Indy 500 viewership was not the highest its ever been, but still eked out an increase over last year.
Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 averaged a 2.65 rating and 4.71 million viewers on NBC, per Nielsen fast-nationals, down 1% in ratings but up 2% in viewership from last year (2.7, 4.62M). Including additional streaming viewership not tracked by Nielsen — 216,000 across Peacock and NBC’s other digital platforms (-1%) — the race averaged 4.92 million, up 2% from last year (4.84M).
Josef Newgarden’s win, which peaked with 5.8 million viewers from 4-4:15 PM ET, tops only last year and the COVID-delayed edition three years ago as the least-watched Indy 500 on record.
The race has cracked the five million viewer mark just once in the past four years — in 2021, when Helio Castroneves won (5.63M) and the race aired live in home market Indianapolis. This year’s race was blacked out in Indianapolis on both NBC and Peacock, which was geo-blocked in the market for the first time.
Indy 500 ratings, viewership, past two decades
While viewership neared a historic low, the race averaged its highest share (13) since 2008. As fewer viewers watch traditional television, the share — the percentage of television homes in use tuned to a program in the average minute — will tend to increase even as viewership declines.
It bears noting that even a historically low Indy 500 audience still ranks among the largest of any auto race. Among the various racing series, only the NASCAR Daytona 500 in February averaged more viewers this year (8.17M). (No Formula 1 race has ever averaged even three million viewers on U.S. television.)
(Nielsen estimates from NBC Sports)
