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May 30, 2023
Streaming viewership of the 107th Indianapolis 500 auto race on May 28 averaged 216,000 across NBCUniversal digital platforms, including Peacock, down less 2% from 219,000 viewers during the 2022 event, according to digital data from Adobe Analytics.
The race was won by Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden in a thrilling last-lap pass over 2022 winner, Marcus Ericsson, of Sweden.
NBCUniversal attributed the decline in part to the event being geo-blocked in the Indianapolis area for the first time. Geo-blocking is the practice of restricting access to internet content based on a user’s location.
The majority of race viewers (4.71 million average viewers), watched on linear TV, which saw total viewership (including streaming) reach nearly 5 million (4.92 million viewers) across NBC and Peacock, up 2% from the 2022 race (4.84 million), according to Fast National Data released by Nielsen.
The Indy 500 was the highlight of a busy Memorial Day weekend for NBC Sports and Peacock, which streamed 20 sporting events, including 10 Premier League Championship Sunday soccer matches, the first round of Roland-Garros French Open tennis tournament, the Los Angeles Dodgers at Tampa Bay Rays MLB game, both PGA TOUR and LPGA events, and the WWE, among other live-streamed sports events.
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