IndyCar’s Viewer Meltdown: The Thermal Club Race Hits a Chilly Reception
The recent IndyCar Series race at The Thermal Club has become the talk of motorsport enthusiasts, not for its thrilling on-track action, but for its dramatic plunge in viewership. Airing on FOX this past Sunday, the race drew an average of just 704,000 viewers. This marks a staggering 50.3% drop from the series opener in St. Petersburg, which attracted a robust 1,417,000 spectators under the series’ new television partnership.
So what went wrong? The race faced fierce competition, airing simultaneously with NASCAR’s Cup race from the Miami-Homestead, broadcast on FOX Sports 1. Adding to the chaos was the NCAA ‘March Madness’ college basketball tournaments, capturing the attention of sports fans nationwide. As if that wasn’t enough, a power outage threw a wrench into the broadcast, leaving viewers in the dark for 21 minutes as FOX switched to a simulcast of the NASCAR event.
Last year, IndyCar’s non-championship visit to Thermal, which aired on NBC, attracted 788,214 viewers—11% more than FOX’s latest presentation from the private road course in Southern California. Notably, NBC’s broadcast faced no direct competition from NASCAR, providing a clearer path to viewer engagement.
In a silver lining for FOX, the network’s overall viewership for the first two races has seen a 21% upsurge, averaging 1,052,000 viewers compared to the previous year’s 871,000 across St. Petersburg and Thermal. The network also saw a remarkable boost in Friday’s practice session viewership, with 168,000 tuning in on FS1—an impressive 77% increase from FOX’s IndyCar debut numbers.
Despite the setback at The Thermal Club, these statistics suggest that FOX is on an upward trajectory for IndyCar broadcasts. The challenge now lies in maintaining momentum and capturing audiences amidst a crowded sports calendar.
