cable FS1 compatriots each drawing more than 1 million people to the broadcast.

However, even the races shown only on the cable-TV FS1 network have been big, the top-ranked cable-only race attracting more than 900,000 people.

NASCARs average TV audience across the full 2019 season was just under 3 million per race, meaning their eSports audience is approcimately 40% of the real thing.

These numbers translate to both IndyCar’s eSports offering and indeed Supercars; their eSeries coverage drawing a tad under 45% of the real-world racing audience to Fox Sports 506 in Australia.

What about the others?

ESPN and ESPN2’s coverage of a Pro NBA2K tournament take the next five spots on the list – but the numbers are miles behind NASCAR: The highest-rated NBA broadcast was a million people behind the Texas peak for iRacing.

IndyCar features on the list with solid numbers on NBCSN (NBC’s cable sports network, available in less households than FS1), including 202,000 for the Michigan Speedway race.

Unlike NASCAR, IndyCar’s racing has not been shown on the primary NBC channel – only the cable alternative – though the gap between the NASCAR and IndyCar TV numbers remains about the same as it is in real-world racing.

America’s favourite sport, the NFL, hardly features with 140,000 watching a Madden NFL 20 game on ESPN2.

The numbers are proof positive that the similarities in the skills required to execute competitive real-world racing and the simulated form, make for compelling viewing.

The fact that Supercars, IndyCar and NASCAR are taking the product seriously and utilising real-world drivers, circuits and broadcasters has eased the transition for viewers, with the numbers proof that it is one fans are embracing.

Latest esports TV Ratings:@iRacing @NASCAR @fox @fs1 = 1,240,000 (#2 All Time, 20%+ Week Increase)@IndyCar @NBCSN = 169,000@EAMaddenNFL ESPN2 = 140,000@RLEsports ESPN2 = 95,000 pic.twitter.com/kAeUSB0MRi

— Manny Anekal (@mannyanekal) April 28, 2020

Lead Image: @lhd_on_sports on Twitter.