Fox buying significant stake in IndyCar series owner Penske Entertainment
According to sources the Journal spoke to, the transaction was believed to be valued between $125 million and $135 million. The deal also comes with a multi-year extension of what was already a three-year exclusive media rights deal between Fox Sports and IndyCar, set to expire at the end of the 2027 season. The length of that extension was not immediately clear, but it would appear to lengthen and deepen the pair's relationship from a media rights perspective through at least 2029.
According to a release, Penske Entertainment expects the deal to lead to "innovative and industry-leading racing and entertainment events," a "hyper-engaged digital strategy and immersive content focus" and "enhanced promotion and star-building opportunities for (IndyCar series) drivers."
"This partnership is built on long-standing trust and a shared vision for the future," Roger Penske said in the release. "Fox sees the incredible potential across our sport and wants to play an active role in building our growth trajectory. (Fox Corp. CEO) Lachlan Murdoch and his team, starting with (Fox Sports CEO) Eric Shanks, are committed to our success and will bring incredible energy and innovation to IndyCar."
Penske Entertainment and Fox declined interview requests from IndyStar.
More on Eric Shanks: He played hooky to attend the Indy 500, owns a bar outside IMS and leads Fox's coverage
Most of the way through Year 1 of IndyCar's media rights relationship with Fox, the series experienced a 17-year high in viewership for the 109th Indianapolis 500 that produced an average audience of more than 7 million viewers, a figure not seen by the sport since 2008. The network-only deal for IndyCar's races also saw the season-opener draw more than 1.4 million viewers, though nine of the season's 14 events have failed to reach an average audience of 800,000. With the addition of practice and qualifying sessions airing on cable instead of streaming-only, it's unquestioned that more eyeballs have been on the sport than at any time in recent memory, but IndyCar's average non-500 audience this year lags significantly behind comparable network-only race audience figures during NBC's stretch of exclusively broadcasting the sport from 2019-24.
"We're thrilled to join the IndyCar ownership group at such a pivotal time for the sport," Shanks said in a release. "IndyCar represents everyting we value in live sports -- passionate fans, iconic venues, elite competition and year-round storytelling potential. This investment underscores our commitment to motorsports and our belief in IndyCar's continud growth on and off the track.
"We're excited to help elevate the sport to new heights across all platforms."
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