NBC, Peacock Want More IndyCar Races, but Other Broadcasters and Streamers Showing Interest
NBCUniversal has competition for the racing league, whose current broadcast deal expires at the end of this season.
The 2024 IndyCar Series has already begun, and by the time it ends, the racing league will need a new broadcast partner. Currently, IndyCar’s rights are held by NBCUniversal, and all races of the 2024 season are slated to appear on NBC-owned networks as well as on streaming service Peacock, but the deal between the circuit and the broadcaster expires following the Music City Grand Prix in September. A new report from Front Office Sports indicates that IndyCar officials have already spoken with several potential new partners, and there is no guarantee that NBCU will win the league’s rights back.
- IndyCar races averaged 1.32 million viewers in 2023, the highest ratings for the circuit since 2011.
- Fox showed interest in IndyCar before it signed its last rights deal with NBCU.
- IndyCar would prefer to go forward with one broadcast partner instead of going with separate linear and streaming partners.
Front Office Sports reports that NBCU is interested in renewing its rights deal with IndyCar, but that it will have competition. FOS spoke with IndyCar CEO Mark Miles about its next potential broadcast agreement, and he says that while getting more money for races is important, the thing the racing league values most in its negotiations is the ability to reach as many fans as possible.
“We would weigh reach above all else, but we expect to get some kind of increase in our rights fees,” Miles said.
Other interested parties could include Fox, which was interested in IndyCar races before the league signed its last deal with NBCU. Miles also confirmed that IndyCar had held discussions with more than three of what he termed “major disruptive streaming services,” though he declined to name which specific streamers he’d been in contact with.
Miles also let it be known that, going forward, IndyCar would like to continue having just one broadcast partner instead of two or more. Many major sports organizations prefer to send their rights to multiple broadcasters and streaming services in order to stimulate rivals to bid against each other and raise their offers, as well as to diversify the potential audience, but IndyCar would rather keep its races on one outlet to avoid fan confusion. Miles expects the league to have secured its new partner by the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend, if not sooner.
Who Could IndyCar’s Next Partner Be?
There’s plainly a big appetite for auto racing amongst broadcasters nowadays if the latest deal agreed to by NASCAR is any indication. That league recently signed a deal with Fox, NBCU, Prime Video and TNT worth more than $7 billion for its Cup Series, and another billion-dollar agreement with The CW for the Xfinity Series.
The CW could be a logical partner for IndyCar races, as well. That channel also picked up the rights to ACC football and basketball games in 2023, and it carries LIV Golf tournaments as well. The CW gives sports fans the option of streaming live events via The CW app at no cost, so partnering with the channel would allow IndyCar to satisfy its goal of maximum reach by keeping races available via a broadcast channel with built-in streaming options.
Netflix could also be a dark horse for IndyCar rights. This streamer had its eyes on Formula 1 races in 2022, but was eventually outbid by ESPN. Netflix has more than 260 million global subscribers, the greatest reach of any streaming platform, so there’s not much question of the streamer’s ability to reach customers. At this point, it’s simply a question of whether or not Netflix wants to pursue IndyCar racing; the streamer just snagged the rights to stream “WWE Raw” live each week starting in 2025, its first-ever regular sports entertainment event.
If IndyCar sells its rights to Disney, Fox, or Warner Bros. Discovery, it will likely see its races on the joint venture sports streaming platform being launched by the three companies this year. That would also satisfy the league’s reach requirements, as it would allow IndyCar races to be shown on a linear channel like ESPN, Fox, or TNT, but they would also be available to stream outside the traditional cable bundle on a direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform.
It will be fascinating to see which broadcaster ends up with IndyCar’s rights, especially since the league is pursuing the strategy of seeking just one broadcast partner instead of many. Peacock may have IndyCar races for multiple years to come, but fans will have to wait a few more months for the racing league to make its final call.
Peacock
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