MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Even though it was up against The Masters on CBS, Sunday’s telecast of the 47th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach reported an increase in viewership.
According to ratings released by NBC, the annual street race in Long Beach, California averaged a “Total Audience Delivery” (TAD) of 1.078 million viewers on NBC and Peacock. IndyCar’s TAD is up 13 percent over last year’s NBC race average, excluding the Indianapolis 500.
The 2022 IndyCar season is averaging a TAD of 1.148 million viewers, the best start through the opening three races in 19 years. It is up 34 percent over last year.
It was the most-watched edition of the race in NBC Sports history (since 2009) as Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden took the checkered flag on the California street circuit and moved atop the points standings on NBC and Peacock.
Long Beach averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.078 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, an increase of 13% compared to the 2021 IndyCar average for races on NBC (954,000 viewers), excluding the Indianapolis 500.
Viewership for the race peaked towards its conclusion (5:15-5:30 pm ET) with a TV-only audience of 1.251 million viewers. The race also posted a 0.64 household rating.
Powered by Peacock, Long Beach delivered an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 22,900 viewers, the second-highest streaming audience on record for an IndyCar race behind only the 2022 season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida, excluding the Indy 500. The AMA also includes streaming from NBC Sports.com and the NBC Sports app via authentication.
Viewership for the 2022 IndyCar season is averaging a TAD of 1.148 million viewers, marking the series’ best start through a season’s opening three races since 2003 and up 34% vs. 2021 (858,000 viewers) that featured two races on NBC and one on NBCSN.
The GPLB marked the third of the six consecutive races to start the 2022 season on the NBC broadcast network.