When you get at least 1M viewers per race, sponsors flood in

We have been saying this for 10 years, but IndyCar still does not grasp the concept that if you average over 1 million TV viewers per race, sponsors will flood in. Instead most IndyCar races are on NBCSN that will never see 1 million viewers per race – ever.

Case in point is NASCAR. Their TV ratings have been dropping and one might think that the sky is falling. In fact NASCAR Monster Cup races still deliver close to 2 million viewers per race, and 1 million in the 18-49 year old range.

As a result, and even though NASCAR ratings are down, NASCAR today announced results from the '17 Fortune 500 study of brands in the sport, with the sanctioning body saying results showed that 139, or 28%, of the Fortune 500 companies now invest in NASCAR across teams, tracks and the series. NASCAR says that is up 7% from last year and continues a string of the number either being flat or up every year since '12. NASCAR added that nearly half of Fortune 100 companies are now invested in the sport.

IndyCar can only dream of being flush with so many top sponsors. IndyCar just does NOT get it. And because IndyCar is not as popular as NASCAR, the only way they are going to get an average of 1 million viewers per race is if 100% of the races are on network TV. And if that means some of the races have to be a time-buy then so be it.

They ain't get'n the chicken unless they first hatch the egg.