Indy 500 ratings increased in NBC’s first year carrying the event, but the numbers remained in record-low territory.
Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 earned a 3.4 rating and 5.41 million viewers on NBC, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 10% in ratings and viewership from last year (3.1, 4.91M), and flat and down 1% respectively from 2017 (3.4, 5.46M). Prior to this year, the race aired on ABC.
Simon Pagenaud‘s win, which peaked with 6.7 million viewers from 3:45-4 PM ET, delivered the second-smallest Indy 500 audience on record. That is the case even including the streaming audience of 32,000, which brought viewership up to 5.45 million.
The 3.4 rating is tied as the second-lowest on record, matching 2017 and ahead of only last year.
Though historically low, ratings and viewership increased for the first time since 2015 — snapping a streak of three straight declines.
Indianapolis led all markets Sunday, scoring an 11.0 rating for a tape-delayed primetime replay. Ratings in the market increased 26% from last year, when the tape-delay aired opposite an NBA conference final Game 7 (8.7), but declined 25% from 2017 (14.1).
Dayton, Ohio, ranked second among all markets with a 9.8, up 44% from last year (6.8), followed by Sacramento (8.0), Cincinnati (7.3) and Ft. Myers, Fla. (7.3). Each of the top ten markets had at least a 6.2 rating, compared to only two markets last year.
National figures for Sunday’s NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 were not immediately available, but in the overnights, the Indy 500 won the annual matchup by 50%. Compared to NASCAR’s Daytona 500, the Indy 500 was no match, falling well short of Daytona’s record-lows of 5.3 and 9.17 million in February.
Indy 500 ratings history
[Numbers from NBC Sports PR 5.27]
