IndyCar Ratings Soar In Opening 3 Races, Highest In 19 Years

The IndyCar season’s ratings are off to their best start since 2003 and up 34% over last year.

In terms of Total Audience Delivery (data based on Nielsen and Adobe Analytics), IndyCar is averaging a TAD of 1.148 million viewers over its first three races in 2022 compared to those of 2021 (858,000) — the best in 19 years.

Sunday’s Grand Prix of Long Beach produced 1.078 million viewers on NBC and Peacock. 

With 22,900 viewers via Peacock, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app, the race had the second-highest streaming audience in IndyCar history (Indy 500 excluded) after the Feb. 27 season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Going up against the final round of the Masters, Long Beach 2022 was the most-watched edition of the race in NBC Sports history (since 2009), posting a 0.64 household rating with a TV audience peak of 1.251 million viewers from 5:15-5:30 p.m. ET.

In July 2021, NBC announced a multiyear extension with IndyCar, though the terms were not confirmed. The previous deal agreed to in 2019 was worth a reported $20 million per year.