Alexander Rossi makes his feelings known about recording the Media Day with FOX as part of the new IndyCar promotion programe

Ed Carpenter Racing driver Alexander Rossi has revealed the grand extent of FOX Sports' inaugural media day preparations for IndyCar. FOX has replaced NBC Sports as the American series' exclusive broadcasting partner for the 2025 season and beyond.

FOX conducted the first media day of 2025 on January 14 in Indianapolis, Indiana. 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi, who attended his first interview as an ECR driver, lauded FOX for hitting the ground running with an elaborate setup for IndyCar's media day that involved 100 employees on ground to ensure a smooth event and indoor drones to capture more behind-the-scenes footage.

"What I walked into was essentially a movie set with magnitude of equipment, with the amount of people. I heard from one of the FOX ladies that there was 40 people there that were FOX employees and then there had another 60 that were independent contractors. So they had 100 people here. There was, I think, five different studio setups that involved drones being flown indoors," Rossi said on his 'Off Track with Hinch and Rossi' podcast.

The ex-F1 driver also drew on his previous experiences on media and production days to juxtapose how professionally FOX conducted the event.

"I've done a couple things on TV. So have you James (Hinchcliffe, co-host). You know like when directors and producers are the real deal because they are dressed the part, they carry themselves a certain way. Every single person was that guy or girl. They were professionals in what they did. They know exactly what they were looking for. This is the same team that is going to be doing all of the player stuff for the Super Bowl," he added.

Nearly all IndyCar drivers shared Alexander Rossi's sentiment about the series' new proactive media partner. Juncos Hollinger Racing's Conor Daly also revealed being part of a private dinner with five other drivers and FOX executives, where the media giant's plans for IndyCar blew them away.

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Alexander Rossi commends FOX for 'out-of-the-box' promo featuring Josef Newgarden

NTT IndyCar Series GMR Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Two days before the media day, FOX Sports released a promo featuring two-time Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden. Fans, drivers, and analysts were impressed by the ingenuity and hilarity of the promo which also had a cameo by NFL legend Tom Brady.

That 45-second promo was the first of more to come featuring defending champion Alex Palou and Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward. Alexander Rossi reckoned that FOX did a great job of marketing IndyCar in an unprecedented way.

"I thought it was great. I think, is a commercial with Josef or a commercial with Pato or Alex going to change the perception of INDYCAR racing? No. Is it a huge step in a direction that we’ve all been looking for in terms of out-of-the-box thinking and cool, trendy marketing and all of the buzzword stuff that you want to be a part of and be doing? Yeah, 100 percent."

Alexander Rossi has joined Ed Carpenter Racing at a crucial junction. The Indiana-based team has recently undergone a rebranding and it could be what the now No.20 Chevy driver needs to revive his IndyCar career.

The 33-year-old has been finishing either 9th or 10th in the standings in the last five seasons. His last victory came at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2022.