Iowa, Pocono deliver NBC Sports viewership milestones

NBC Sports’ coverage of the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series at Pocono Raceway and the NTT IndyCar Series doubleheader from Iowa Speedway delivered viewership milestones across both NBC and USA Network this past weekend, according to data provided by The Nielsen Company and Adobe Analytics.

NASCAR CUP AND XFINITY SERIES

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 on USA Network averaged a TAD of 2.834 million viewers, up 8% compared to last year’s race (2.623 million) to rank as NBC Sports’ most-watched Cup Series race on cable since 2019 (Michigan, NBCSN, 2.929 million).

It was the most-watched sports event of the week on cable and second most-watched sports event of the weekend on all networks behind Sunday’s Final Round coverage of the 151st Open Championship on NBC, and the most-watched Pocono race since 2017.

Cup Series qualifying on USA Network averaged 455,000 viewers, up 22% compared with last year’s average on the network.

Overall, NBC Sports is off to its most-watched NASCAR Cup Series season since 2018, averaging a TAD of 2.887 million viewers through five races.

Additionally, the Xfinity Series saw viewership gains on USA Network:

Saturday’s Pocono 225 on USA Network averaged a TAD of 964,000 viewers, up 4% compared with 2022. Friday’s Xfinity Series qualifying averaged 311,000 viewers, up 33% versus last year’s average on the network.
Overall, NBC Sports’ Xfinity Series coverage is averaging a TAD of 950,000 viewers, up 9% over last year.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

NBC Sports’ coverage of the NTT IndyCar Series doubleheader from Iowa Speedway on NBC/Peacock on Saturday and Sunday averaged a combined TAD of 1.121 million viewers, up 31% from last year’s combined doubleheader (853,000 viewers).

Saturday’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250 averaged a TAD of 1.145 million viewers to rank as NBC Sports’ most-watched non-Indy 500 race since the season-opener at St. Pete on NBC, and the most-watched Iowa race since 2008.

Sunday’s Hy-Vee Onestep 250 averaged a TAD of 1.092 million viewers, delivering NBC Sports’ sixth IndyCar race to eclipse 1 million viewers this season.

Through 11 races, the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series is averaging a TAD of 1.512 million viewers to rank as the most-watched season to this point since 2016, when media rights were split between NBCSN and ABC.