This weekend’s Honda Indy 200 from the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course produced the most-watched race for the Verizon IndyCar Series on an NBC Sports Group broadcast since the rights began in 2009, when the network now known as NBCSN was then known as VERSUS.
Owing to a bit of a quirk - the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ race from Pocono Raceway was rain-delayed from Sunday to Monday - it allowed IndyCar’s race to be live simulcast on both CNBC, where it was scheduled initially, and on NBCSN once coverage moved from Pocono to Mid-Ohio.
Coming up shortly: the #Honda200 will be simulcast on NBCSN, as well as CNBC. #IndyCar
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) July 31, 2016
Per an NBC Sports Group release, NBCSN’s and CNBC’s simulcast of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio this past Sunday averaged 929,000 viewers to rank as NBC Sports Group’s most-watched IndyCar race ever, since acquiring rights prior to the 2009 season.
Sunday’s race (2:40-4:46 p.m. ET) was the most-watched IndyCar race on cable since 2008 (ESPN, Richmond, 947,000). Viewership peaked in the 3-3:15 p.m. ET quarter hour with more than 1.3 million viewers (1.326 million).
Following are NBC Sports Group’s five most-watched IndyCar races:
| Date | Race | Viewership |
| July 31, 2016 | Mid-Ohio | 929,000 |
| August 30, 2015 | Sonoma | 841,000 |
| August 2, 2015 | Mid-Ohio | 666,000 |
| July 24, 2011 | Edmonton | 642,000 |
| August 23, 2015 | Pocono | 635,000 |
NBC Sports Group will continue its exclusive cable coverage of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series on Sunday, August 21, with live coverage of the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
For good measure, NASCAR’s rain-delayed race on NBCSN on Monday went down as NBC Sports’ best race in terms of live streaming. You can see more details on that, below:
Thanks to multi-tasking NASCAR fans at work, Monday afternoon’s Pocono event delivered NBC Sports’ best race ever in terms of live streaming
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) August 3, 2016
Consumption of #Pennsylvania400 via NBC Sports app & https://t.co/Wt1EFQWK1l totaled 6.7M live minutes, best ever and +173% vs. 2015 race
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) August 3, 2016
Live streaming of Monday’s event stands as the year’s best performing race in terms of unique users (64k) and up +88% vs. 2015 Pocono race
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) August 3, 2016
Season-to-date, NASCAR on NBC has drawn 241K unique users and 26.7M live minutes, up +24% and +60%, respectively, from last season
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) August 3, 2016