First FOX broadcast delivers ratings increase for St. Pete

Yesterday at 10:28 AM

The numbers are in for FOX's first IndyCar Series broadcast and the audience who watched Alex Palou and Josef Newgarden battle for victory was measured at 1.4 million viewers, a steep increase from last year's race.

Using the previous St. Petersburg race as a guide, the live 2024 broadcast on NBC generated an audience of 974,700 combined viewers using the TAD (Total Audience Delivery) metric that includes live streaming. FOX does not use TAD.

In the move to FOX, IndyCar received an audience increase of 425,300 viewers, and according to the broadcaster, ranks as the most-watched IndyCar race on network television (outside the Indy 500) in 14 years.

Minus streaming info, FOX Sports also reported Friday's airing of opening practice on its FOX Sports 1 cable channel had 95,000 viewers.

OFF. AND. RACING!

FOX Sports opens the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES in a big way with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg scoring a 14-year high and peaking at more than 1.8 million viewers! pic.twitter.com/bXIQqDRenn

— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) March 4, 2025