IMSA Rolex sees big bump in TV viewership

With nothing else for fans to watch on TV last weekend, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 at Daytona delivered viewership records across NBC and NBCSN last weekend – headlined by the most-watched IMSA telecast since 2008 – continuing IMSA’s viewership growth since NBC Sports acquired its broadcast rights prior to the 2019 season.

NBC Sports’ Sunday coverage of the IMSA Rolex 24 at Daytona on NBC (2-4 p.m. ET) averaged 1.230 million viewers, up 23% vs. last year’s comparable coverage, ranking as NBC Sports’ most-watched IMSA telecast on record and the most-watched IMSA telecast on any network since the 2008 event on FOX.

More IMSA Rolex 24 at Daytona viewership highlights:

• Saturday and Sunday coverage on NBC averaged nearly 1.1 million viewers (1.096 million), up 30% vs. the two comparable telecasts on NBC last year (846,000);
• Saturday-only coverage on NBC (3:30-4:30 p.m. ET) averaged 829,000 viewers, up 58% vs. last year’s Saturday coverage on NBC (524,000);
• The Rolex 24 at Daytona averaged 391,000 viewers across NBC and NBCSN, up 19% vs. comparable NBC/NBCSN coverage last year (329,000);
• NBCSN also saw year-over-year growth, with the three Rolex 24 at Daytona airings averaging 255,000 viewers, up 18% vs. last year (216,000).

Record IMSA viewership on NBC led to additional motorsports viewership milestones on the network on Sunday afternoon:

• Sunday’s Monster Energy Supercross coverage on NBC from Indianapolis (5-6 p.m. ET) averaged 877,000 viewers to rank as NBC Sports’ most-watched Supercross telecast on record, up 71% vs. last year’s Supercross on NBC average viewership;
• NBC Sports’ 2021 NASCAR Season Preview Show Presented by Geico, which aired on NBC at 4 p.m. ET, averaged 1.052 million viewers.

Last year, NBC Sports delivered significant viewership gains and milestones for the second straight year for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2020, producing a 21% increase in viewership for 19 race telecasts across NBC, and NBCSN, despite the season being significantly affected by COVID-19.

NBC Sports’ 2020 IMSA WeatherTech Championship coverage across NBC and NBCSN averaged 242,000 viewers, according to Nielsen. NBC Sports has nearly doubled viewership for the IMSA WeatherTech Championship in two years since acquiring the rights, up 89% from the 2018 season (128,000 viewers on FOX/FS1/FS2).