The hard cold facts on the IRL’s decimation of the Indy 500

UPDATE Updated to show how big the TV ratings were in the 70s and early 80s when the race was tape delayed to Sunday night. On Memorial Day weekend no one is in the house watching TV on a Sunday afternoon. If IndyCar would take another one of our suggestions and move the race to Saturday night under the lights (Sunday night rain date) the Indy 500 TV ratings would likely double immediately.

04/22/13 TV ratings by year for the Indy 500. Note what happens the first year Tony George and the IRL take over.

Year Rating % of HHs Cars From Comment
1973 16.5 30 Share USAC Tape Delayed to 8 PM ET
1974 16.4 31 Share USAC Tape Delayed to 9 PM ET
1975 14.9 30 Share USAC Tape Delayed to 9 PM ET
1976 17.9 34 Share USAC Tape Delayed to 9 PM ET
1977 15.6 32 Share USAC Tape Delayed to 9 PM ET
1978 13.4 26 Share USAC Tape Delayed to 9 PM ET
1979 13.5 24 Share CART CART Takes over the sport
1980 13.8 27 Share CART Tape Delayed to 9 PM ET
1981 12.8 24 Share CART Tape Delayed to 9 PM ET
1982 12.3 25 Share CART Tape Delayed to 9 PM ET
1983 14.1 27 Share CART Tape Delayed to 9 PM ET
1984 12.9 25 Share CART Tape Delayed to 9 PM ET
1985 9.7 18 Share CART Tape Delayed to 9 PM ET
1986 8.8 31 Share CART Rain, Race broadcast live for first time following Saturday
1987 11.0 36 Share CART Live Broadcast
1988 8.5 29 Share CART Live Broadcast
1989 7.8 28 Share CART Live Broadcast
1990 7.8 26 Share CART Live Broadcast
1991 8.0 27 Share CART Live Broadcast
1992 9.8 31 Share CART Live Broadcast
1993 9.3 31 Share CART Live Broadcast
1994 9.1 31 Share CART Live Broadcast
1995 9.4 26 Share CART Live Broadcast
1996 4.3 13 Share IRL The IRL takes over and ratings plummet to 4.3 and never recover
1997 5.0 18 Share IRL Rain, Live Broadcast on Monday
1998 6.0 19 Share IRL Live Broadcast
1999 5.5 18 Share IRL Live Broadcast
2000 5.5 15 Share IRL Live Broadcast
2001 5.8 17 Share IRL Live Broadcast
2002 4.8 15 Share IRL Live Broadcast
2003 4.6 14 Share IRL Live Broadcast
2004 4.7 11 Share IRL Live Broadcast
2005 6.5 18 Share IRL Live Broadcast
2006 5.0 14 Share IRL Live Broadcast
2007 4.3 12 Share IRL Live Broadcast
2008 4.6 13 Share IndyCar Champ Car and IRL merge, but too late, the damage is done
2009 4.2 10 Share IndyCar Live Broadcast
2010 3.6 5 Share IndyCar Record Low
2011 4.3 7 Share IndyCar Live Broadcast
2012 4.3 8 Share IndyCar Live Broadcast – Compare to 1973 – Tony George had a better idea