The numbers are in and they’re good ones. NBC Sports announced on Wednesday that the average viewership for last Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course chimed in at 776k.

As a result, the race was the most watched cable race in nearly two years for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with the 2021 inaugural race in Nashville being the last time it was this high. It’s also the fifth most watched cable race ever for NBC Sports and INDYCAR.

My thoughts on this?

It’s a massive win. It shows that the series can make another holiday weekend work and one that I can see being a lasting tradition on the INDYCAR circuit.

See, entering last weekend, I wondered if INDYCAR and Mid-Ohio could make this weekend work. We know the attendance was likely going to be great, and this past weekend, was one of the strongest that its been at the rural Ohio track in years. However, TV ratings pay the bills and if they took another dip, then INDYCAR may need to revisit racing on the Fourth of July weekend.

The NTT INDYCAR Series didn’t use to race much on holiday weekend’s outside of Memorial Day. It never truly worked out well for them. There was just too much going on and for a fan base that if we’re completely honest, wasn’t very large until recently, the attendance and ratings were always taking a dip in the summer holidays.

Between family gatherings, vacations, cookouts, other sporting events, etc, hosting an INDYCAR race during the Fourth of July or even Labor Day weekend was one that would usually would flop.

But, in the last few years, that’s since changed. INDYCAR raced on the Fourth of July in 2020 on the Indianapolis road course. It was behind closed doors but it was the first time that it felt right. The last three years now, they ran in front of a large crowd in Mid-Ohio in both races.

First off, they can thank NASCAR for moving their annual Fourth of July race in Daytona away. It honestly opened up the door for INDYCAR. The Firecracker 400, or recently known as the Coke Zero Sugar 400, was the main race over this holiday weekend. You couldn’t compete.

When they went to Indy, then to Road America, it allowed INDYCAR to slide in and take some of the holiday thunder. It’s paid off.

To get over three quarters of a million people to tune in on a holiday weekend on USA is a massive win.

I wondered last week what this number was truly going to look like because the NASCAR Cup Series a year ago drew a 1.15 rating with 1.930 million viewers for their race at Road America on this very USA station. INDYCAR drew a .57 rating with 643k viewers for their race at Mid-Ohio. F1 unfortunately even out drew INDYCAR which was an early morning race in England.

For INDYCAR to get only 643k on network last year and get bumped to USA for which they got less than 400k watching Belle Isle last year, which also was a week after the Indy 500, was worrisome. Then you even have NASCAR having a nose dip in ratings on USA.

But, to have over 100k more viewers tune in this year on USA over last year on NBC was in my book a big win, especially when 1.303 million people watched in 2021 when race day was on the actual Fourth of July.

They had a 643k drop in viewership between 2021 and 2022 but gained over 100k between 2022 and 2023 and the race was moved to cable.

---

NASCAR Lead In

I also think part of this number going up was due to a NASCAR lead in too. The Xfinity Series was slated to run the completion of their rain marred race in Chicago at 11 a.m. and lead into the INDYCAR race on USA. That obviously didn’t happen with Chicago being finished early and never being run on Sunday, but how many folks that tuned in for that race just kept the TV on USA?

That’s a win because if they weren’t planning on watching the INDYCAR race, they did and as a result, could turn into fans in the future.

Which also leads me to wonder why NBC Sports doesn’t pair INDYCAR and NASCAR events more in the future. It’s a win-win.

---

INDYCAR Has Found Holiday Weekend Niche

They’ve tried to make this weekend work before. Watkins Glen tried it on Fourth of July weekend between 2007 and 2010. It never really worked. In fact, it was the nail in the coffin as the final race was only July 4, 2010 before taking a five year break. When they came back, it was in September. That was a 2 year Labor Day weekend deal that never really worked either.

Maybe the holiday weekends weren’t a fit for Watkins Glen. Nevertheless, it wasn’t a hit for INDYCAR at the time so they’ve typically skipped racing on these holidays.

The thing is, maybe this time is the right time. In order to make a holiday weekend race work, you need a prime location and a marquee event. It’s why the Firecracker 400 in Daytona had always worked. It’s why the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend always works. It’s why the Southern 500 is the only thing that works for NASCAR on Labor Day weekend. They found that out the hard way by trying Fontana and Atlanta in that place.

INDYCAR needs that right fit for the Fourth of July to make it work. So far, Mid-Ohio seems to be the place. It’s working for massive fans in attendance all three years and for a big rating in 2 of the 3 as well.

Then, with Portland on Labor Day weekend, it’s working too.

Last year’s Labor Day weekend was a crowded one. Between the US Nationals for the NHRA, the Southern 500 and the opening weekend of College Football, how much attention would be put on a race in the Pacific Northwest?

By the looks of it, a lot.

The 2022 Grand Prix of Portland averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.011 million viewers on NBC and Peacock. That’s up 49% vs. last year’s race on NBC and up 6% vs. NBC’s 2021 race average, excluding the Indianapolis 500.

That’s a strong number and one that further proves that ending the season when they do is the right one. There’s no real reason to go deep into the Fall when you know your numbers are going to take a drastic hit.

The NFL is the juggernaut and going to pull the ratings. Going against them isn’t wise, especially when NASCAR does. Between those two, having an INDYCAR race on USA in the Fall isn’t going to move the needle.

So ending in early September is the right call, especially with these numbers. Most races aren’t gaining as much year over year like Portland did. That’s because Portland’s date in 2021 was going head-to-head against the NFL. Hence the 49% increase between the two years.

Which is why it’s really looking like Indianapolis (Memorial Day weekend), Mid-Ohio (Fourth of July weekend) and Portland (Labor Day weekend) is working.