Daytona 500 and NBA All-Star Game surge in viewers despite competition from Winter Olympics

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Daytona 500 and NBA All-Star Game posted audience gains on Sunday despite going up against the Winter Olympics.

Tyler Reddick’s win in the Daytona 500 drew an average of 7.49 million viewers on Fox, up 11% from last year. It was the most-watched NASCAR season opener since 2023, when 8.17 million viewers tuned in.

It was also the most-watched non-Olympic sporting event last week, according to Nielsen.

The audience peaked at 9.15 million for the finish.

The race also did not have a rain delay for the first time in three years, which helped bring in more viewers. Last year, the race was delayed for more than three hours, and the 2024 race was moved to Monday.

The NBA All-Star Game on NBC averaged 6.73 million viewers, but the total audience across NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo was 8.8 million, according to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

It was the most-watched NBA All-Star Game since 2011, which was also in Los Angeles and averaged 9.1 million.

This was the first time since 2002 that the All-Star Game was shown on network television. From 2003 to 2025, it was shown on TNT.

The total viewership was an 87% increase over last year (4.7 million). It peaked at 9.8 million viewers from 7-7:15 p.m. Eastern for the closing minutes of the USA Stripes’ 48-45 victory over the World team.

The All-Star Game aired between NBC's afternoon and prime time Olympics coverage.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports