Sunday’s 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge ranks as the most-watched Indy 500 in five years averaging a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 5.581 million viewers on NBC — up 51% vs. last year (3.692 million), which was run on Aug. 23 due to the pandemic; and up 2% from NBC’s inaugural broadcast of the race in 2019 (5.489 million).
“The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” (12:48-3:57 pm ET) peaked at 7.129 million TV-only viewers from 3:15-3:30 p.m. ET as Helio Castroneves outdueled Alex Palou in the final laps to win his record-tying fourth Indy 500. The race finished with a 3.15 household rating.
Additional viewership highlights for this year’s Indy 500:
- Is NBC Sports’ most-watched IndyCar race to date.
- Ranks as the most-watched sports event of the weekend across all networks.
- Stands as NBC’s most-watched Sunday afternoon sports event in 16 months, since a Seattle-Philadelphia NFL Wild Card matchup with on Jan. 5, 2020 (36.0 million TAD).
- Across NBC Sports streaming platforms, this year’s race ranks as the second most-streamed IndyCar race ever with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 34,500 viewers, behind only the 2019 Indy 500 (45,600).
Through the first six races of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES on NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are averaging a TAD of 1.926 million viewers, the best six-race start to a season in four years (2.046 million; 4 ABC, 2 NBCSN) and up 28% vs. last season’s comparable races (1.504 million viewers).
Following are the Top 10 local markets for the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500:
| Rank | Market | HH Rating |
| 1 | Indianapolis | 21.3 |
| T2 | Dayton | 8.1 |
| T2 | Cincinnati | 8.1 |
| T4 | Ft. Myers | 6.3 |
| T4 | Louisville | 6.3 |
| 6 | Knoxville | 6.0 |
| T7 | Nashville | 5.4 |
| T7 | Columbus | 5.4 |
| 9 | Hartford | 5.1 |
| 10 | Greenville | 5.0 |
NBC Sports PR
