A sports division when again appears to prioritize its supporters over its revenue. Think that.
When the IndyCar season begins this Sunday with the week’s primary race in Saint Petersburg, Florida, it will do so with a new spread partner. Selecting has done the exact opposite, as opposed to most other professional sports leagues, which have sliced and diced their tv licensing rights to increase profits at the expense of enraged enthusiasts.
One Broadcast Network
This open-wheel racing series has a relatively straightforward solution for fans: Fox on weekend days this spring and summer. No attempting to consider which broadcast companion carries which race, no cable partners, no streaming services to use, and not attempting to recall which streaming service to use. Just 15 Sunday afternoons ( and two Saturday afternoons thrown in ) between now and Labor Day on simple, over-the-air broadcast television.
As I noted next spring, most activities, including other auto racing teams, have moved in the opposite direction. For example, this Memorial Day weekend will view NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 — a” crown jewel” event of the stock car racing season— air on Amazon Prime, the first time a NASCAR race did heat only via streaming, as part of a package of mid-summer races. Selecting has been broadcasting one of its races (usually the Grand Prix of Toronto ) and the majority of its qualifying and practice sessions only through NBC’s Peacock streaming services for the past few years.  ,
Fans are compelled to buy subscriptions to different streaming services if they want to pursue their favorite sports teams, which makes it difficult for them to remember which event airs on which route. For starters, NASCAR is requiring viewers to pay for the Max streaming service in order to get in-car camera footage and, as previously mentioned, a split Amazon Prime membership to watch five tribes, including the Coca-Cola 600 over Memorial Day weekends. By contrast, IndyCar’s signature event, the Indianapolis 500, held the same day as the Coca-Cola 600, will again air on broadcast television, this time on Fox after decades on ABC and a recent six-year stint on NBC.
Other Sports Are Trying to Turn Off Fans
Two recent reports suggest that things will get worse if you think the current situation with broadcast access to live sporting events. For starters, news emerged that Netflix may bid for rights to Sunday afternoon football. The National Football League can re-bid its TV contracts in 2029 despite the National Football League’s current agreements with CBS and Fox ending in 2033. You’d better believe the NFL can and will do that given the chance of making more money.
Word has spread about the announcement that no NFL games will be broadcast exclusively on traditional television beginning with the 2025 season this fall, with all having a streaming option. This development forms a part of the news that Netflix is bidding for the rights to Sunday afternoon football, which will allow the NFL to yank football from over-the-air television.
One might assume that allowing fans to watch football games on their phones or tablets might be better viewed, which it would, on its own. But because the streaming access will be geolocated, fans will only be able to watch the team based in their local market, meaning that fans of the Buffalo Bills who live in Florida, for instance, will be out of luck. Combine that with the possibility that the NFL will switch more games to subscription streaming services, and it’s more of the same for fans: more inconvenience, more money.
Although IndyCar’s new television deal clarifies where races will air and restores Fox Sports ‘ ability to host practice and qualifying sessions, it does have some drawbacks. The racing season will now end on Labor Day, before the NFL season begins, because neither the league nor its broadcast partner want to compete for viewers ‘ attention with professional football. However, at least one professional sports league thought the average fan out of the ordinary when creating its new media rights agreement.
