NBC reports 5.3 million viewers for Indy 500

Despite a nearly four-hour weather delay, the 108th Indianapolis 500 averaged a preliminary Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 5.344 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and NBC Sports digital platforms, up 8% vs. the 2023 race (4.927m) and 10% vs. 2022 (4.837m). Final figures will be available on Wednesday.

The audience peaked at 6.46 million viewers from 7:30-7:45pm ET as Josef Newgarden outdueled Pato O’Ward in the final laps. IndyCar reports this is also the most-streamed IndyCar race ever, with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 286,000 viewers across Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms, and is NBC Sports’ most-watched Sunday sports event since the NFL playoffs in January.

NBC Sports’ pre-race coverage began at 11am ET, with the green flag originally scheduled for 12:45pm ET. However, severe weather forced a nearly four-hour delay moving NBC Sports’ race window from 4:45-8:15pm. NBC filled the rain-delayed hours with periodic live updates and an encore presentation of the 2023 race, resulting in more than nine hours of broadcast network coverage for the entire day. IndyCar removed the local blackout in Indianapolis, which delivered an 18.15 household rating and 54 share.

Through six races, the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series is averaging a TAD of 1.95 million viewers (5 on NBC; 1 on USA Network), up from 1.94m last year at the same point (all NBC). Total Audience Delivery (TAD) is based upon live-plus-same day fast national figures from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.