IndyCar and Fox Sports agreed to a new media rights deal last year for the 2025 season. NBC had held the broadcast rights to America's premier open-wheel racing series since 2009.
However, NBC had only owned the rights to the Indy 500 since 2019. ABC had been responsible for it for more than half a century before that. It began airing the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" in 1965 on its Wide World of Sports series, and it broadcast every Indy 500 from 1965 to 2018.
But after six years on NBC, the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval has been moved to Fox.
Indy 500 moved to Fox for 2025
NBC reportedly offered IndyCar more money per year than Fox did to retain the rights to the series, with Fox's agreed amount said to be $25 million. Fox's deal still marked an increase over the $20 million NBC had been paying annually.
But one of the main appeals of the Fox deal was the fact that all races are now shown on Fox; there is no sharing between Fox and Fox Sports 1, as all races are on network television.
When NBC held the rights, races were split between NBC and NBC Sports Network (and then NBC and USA Network once NBC Sports Network shut down post-2021). In recent years, a number of races were even placed behind the Peacock Premium streaming paywall.
Driver analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe both came over from NBC to Fox ahead of the 2025 season, though NBC lead announcer Leigh Diffey remained with NBC and became the full-time lead announcer for their NASCAR Cup Series races, replacing Rick Allen. Will Buxton, best known for his work in Formula 1, is the new lead announcer for IndyCar on Fox.
Fox is set to provide live coverage of the 109th running of the Indy 500 beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 25. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!