2025 Indianapolis 500 draws more viewers than Daytona 500
More people watched the 2025 Indianapolis 500 than the 2025 Daytona 500.
Sunday's race won by Alex Palou averaged just over 7 million viewers on Fox despite rain delaying the start of the race by under an hour. The Daytona 500 in February averaged over 6.7 million viewers after it was once again delayed by rain.
Per the Sports Business Journal, it's just the third time in the last three decades that the Indy 500 has drawn more viewers than the Daytona 500 along with the 1995 Indy 500 and the 2021 Indy 500. Four years ago, the Daytona 500 was delayed for hours by rain and finished early Monday morning on the East Coast.
This year's Indy 500 was the first one on Fox after NBC held the broadcast rights in recent years. Fox garnered approximately 1.7 million more viewers than NBC did in 2024. That increase is likely attributable to Fox's promotion of the series. The network ran IndyCar ads starting during the NFL playoffs.
The IndyCar Series left NBC at the end of the 2024 season for a deal with Fox that included all of its races on network television. Outside of the Indianapolis 500, the IndyCar Series struggles to gain traction with viewers. Just over 700,000 people watched the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course just two weeks before the Indy 500. Viewership for pole qualifying for the Indy 500 was also down from 2024.
The Sonsio Grand Prix was held late on a Saturday afternoon, but multiple IndyCar races so far this season have been held at the same time as a NASCAR Cup Series race. That hasn't benefitted either series — NASCAR ratings are down slightly from 2024 — and two start times for IndyCar races later this season have been moved to not conflict with Cup Series races.
The next IndyCar Series race is on Sunday in Detroit. The series sometimes sees a post-500 viewer bounce for the races that immediately follow the biggest race of the year. However, IndyCar is also dealing with a racing quality issue on its road and street courses. The introduction of the hybrid engine a year ago has led to far less overtaking on those circuits.
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