INDIANAPOLIS – After years of trying to shake its troubled past, IndyCar is on an upward trend. That was never more evident than by the 330,000 fans who packed the grandstands at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 107th Indianapolis 500.
Viewer ratings were also up two percent, making the NBC broadcast of this year’s Indy 500 the most-watched Sunday afternoon sports telecast on the network since last June’s U.S. Open golf championship.
On-site attendance was up at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 5, the April 16 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the April 30 Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, the May 13 GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the May 28 Indianapolis 500.
Texas Motor Speedway also had more fans than the paltry crowd that witnessed the high-speed oval race in 2022, giving hope the 1.5-mile oval can remain a mainstay on the schedule.
The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix returned to the streets of downtown Detroit for the first time since 1991 after its run at Belle Isle Park from 1992 to 2022. It had a big-event vibe and brought more economic impact to the business community of downtown Detroit than when the race was run on Belle Isle.
Still, the success of the series is directly tied to the biggest race on the planet held every Memorial Day weekend.
Business was booming at this year’s Indianapolis 500 as IMS officials announced a crowd of more than 330,000 spectators attended the May 28 event.
It was the largest crowd to attend the Indianapolis 500 since 350,000 fans were part of the sold-out race for the 100th running in 2016.
The television rating averaged nearly 5 million viewers on both NBC and Peacock, up two percent versus 2022.
The race peaked at nearly 6 million viewers as Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden took the checkered flag and celebrated with the fans.
It also proved that on Memorial Day Sunday, racing’s biggest day that begins with the Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 race, continues with the Indianapolis 500 and concludes with the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Indy 500 is still king.
This year’s Coca-Cola 600 was rained out and run on Memorial Day Monday.
The Indianapolis 500 rating far exceeded Formula 1 in terms of viewership in the United States. The Monaco Grand Prix, F-1’s most important event, had 1.52 million viewers for its live coverage on ABC. The Indy 500 had three times that number of viewers, although it should be noted that the Formula 1 telecast began at 9 a.m. (EDT). The Indianapolis 500 telecast began at 11 a.m. (EDT) with the green flag at 12:47 p.m.
“I’m very happy with the TV number,” said Roger Penske, who owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar. “Look, we’re up. Most TV numbers have been down and the fact we are up, and the video streaming has been outstanding.
“There is more buzz around the race, around the series, than we have had in a long time.”
The final laps of the Indy 500 were particularly riveting, causing the television audience to peak at 5.8 million viewers.
The dramatic conclusion also delivered a 13 share, meaning 13 percent of homes watching TV at the time of the race tuned into NBC, the race’s highest since 2008 (also 13).
The digital audience was 216,000, just 3,000 smaller than last year when Peacock was available to Indianapolis and Lafayette affiliate markets. A small drop likely demonstrates strong overall growth in Peacock’s dedicated IndyCar subscriber base.
Video views for the Indy 500 were up 315 percent and engagements were up 93 percent.
Viewership in Latin America was also large.
The broadcaster (TV Cultura) had a record overall audience of 1 million viewers. The race was also on ESPN+ (ESPN Pay TV) and premium streaming Star Plus, and ESPN estimates they had 400,000 viewers in Brazil alone.
Social media views in Latin America for both Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking audiences were the highest ever.
Business appears to be on an upward trend and for young drivers such as 24-year-old Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Autosport, it’s a great time to be an Indy car driver.
“The trajectory we are on right now is massive,” Kirkwood said. “It’s going straight up. The coolest thing in the world right now seems to be motorsports. Day to day, walking around normal streets, you see people wearing more racing clothes and motorsports in general.
“I couldn’t be happier to be in this era of IndyCar. With Penske Corp. putting so much effort into what they have done with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to what they have done with the series, the efforts the teams are putting in, the efforts the sponsors are putting in across the entire grid has been amazing.”
For drivers such as Kirkwood, the future of IndyCar suddenly looks brighter.
This story appeared in the June 21, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
