The NTT IndyCar Series is nearly through the first year with its new television partner FOX Sports, and viewership numbers continue to be high.
The 1 million viewer mark is a milestone that the series has danced above and below for multiple years, including during its recent stint with NBC Sports as broadcast partner.
Viewership ratings for Sunday night’s oval race at World Wide Technology Raceway were over that mark, making it the third race in a row to do so.
FOX estimates there were 1,012,000 viewers for the exciting Bommarito 500 on Sunday night, which is an 88% increase from last season.
The comparison to last year is not entirely fair, however, as the 2024 event was held on a Saturday afternoon and was shown on cable television instead of free-to-air broadcast.
There was hope that when this weekend’s race was shifted to a primetime slot that the viewership gains would be even higher. Instead, it did not even match the previous race’s numbers.
The race on the streets of Detroit on June 1 earned 1.061 million viewers, and the race before that, the 109th Indianapolis 500, was well over that mark at 7.08 million.
One other race has earned over 1 million viewers so far this season, which was the opening round from St. Petersburg in early March.
Overall, FOX’s approach of placing all races on broadcast channels and spending money internally to heavily promote the series in various ways appears to be paying off.
The jump in numbers this season has not been overly large, but ease of access and awareness of the series should continue to pay dividends in the long run.
There has also been a marked increase in fans attending races in person, including the first Indy 500 grandstand sellout since the landmark 100th running in 2016.
Network executives and team owners will continue to watch for increased viewership numbers throughout the second half of the season, and will likely adjust their sponsorship demands to reflect any continued rise in visibility.
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