IndyCar Moves To Fox Sports In 2025 After 16 Seasons With NBC. Fox Now Has Daytona 500 And Indy 500

The Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Daytona 500 are two of the largest races in the world, and Fox Sports announced on Thursday that it has bought the rights to broadcast IndyCar beginning in 2025.

Fox Sports has already telecast the first half of the NASCAR schedule. In November, NASCAR revealed a seven-year media rights agreement that included streaming components and two new partners as the 38-race schedule is dispersed over several networks and platforms.

While the specifics of the Fox Sports and IndyCar agreement were kept under wraps, Fox guaranteed network coverage for all 17 races and the two days of Indy 500 qualifying. That assurance lasts the duration of the IndyCar contract.

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IndyCar Moves To Fox Sports In 2025 After 16 Seasons With NBC. Fox Now Has Daytona 500 And Indy 500

IndyCar said NBC Sports could not provide the same number of national broadcast opportunities.

“This offers the most competitive and entertaining motorsport on the planet unmatched growth opportunity and unparalleled exposure,” said IndyCar CEO Mark Miles. “Fox Sports is a fully committed partner, ready to promote IndyCar extensively across all of its platforms while delivering millions of fans nationwide engaging and technically innovative coverage.”

Since 2009, NBC has owned the rights to IndyCar; the most recent three-year agreement was said to be for $20 million a season. However, NBC Sports has transferred all of its practice and qualifying session broadcast to its Peacock app, and cable has carried many IndyCar races. The crown jewel race at Long Beach was shifted by NBC to USA Network earlier this season, and it attracted little over 300,000 viewers; when it was broadcast on NBC again in 2023, it drew 1.026 million.

NBC stated, “We are very proud of our contributions to the growth of IndyCar over the past 16 seasons, generating record viewership, unprecedented promotion, and best-in-class production.” “We appreciate the cooperation of the owners, teams, and drivers and look forward to introducing the remainder of the 2024 season to the ardent and devoted IndyCar fans.”

The whole IndyCar season was not licensed to NBC Sports until 2019. It had divided up the programming with ABC before that. The NBC Sports IndyCar season 2023 was the most watched since 2011 and the most streamed season ever.

Compared to the previous year, IndyCar’s viewership on NBC platforms is stable this season; the Indy 500 attracted 5.344 million viewers, up from 4.927 million in 2023.

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IndyCar Moves To Fox Sports In 2025 After 16 Seasons With NBC. Fox Now Has Daytona 500 And Indy 500

Fox Deportes will provide Spanish-language coverage of all races, which is also available on Fox and the Fox Sports app. Fox also committed to covering both Indy 500 qualifying days. Every practice and qualifying round will be broadcast on cable on FS1 or FS2.

It’s an IndyCar record for 19 events aired on television. IndyCar will be the only national premier motorsports series with exclusive major broadcast network coverage for every race. For instance, Fox has announced that five of the 14 NASCAR events will air on the network in 2025, with the remaining races on cable.

Fox Sports CEO and executive producer Eric Shanks promoted the Indy 500 as a network addition. He said that on Wednesday, he had a conversation with NASCAR chairman Jim France to discuss Fox’s new alliance with IndyCar, a competitor.

“Adding the legendary Indianapolis 500… to the Fox Sports roster fits perfectly within our model of teaming with sports’ largest events and best-in-class brands,” Shanks stated. “It gives us great pleasure to serve as the new broadcast home for ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’ an event that is very meaningful to everyone at Fox Sports.”

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IndyCar Moves To Fox Sports In 2025 After 16 Seasons With NBC. Fox Now Has Daytona 500 And Indy 500

Other than Milwaukee not being a doubleheader and the All-Star race at the Thermal Club in California becoming a points race, the 2025 IndyCar schedule is essentially the same. The season ends in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 31. It starts in St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 2.

Long a fixture on the IndyCar calendar, Texas Motor Speedway will not be used in 2025 for the second year running.

SOURCE – (AP)