IndyCar loses over 700,000 viewers as Thermal Club race falls flat after St. Pete surge

The maiden race of the 2025 IndyCar season i.e. the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg set the record for the most viewed St. Pete race. However, when the numbers for the 2025 Thermal Club IndyCar race were released, it was revealed that IndyCar lost over 700,000 viewers between the two races.

FOX took over the exclusive broadcasting rights for IndyCar from NBC starting in 2025 and released new promotions, which were showcased during the Super Bowl. FOX’s efforts were highlighted by the St. Pete viewership number where the race averaged 1.4 million viewers.

The 1.4 Million average viewership was a 45% increase over the 2024 numbers, which averaged 975,000. The peak viewership numbers were also higher coming in at 1.8 million. However, the second IndyCar race at Thermal Club saw a drastic decline in the viewership, dropping from 1.4 Million to 700,000.

Motorsports reporters Nathan Brown and Adam Stern posted the same on X. The 2025 Thermal Club race averaged 704,000 viewers, which was a 10%+ decrease over the $1 Million challenge at Thermal in 2024 which averaged 788,000.

Nathan Brown tweeted how the 2025 race peaked at 829,000 viewers on all FOX broadcast and streaming platforms when Alex Palou hunted Pato O'Ward for the lead of the race in the final 15 laps.

“NEWS: @FOXSports says it averaged an audience of 704,000 for @IndyCar's race Sunday at @TheThermalClub, down 11% off last year's $1 Million Challenge broadcast on NBC (788,000). Race peaked at 829,000 as Palou hunted Pato for the lead & eventually made the race-winning move,” read Brown's tweet.

The 2025 Thermal Club race faces broadcasting issues which could have possibly been the reason behind the drop in viewership. The circuit lost its signal on Lap 22 of the race and only came back on Lap 35. However, the audio and graphics were still not working as FOX resorted to showing the NASCAR race at Homestead Miami before the stream and broadcast was finally fixed.

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Thermal Club IndyCar race viewership during practice increased by 77% in comparison to St. Pete

IndyCar reporter Marshall Pruett took to social media platform X and revealed how the IndyCar viewership for practice session 1 on Friday at Thermal saw a 77% increase in viewership compared to the practice session at St. Pete.

The 2025 Thermal Club practice session averaged 168,000 viewers.

“Just in from FOX: The IndyCar practice session from the Thermal Club averaged 168,000 viewers on FS1 Friday at 6:30pm, up 77% from the previous Friday afternoon IndyCar session on FS1 (95,000 on 2/28),” read Marshall Pruett’s tweet.

The Thermal Club IndyCar race clashed with NASCAR’s race at Homestead Miami. The NASCAR race averaged over 2.4 million followers whereas IndyCar managed less than a third of that number at 704,000.