Breaking down FOX’s big second-year IndyCar numbers boost
For the second successive season since taking over the series’ broadcast rights last year, FOX Sports has recorded significant IndyCar viewership growth in 2026.
The average audience per race has increased further, impetus placed upon digital content has gained early rewards, a younger demographic has continued to become more interested in IndyCar and attention on Indy NXT races has progressed again.
DIVEBOMB breaks down some of the key statistics at the end of the 18-race campaign…
Viewer increase of 57% in two years
FOX has ended its second season broadcasting IndyCar with an average of 1.681 million viewers per race, marking an increase of 23% on 1.362 million from 2025, according to Nielsen Media Research. For the second consecutive year, the series has achieved its best average viewership since the 2008 American open-wheel racing merger.
Owing to increased promotion and all of the races being scheduled on network television in the FOX era, there has been a substantial 57% increase on the full-season average of 1.073 million per-race viewers in NBC Sports’ last season as IndyCar’s rights holder in 2024.
Nine races in 2026 provided over one million viewers - also the most since 2008 - which compares favourably to only five races reaching seven figures in 2025. That started with newfound early-season momentum, with the first three rounds being run within the space of three weeks and all breaching the million-viewer barrier.
The Indianapolis 500 again headlined the year’s numbers, averaging 6.635 million viewers - admittedly down 6.4% from 7.087 million in 2025 - with a peak viewership of 8.349 million.
The following month, Road America averaged 1.803 million viewers, which at the time made it the most-viewed non-500 race since 2011. The race reached a peak of 2.943 million viewers in the first minute after a lead-in from Spain and Saudi Arabia’s World Cup clash.
Arguably the biggest success, though, was August’s Freedom 250 in Washington D.C., which drew 3.282 million viewers (peaking at 3.482 million), making it the most-viewed non-Indy 500 race since 2008. Amid huge promotional efforts, 21 million views also made it the year’s most-viewed non-500 race week across FOX Sports’ social platforms.
The year was not without disappointments, particularly a major missed lead-in from the World Cup final after inclement weather marred a planned 250-mile event at Nashville Superspeedway. The race was ultimately rescheduled to Monday afternoon, still running on FOX and drawing a creditable - for a workday - 775,000 viewers (peaking at 882,000).
In a cruel show of what could have been, despite airing over one hour after full-time in the World Cup final, a led-in ‘pre-race’ programme from Nashville on Sunday - before the race was officially postponed - drew an average 2.878 million viewers across nearly two hours.
Digital success & a younger audience
In March, FOX and IndyCar launched the ALL IN docuseries, in collaboration with critically acclaimed creative studio Shadow Lion, which was founded by NFL icon Tom Brady. Throughout the season, the behind-the-scenes, digital-exclusive show aired typically on a bi-weekly basis, principally free-to-air globally on the IndyCar on FOX YouTube channel.
This has achieved more than six million viewers on YouTube across its first season - with a return confirmed for 2027 - while averaging almost half-a-million viewers per episode.
The Arrow McLaren-centred edition scored over 900,000 viewers, while the penultimate episode on the Freedom 250 has amassed almost 800,000 viewers in the first two weeks. At the time of writing, the final episode of the season - focused on the fight for second in the championship standings - already sits on over half-a-million views within only 18 hours.
ALL IN serves as part of FOX and IndyCar’s attempts to tap into a younger audience, which is also reflected by growth in television viewership among some key age ranges.
For a second year running, there has been marked growth in viewership between ages 18 and 49, now at an average of 341,000 per race, which is a 10% improvement on 310,000 in 2025. In NBC’s final season, the 18-49 range made up a per-race-average 205,000 viewers, with the latest total a 136,000-viewer, 66% gain on that tally within two years.
Additionally, the 25-54 age range drew an average of 412,000 viewers per race this year - up 15% year-on-year and a hefty 63% increase from 2024.
FOX’s digital output also included the re-launch of SPEED, a show anchored by Will Buxton and Kevin Harvick, which gained over 100 million viewers across FOX Sports’ digital and social platforms throughout the IndyCar season. Covering an array of motorsport, it is the fastest-ever show to reach that milestone on FOX Sports platforms.
Indy NXT reaps reward of TV showcase
A less-focused-upon success under FOX’s guise, emphasis placed on giving each Indy NXT race a television slot on either FS1 or FS2 has markedly grown the eyeballs on the IndyCar’s premier feeder series. Across seven rounds in 2026, the series averaged 127,000 viewers per race - up 14% from the 2025 campaign.
“Last year, there were lots of people that had $600,000 to $700,000 to go racing. This year, there’s a lot of people that have over $1 million to go racing,” HMD Motorsports president Mike Maurini told DIVEBOMB ahead of the 2026 season. “And I think that’s a direct relation on FOX’s involvement and the partnership with IndyCar.
“We have a lot of people that used to have mom and dad businesses on the side of their cars. Now, we have one of our drivers who have five or six different partners who are covering his whole programme. Once [partners] see company XYZ on the side of the car and XYZ is on FOX, XYZ’s competitors say: ‘Well, I want to be on FOX.’”
The highest single-race Indy NXT viewership in 2026 came in the opening race at Mid-Ohio, where 250,000 viewers were netted. Race 1 at Barber scored 191,000 and Arlington 176,000 viewers as the series continues to grow in prominence.
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