Finally, a piece of news we can all celebrate.
Fox is getting an early start on planning its second-ever broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 in May. According to a report by Jeff Gluck in The Athletic, the “Wienie 500” race is returning for its second year. Only this time, the race, which pits six of Oscar Mayer’s Wienermobile cars against each other on the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will air on the Fox broadcast channel. Last year, the spectacle was only available to those sick enough to watch on the Fox Sports app.
The race was an instant hit, especially on social media where the event was the top trending topic on X. Incredibly, per Gluck, Oscar Mayer sold half-a-million more hot dogs that weekend than it had in prior years, which the company attributes to the race.
“We were like, ‘OK, we’re onto something,'” Kraft Heinz chief marketing officer Todd Kaplan told The Athletic. “We knew this would be cool. We knew this would be fun. Obviously, it exceeded even those expectations to the next level. And we are so, so excited to bring it back.”
In its inaugural broadcast of the real Indy 500 last year, Fox set a 17-year viewership high for the race, averaging 7.05 million viewers. The network has been intentional about promoting IndyCar since beginning its broadcast agreement for the racing circuit in 2025. Last year, Fox also purchased a 33% stake in Penske Entertainment, the company that owns IndyCar.
The Wienie 500 didn’t quite reach the millions of viewers the Indy 500 did, but its audience was very impressive in its own right. Per The Athletic, 85,000 viewers watched the race, which takes place the Friday prior to the Indy 500, on digital platforms. That bodes well for the race’s television debut later this year. Just how many people will tune into the race now that it’s on Fox?
There’s certainly an “embarrassment factor” in play for other sports properties if this draws a good number. No one wants to be the sport that “drew a smaller audience than the Wienie 500.” But this also seems to be just the type of event that could connect with the masses and earn monster viewership.
We’ll see in May.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.