Since IndyCar signed a 10-year deal what was known as Versus in 2008, the series’ ratings have steadily gained momentum. After a slow start in 2009, IndyCar has been making ratings in-roads with viewers especially as Versus transitioned to NBCSN.
This year, ratings for IndyCar are up 25% from 2014. And the July 12 race, the Wisconsin 250 was the most-watched race of the season-to-date on NBCSN with 532,000 viewers, the highest viewership in 2015 thus far. The number is 66% higher than last year’s race. It also marked the second consecutive IndyCar event that showed a big gain from the year before.
The MAVTV 500 on June 27 saw an huge 80% spike from last year’s race.
NBCSN annually airs 12 IndyCar Series races and in 2014 had a 34% increase in viewership from the 2013. So the series is consistently finding viewers for its races on the network.
After yesterday’s Iowa Corn 300, NBCSN has three more IndyCar races to air including the season finale on August 30 in Sonoma. Unless the next three races finish with massive ratings losses, the 2015 series should finish higher than last year.
With a healthy schedule of motorsports including NASCAR and Formula 1, there should be plenty of promotion for IndyCar on the other series.
