Fox took a reported $34 million gamble on running IndyCar ads during Sunday’s big game featuring series drivers Alex Palou, Patricio O’Ward, and Josef Newgarden. In total the series was featured for one 15 second ad, four 30 second ads, and two 45 second ads on game day, with three getting play during the Super Bowl LIX broadcast. Fox recently acquired the broadcast rights for the IndyCar series, and committed to live coverage of all practice, qualifying, and race sessions for the first time in series history. The television giant reportedly paid the series $25 million for the broadcast rights when the deal was struck last summer.
IndyCar had previously been working with the NBC family of networks and frequently found its races kicked to NBC Sports or even MSNBC, and many sessions were relegated to the Peacock app. This deal with Fox puts every single race on mainstream broadcast television, including a giant five-hour block for May’s iconic Indianapolis 500.
The trio of ads focuses on three of the series main title contenders over the last few seasons, including three-time champ Alex Palou, defending back-to-back Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, and Mexican fan-favorite and defending back-to-back Indy 500 runner-up Pato O’Ward. IndyCar’s on-track product is second to none in the world these days, delivering an incredible amount of passing, world-class drivers, and monster speeds.
By giving these drivers more of an opportunity to reach new fans, the series and Fox are leaning into the proven track record that made Formula One such a success in recent years. Instead of putting all of the focus on how good the racing is, which Formula One can’t count among its strengths, giving fans a driver to root for engages them on a personal level. Everyone loves to cheer for a face and boo a heel, it’s a formula that has worked in performance sports for decades. I, for one, hope that it works here, too.
I was skeptical about the transition from NBC to Fox, but now that I’ve seen how devoted Fox has been to making IndyCar a success on its broadcast networks, I’m on board. The 2025 season begins at noon eastern on Fox with the Streets of St. Petersburg event Sunday, March 2. If you’re new to the series, welcome. We hope you stick around.
