IndyCar & NASCAR: Weekend TV ratings hit home run (Update)

NBC Press Release on IndyCar TV Rating:

The inaugural race of the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES delivered the series’ most-watched season-opener in 11 years as Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin took the checkered flag at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (GPSP) in Florida this past Sunday on NBC and Peacock.

The GPSP averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.429 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, making it not only the most-watched INDYCAR season opener in 11 years (St. Pete, 2011, 1.840 million, ABC), but also the most-watched non-Indy 500 INDYCAR race in 11 years.

Sunday’s GPSP was up 53% compared to the 2021 INDYCAR season opener at Barber (932,000 viewers; April 18) and up 15% vs. last year’s St. Pete race (1.246 million; April 25), both on NBC.

Bolstered by streaming on Peacock, the race delivered an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 23,800 viewers, the largest streaming audience on record for an INDYCAR race, excluding the Indy 500. The AMA also includes streaming on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app via authentication.

Viewership for the race peaked with a TV-only audience of 1.509 million viewers and averaged a household rating of 0.89.  TAD is based on data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

NBC Sports resumes its INDYCAR coverage at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 20, at 12:30 pm ET on NBC and Peacock.

Fox earned a 2.61 rating and 4.570 million viewers for Sunday’s #WisePower400 at Auto Club, by far the most-watched sports event of the weekend, and up from a 2.51 rating and 4.178 million viewers in 2019 the last time this race was held before Covid hit.

Last Weekend TV Rating Analysis

* Last race held in 2019
**Last race held in 2020