NBC says 2021 IndyCar season the most-watched since 2016

Despite a year that finished with three less-than-stellar TV rating numbers due to running up against the opening weeks of the NFL season, IndyCar totaled record marks with exclusive broadcast partner NBC at the end of the pair’s original three-year contract with a new extension kicking in next year.

With its 15 races (not including the schedule-conflicted Detroit Race 2), the 2021 IndyCar season averaged 1.223 million viewers across each race broadcast, the best in NBC Sports history — up 19% on 2020 (1.027 million) and a 10% increase on 2019 (1.108 million).

With that mark, Alex Palou’s championship-winning campaign became IndyCar’s most-watched season since 2016 (1.310 million), when ABC and NBC Sports combined to air the slate.

The seven races shown on NBC Sports averaged 632,000 viewers in 2021, up 46% over 2020 (432,000) and 49% higher than 2019 (423,000). This season included two of NBC Sports’ most-watched IndyCar races ever, including the new record holder (Nashville, 1.212 million) that also ranks as IndyCar’s most-watched cable race since 1998, as well as No. 4 (Road America, 807,000).

More on IndyCar at Long Beach:

This year’s Indianapolis 500 ranked as the most-watched version of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing since 2016, grabbing an average of 5.581 million viewers while veteran Helio Castroneves battled to his historic fourth victory on the IMS oval. The number marked a 51% increase on 2020 (3.692 million) and 2% better than 2019 (5.489 million).

Mid-Ohio also marked a significant highlight for broadcast partner and the series, drawing 1.303 million viewers on average over the race, coming in as NBC’s most-watched IndyCar race ever, aside from Indy 500s.

More on the 2022 IndyCar schedule:

As expected, Indianapolis paced NBC’s top IndyCar TV markets, with a 4.4 household rating, on average, over the course of the year. The rest of the top-10 included, in order: Knoxville, Tenn. (1.85 household rating); Dayton, Ohio (1.80); Louisville, Ky. (1.69); Nashville, Tenn. (1.68); Columbus, Ohio (1.63); Cincinnati (1.59); Ft. Myers, Fla. (1.54); Greenville, S.C. (1.41); and Sacramento, Calif. (1.23).

Earlier this year, IndyCar and NBC announced a multi-year extension of the pair’s original exclusive broadcast partnership deal, originally landing a record 13 IndyCar races on network TV. That has since increased to 14, with the recent release of IndyCar’s 2022 earlier this month. Next year, each race except the Detroit Grand Prix (USA Network), Honda Indy Toronto (Peacock) and Bommarito Automotive Group 500 (USA Network) will air on NBC, with race broadcast times set to be announced at a later date.

Long Beach continues recent ratings dip

Despite a season-finale that began with three drivers still in championship contention and the eventual winner charging toward the front after starting outside the top-10, IndyCar struggled to pull viewers for its 2021 season finale Sunday on the streets of Long Beach. The race was up against the closing stretch of the Ryder Cup and Week 3 of the NFL season.

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach averaged 376,000 viewers across its mid-afternoon broadcast on NBC Sports, the final IndyCar race that will air on the cable channel before it ceases to exist at the end of the year. The number represents a drop from 2019’s version of the race traditionally held in April, that pulled 442,000. In 2018, the race averaged an identical 376,000 viewers across the broadcast.

Overall, Sunday’s finale was the second-least watched race of the year, ahead of only Texas Race 1, a Saturday evening cable race that drew 363,000 on May 1. It was also IndyCar’s least-watched season-finale since at least 2015, which averaged between 536,000-841,000 when on NBC Sports from 2015-18 — only one of which (2015) didn’t run up against NFL regular season football.

Next season, when IndyCar will show an unprecedented 14 races on network television, its finale at Laguna Seca will go up against just Week 1 of the NFL season, in part to minimize what are often disappointing end-of-year single-race TV ratings. The Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey will also be shown on NBC.

More 2021 IndyCar TV ratings: