IndyCar viewership tanks at Road America; downward trajectory continues after Indy 500

The 2025 IndyCar XPEL Grand Prix at Road America was an enthralling race with multiple cautions and no clear winner coming out until the last quarter of the race. However, FOX released the viewership numbers for the race in Wisconsin, and the viewership has tanked, with the downward trajectory continuing.

FOX took over the IndyCar broadcasting rights from NBC starting in 2025, as the deal was signed with the series in mid-2024. The media network has been promoting the series since the holiday season and came up with promos starring Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou, and Pato O'Ward, and even a feature from NFL star Tom Brady.

While the overall viewership numbers have been better in comparison to NBC’s coverage last year, there has been a downward trajectory in the viewership since this year's Indy 500. According to the sources, the 2025 IndyCar XPEL Grand Prix at Road America averaged 781,000 viewers.

According to motorsport reporter Adam Stern:

“@FoxSports got 781,000 viewers for Sunday's NTT @IndyCar Series race @RoadAmerica, down from 863,000 last year on @NBC although that event started later in the afternoon and was held a bit earlier in June”

The 2025 Indy 500 broke records and averaged at a little over seven million viewers. The next race, i.e., the Detroit GP, averaged 1.06 million viewers, followed by the race at the World Wide Technology Raceway, averaging 1.01 million viewers.

However, while both the Detroit GP and the race at WWTR were reasonably up on year-on-year comparison, the Road America has fallen short of the 2024 viewership. Last year's race at Road America averaged 863,000, which means this year's race was 9.5% down in viewership.

IndyCar and FOX also made an active effort to change the timing of the race at Road America midway through the season, as the race was preponed by a couple of hours. Yet, there was a drop in the average viewership.

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The up-and-down trajectory of the IndyCar viewership so far

The 2025 Indy season and FOX debut as the broadcaster since signing the contract began with 1.4 million average viewers for the St. Petersburg Grand Prix, which was a 45% increase over the 2024 viewership.

But then the viewership then tanked for the Thermal Club race, which averaged 704,000 viewers, followed by 552,000 viewers for the race at Long Beach. The viewership made a comeback for the fourth round at Barber Motorsport Park as the race averaged 914,000 viewers. However, it again took a dive at the Sonsio GP with 710,000 viewers.

The Indy 500 is the marquee event of the season and even passed NASCAR's 2025 Daytona 500s viewership records, but since then, it's been a downhill road for IndyCar on FOX.