IndyCar’s ratings momentum continued on Sunday, but the sport has little to celebrate.
IndyCar Series racing from Pocono earned 635,000 viewers on NBCSN Sunday afternoon, up 86% from last year (342K), but down 51% from the 2013 race on broadcast network ABC (1.3M).
The race ranks as the third-most watched IndyCar telecast ever on NBCSN (dates back to 2008), trailing only taped coverage from Mid-Ohio three weeks earlier (666K) and a 2011 race from Edmonton (642K). Five of the 10 most-watched IndyCar races on NBCSN have taken place this year.
The positive numbers are of course no consolation for the series, which suffered its second tragedy in four years Sunday. Driver Justin Wilson was struck in the head by debris after an accident on lap 179 and passed away from his injuries on Monday. He was the first IndyCar driver to lose his life since Dan Wheldon, whose infamous 2011 crash cast an enduring pall over the sport.
IndyCar appeared to struggle after Wheldon’s death, with viewership on NBCSN sinking 27% during the 2012 season — and dropping even further the year after that (ABC had similar declines for its coverage). Keep in mind Danica Patrick‘s departure to NASCAR also played a likely role. The sport did not begin to recover until last year, and it remains to be seen how this latest reminder of racing’s heavy toll will affect its future. While other sports have dealt with player safety concerns, they have mostly been fortunate to avoid tragedies of Sunday’s magnitude, much less two in a four year span.
(Sun. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
