The recently announced television arrangement with Fox is unmatched in scope, with 19 broadcast times for IndyCar beginning next season.
In fact, it will be the first motorsport series to have exclusive free-to-air (FTA) network coverage in the United States, surpassing even Formula One and Nascar.
Crucially, this is encouraging news for the North American series. To call 2024 a turbulent season for IndyCar would be an understatement, with a variety of on- and off-track issues slowing what has been significant improvement in recent years.
Viewership is failing across the board, with no race other than the Indianapolis 500 exceeding one million viewers at the time of writing; altogether, non-Indy 500 viewership is down 11% compared to 2023.
When you combine this with the series’ plans to implement a charter system, which prompted Michael Andretti to ask Roger Penske to sell the series, the off-track picture does not seem good.
On the track, the recent push-to-pass scandal with Team Penske exemplifies why emotions are high, and the team’s ties to IndyCar’s owner aggravated the situation.
The experimental $1 million event at Thermal was also a mistake, and the choice to relocate away from Belle Isle in Detroit continues to flatter to deceive with another crash-filled event on city streets.
In many respects, the switch from NBC to Fox represents a new beginning for IndyCar. Of course, the broadcast transfer will not resolve all of the series’ challenges, but the opportunity for growth is now apparent.
Against this backdrop, IndyCar CEO Mark Miles meets with BlackBook Motorsport to discuss the historic agreement and how the series is now poised for future success.
What were the primary elements in your choice to join Fox?
First and foremost, NBC has shown to be an excellent partner. They’ve been useful in terms of promotion, scheduling flexibility, and a genuine interest in IndyCar from both the production and business sides. So, we did not make this decision lightly.
Every one of our 17 races in 2025 will be broadcast live on Fox Network, which is free to air and available throughout the US. In addition, there will be broadcast network coverage of the Indy 500 qualifying, which we believe is both fascinating for fans and crucial in building anticipation for the Indy 500 the following weekend. This represents a 52% increase in the number of hours that IndyCar racing will be shown on the network this year compared to next.
That is unprecedented, and I believe it is historic. We may certainly expect more than 30% growth in total audience delivery year after year. It’s easier for Fox and us to market from race to race, and I don’t see anything else like it in this country’s motorsports.
Furthermore, IndyCar’s practice and qualifying [sessions] will migrate from Peacock to [FS1 and FS2], which aren’t as powerful as the network but serve larger audiences than Peacock does for us. So that is relevant to our increased viewership and availability to fans, and it is also true for Indy NXT, which has previously aired exclusively on Peacock and will now be available on cable.
It’s simply a compelling package for us in terms of the accessibility our fans will have, and I believe it will justify the expectation of viewership gains over time, particularly from 2024-2025.
You keep saying free over the air but where I live antenna doesn’t work.