Music City Grand Prix Becomes Most Watched IndyCar Race In NBC Sports History

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Marcus Ericsson crossing the finish line at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. Photo: by: LAT/Big Machine Music City GP

The inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix became the most-watched NTT IndyCar Series race on cable in NBC Sports history, dating to 2009, with the highly anticipated event in Music City averaging a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.212 million viewers on the NBC Sports Network.

The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, the first new temporary street circuit on the IndyCar Series schedule since the Grand Prix of Baltimore debuted in 2011, is also believed to be the most-watched IndyCar cable race in 23 years (2.218 million–ESPN in 1998). The race, won by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson, surpassed NBC Sports’ previous cable rating record of 934,000 viewers for Mid-Ohio in 2016.

The streaming across NBC Sports’ digital platforms delivered an Average Minute Audience of 11,500 viewers, another NBC Sports record for an IndyCar race excluding the Indianapolis 500. On a local front, the city of Nashville delivered an outstanding 5.6 rating that was tops nationally. Following Nashville among the nation’s top five markets were Indianapolis (2.6), Knoxville (2.0), Greenville-Spartanburg and Louisville (both at 1.7).

Over 100,000 thousand spectators came to the temporary track this past weekend which included three days of racing and concerts.

Steven Boero
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