FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 4th, 2021

INDYCAR VIEWERSHIP ON NBC/NBCSN DELIVERS BEST SPRING START IN FOUR YEARS

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Averaging 719,000 Viewers for First Four Races in 2021, Best Since ABC/NBCSN in 2017*

2021 IndyCar Viewership is Best Start to Season in NBC Sports History* & Up 6% vs. 2019

*Excludes 2020 Season which Started in June due to Global Pandemic

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 4, 2021 – As the NTT INDYCAR SERIES heads into the month of May, its first four races of the 2021 season have set viewership milestones. With two races on NBC and two on NBCSN, the series is averaging a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 719,000 viewers, making it the best spring start to a season in four years (799,000 viewers; ABC/NBCSN; 2017); the best spring start in NBC Sports history; and up 6% vs. the first four races in 2019, excluding the Indy 500. Comparisons exclude the 2020 season, which began in June due to the global pandemic.

Additional viewership highlights include:

  • The two April races on NBC (Barber and St. Petersburg) averaged a TAD of 1.066 million viewers, up 16% vs. 2019, the last time the season began in the spring.

 

  • The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg averaged a TAD of 1.225 million viewers on NBC, making it NBC Sports’ most-watched afternoon INDYCAR race ever, excluding the Indy 500, and the best GP of St. Petersburg in five years (ABC, 2016, 1.391 TV-only viewers).

 

  • Viewership for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg peaked at 1.322 million TV-only viewers.

 

  • With a TAD of 922,000 viewers, the season opener at Barber on NBC is the second-most watched INDYCAR afternoon race since July 2020, behind only this year’s GP of St. Petersburg.

 

  • NBC Sports Digital’s live stream of the Barber season opener delivered an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 7,000 viewers, the highest AMA for an INDYCAR race on record, excluding the Indy 500.

 

  • The two Texas races this past weekend averaged a TAD of 391,000 viewers on NBCSN, up 22% vs. last year’s first two NBCSN races (Road America and Iowa).

The first race from Texas this past Saturday (7:09-8:56 p.m. ET) averaged a TAD of 363,000 viewers, while Sunday’s race (5:00-7:23 p.m. ET) delivered 411,000 viewers. The last Texas race on NBCSN averaged 373,000 viewers in 2019.

NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES continues with the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday, May 15, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

–NBC SPORTS–