IndyCar Iowa TV Ratings plummet 56% (2nd Update)
07/18/14 The final ratings are in and it didn't get any better. NBCSN averaged 444,000 viewers for the Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn Indy 300 on Saturday night, which had its start time moved up 30 minutes to avoid storms. However, showers still forced the series into its first rain-induced red flag since ’11. Last year’s Iowa race aired on ABC on Sunday afternoon in late June, averaging 928,000 viewers. The race aired on NBCSN in ’12, averaging 254,000 viewers in late June on a Saturday night. Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor SportsBusiness Journal
07/15/14 Last year the Iowa 250 on ABC drew 1 million viewers, so the 444K number on NBCSN represents a 55.6% drop. When is IndyCar going to put 100% of its races on ABC so they can have TV ratings they can build from? Sponsors willing to pay a hefty sum to put their name on a car or on a bridge over the track won't look at a team unless you're pulling at least a million viewers per race.
07/15/14
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| TV viewership for Iowa was better than normal for IndyCar on NBCSN. However, less than half a million viewers can only be deemed a success due to the pathetic reach and horrid TV contract IndyCar got itself into with NBCSN. |
Final numbers are not out yet. However, John Ourand of Sports Business Journal is reporting that Saturday's Iowa Corn Indy 300 presented by DEKALB drew 444,000 viewers.
This would represent an increase of 190,000 viewers over the last Saturday night race held at Iowa Speedway in 2012, which drew 254,000 viewers. That race was rain-delayed about 90 minutes, which likely did not help viewership.
As for drawing final conclusions, it depends on how you look at things.
By the very modest standards of NBC Sports Network, yes, the Iowa race drew a good number. Further, IndyCar's ratings on NBCSN have been up across the board all season long. So, from a certain perspective series cheerleaders can and certainly will claim improved numbers.
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| Blank side pods on Oriol Servia's RLL Honda at Long Beach. Apparently, companies don't see value in the series' current TV deal. |
On the other hand, the gruesome reality remains that IndyCar is locked in a horrid television contract through 2018, in which less than half-a-million viewers is considered a success. Can teams realistically sell sponsorship tied to a network that has such limited viewership? Do INDYCAR and IMS really believe that the sport can grow within the confines of the current deal?
Or are the series and Speedway content to bank the rather minuscule television checks, while the teams struggle to make ends meet, the sport remains irrelevant, and IndyCar continues its slow fade into oblivion?
Oh wait, we forgot. NASCAR coming to NBCSN in 2015 is going to save them.
AR1 Staff