Good news for Indy 500 as FOX CEO promises to surpass NBC and ABC's past coverage

The Indy 500 is on the horizon, with the qualifying for the greatest spectacle done and dusted. FOX Sports CEO, Eric Shank, sat with IndyStar for an interview ahead of the 2025 IndyCar season and detailed the significance for FOX to be broadcasting the Indy 500. Shanks promised to surpass the previous coverage attempt made by NBC and ABC.

Eric Shank suggested that NBC and ABC did a good job with the past coverage of the Indianapolis 500, but suggested that FOX plans to take the event back to its former glory. He said,

“In this business, you want to produce big events, and you want to see if you can bring fans closer to the sport they love and see if you can find new ways to do that. You can't say ABC or NBC did a bad job with it. They did a fine job presenting the sport and making the Indy 500 a big event, but we're going to make it bigger.”

FOX took over the broadcasting rights for IndyCar from NBC starting this year. The deal was finalized last year in June, and the media group has been all hands on deck in promoting the IndyCar series and their marquee event, i.e., the Indy 500.

AUTO: MAY 17 INDYCAR 109th Running of The Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

FOX released the IndyCar promotions starring Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou, and Pato O'Ward before the start of the current season to hype the American open-wheel racing series. NFL star Tom Brady featured in the Newgarden promo, and the series has overall seen a viewership growth in the first 5 races.

However, a similar effort has been made to promote the Indianapolis 500, where FOX aired commercials about the greatest spectacle in racing between the NASCAR and NFL games. Former IndyCar driver Danica Patrick and NASCAR legend Tony Stewart were recently announced as part of the Indy 500 broadcast team.

IndyCar President hails FOX’s “proactive side” for the Indy 500

The 2024 Indy 500 was the second most viewed race with an average viewership of 5.024 million, second only to the NASCAR Cup Series marquee event, the Daytona 500, which averaged nearly 6 million viewers. Newly appointed IndyCar President Doug Boles hailed NBC’s and ABC’s efforts for the previous coverage, but suggested that the proactive approach was missing.

Hailing FOX for their proactive approach, Doug Boles said,

“I think both ABC and NBC, they were always available to us anytime you needed them, and you could call, and when we led into the 500, we'd have (our teams) get together with theirs, but what you didn't get from them was almost the proactive side you get with Fox. Fox oftentimes is originating the call and coming to us with ideas, where 90% of it used to be from our end to theirs.”

The 2025 Indianapolis 500 will take place on May 25, 2025, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. FOX also rescheduled the race timing of a few IndyCar races in an attempt to maximize the viewership.