INDIANAPOLIS — The numbers are in. They’re good. This week, NBC Sports unveiled that the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season was the, “most-watched INDYCAR season in 12 years (since 2011). It was also, “NBC Sports’ most-watched season on record, and the most-streamed season ever.”

That comes in at a perfect time. With the current TV deal set to end at this time next season, to have a record setting viewership season is a great chip to take to the negotiating table.

According to NBC Sports, the 2023 season averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.32 million viewers across NBC, USA Network, Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms. This ranks as the most-watched season for the INDYCAR SERIES since 2011 (1.39 million viewers, NBCSN/ABC) and the best in NBC Sports history, up 2% vs. last year’s then-record viewership (1.30 million viewers, NBC/USA Network/NBC Sports Digital). TAD is based on data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

Half of the season’s 16 races on television delivered a TAD of more than 1 million viewers, tying last year for the highest mark since 2008. NBC’s 13 races posted a TAD of 1.47 million viewers, up 4% vs. last year’s coverage on NBC (1.42 million, 14 races).

Overall viewership was led by the 107^th Running of the Indianapolis 500, which delivered a TAD of 4.93 million viewers across NBC and Peacock. The race also had a 13 share (percentage of homes watching television at the time of the race), its best in 15 years (2008; 13 share).

Led by comprehensive streaming coverage on Peacock, including the platform’s exclusive presentation of the Honda Indy Toronto on July 16, the 2023 season ranked as the most-streamed INDYCAR season on record with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 58,000 viewers, up 15% vs. 2022.

Locally, Indianapolis led all markets with a 3.26 rating for the season. Following are the Top 10 markets for the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.

RANK	MARKET	RATING
1	Indianapolis	3.26
2	Knoxville	1.82
3	Louisville	1.52
4	Greenville	1.39
5	Ft. Myers	1.36
6	Dayton, OH	1.30
7	Milwaukee	1.23
8	Cincinnati	1.20
9	Detroit	1.18
9	Richmond-Petersburg	1.18

That comes after last season to where the first year of this new TV contract delivered the most-watched INDYCAR season in six years (since 2016) and NBC Sports’ most-watched season on record, an increase of 5% compared to 2021.

A gain in 2022 over 2021 and another a gain in 2023 over 2022.

In late July, NASCAR announced that beginning in 2025, the Xfinity Series will move to The CW in a lucrative new contract. The deal runs through 2031 and reportedly pays $800 million in total.

That’s a massive deal that will pay dividends for the series. However, my brain got to thinking then, could this indirectly help the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in their next batch of negotiations?

With these 2023 numbers, it certainly doesn’t hurt.

They’re operating on their second contract with NBC Sports which is worth far less than what the Xfinity Series is going to get moving forward. That deal ends next season though as the negotiating window may open up this offseason.

With the Xfinity Series garnering similar ratings to INDYCAR and them getting that much of a bump up in pay, what can this do for INDYCAR in their next set of negotiations?

The Xfinity Series competes in 33 races for which INDYCAR is nearly half of that with 17. So, there’s a per race factor in this process, but still, I don’t think a deal like this could hurt INDYCAR when Amazon was reportedly bidding for some NASCAR races. Plus, INDYCAR has the 100 Days to Indy Show on The CW already which if they’re actively adding more and more sporting programs, wouldn’t them taking a shot at getting an INDYCAR contract be beneficial to the network too?

They have a streaming platform and cable so it could hit both markets and I’m not saying INDYCAR is going to get $800 million, but at least they can get double to what they’re making now, if not WAY more.

There’s more value in INDYCAR in that you have the Indy 500 carrot you can dangle too.

“We certainly had every intention of renewing INDYCAR,” NBC Sports’ President, John Miller said in announcing the lately renewal with the series in 2021. “We’ve had a great relationship with them that goes all the way back to 2009 when NBC SN was originally called Versus, and then it became NBC SN, and all we had were the cable races.

“And we made a pretty strong pitch to Mark and the INDYCAR leadership that we felt that we could do a lot for the sport if we could have it all under one umbrella. And they went with us starting in 2019, we showed them what we could do with the 500. We’ve shown consistent growth.

“I think you’ve got some of the brightest young races and most competitive racing out there. Week-in, week-out, we see great rating wherever we have an INDYCAR race on with recognizable names who are becoming bigger and bigger stars out there.

“We find that it fits into a very good, tight two-and-a-half hour, three-hour window which we think is important.

“Actually Indy narrow fits very nicely into our schedule. There are 17 races that we can accommodate, as opposed to there are some other properties that we have like the Premiere League which lasts for ten months which basically goes from August to May.

“So every property is different. We look at them and evaluate them in a variety of different ways but we certainly saw the ratings growth. We saw it was getting younger. We see the way advertisers and marketers are gravitating towards this sport. We see the way they are gravitating towards the property itself and the tracks, and we felt this was the right — right sport to make a bet on.”

If he’s saying that in 2021, imagine what he’d say in 2024 with a contract up for negotiation.

There’s another layer to this too and that’s with the NASCAR Cup Series contract also being bided on as well, there’s a chance that NBC Sports could lose NASCAR all together. The Truck Series has an exclusive deal with Fox Sports for their entire schedule. Now the Xfinity Series moves onto The CW for an entire season.

The Cup Series is going to get another bump in pay and we know Amazon, The CW, ESPN/ABC and maybe even a few others are trying to move in on Fox Sports and NBC Sports’ deal. What if they do?

That could leave INDYCAR as the only motorsports left for NBC Sports which in turn gives NBC Sports a lot more money to throw INDYCAR’s way out of desperation, especially if INDYCAR opens dialogue with those other networks too.

You would think that they may want to renew this agreement earlier so INDYCAR isn’t seeking out other networks to bid on them.

Mark Miles said in the last time they negotiated, that they did look outside of NBC Sports, but it’s also going to take a lot to supplant INDYCAR away from NBC Sports too.

“We did, as we said before, take the time to understand the marketplace, and what the interest of others might look like, but you know, for us, whether it’s this media partnership or important sponsor relationships, the incumbent is always going to win ties, and there wasn’t a tie,” Miles said. “NBC, it ended up in the agreement that really offered a superior choice.”

Miles and Miller have a long history of working together than spans three decades, so you can see that this is an important deal for all sides.

Which further means that INDYCAR which has the Indy 500 and 16 other races that feature similar ratings in those events in comparison to the Xfinity Series and NASCAR’s version of AAA is getting $800 million spread across seven seasons.

INDYCAR has a lot to offer by virtue of that.

Which is why I feel like this means that the next TV deal puts the ball in the court of NBC Sports. They’re a great partner for INDYCAR but INDYCAR is on the verge of a breakout and a massive TV contract is just what the series needs to propel them further forward.

We keep talking a 3rd OEM, but when you race in front of practically sellout crowds everywhere you go, have the most competitive series in the world and now can muster dare I say $200 million TV deal, this series is set for a massive breakout.