TV Ratings For The Indianapolis 500 The Lowest Ever

Well this is disappointing. Despite putting on one of its greatest racing shows in many years, TV ratings for the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 were lower than ever. ABC's live coverage of the race drew a 3.8 rating. From the Star:

The Indianapolis 500 drew a 3.8 overnight rating on ABC Sunday afternoon, it’s lowest since the race began airing live in 1986, according to a story on sportsmediawatch.com.

The number represents a seven percent drop from 2012 (4.1) and is down 12 percent from 2011 (4.3). The previous low was a 4.0 in 2010 and this is the fifth consecutive year the event has earned less than a 4.5 rating.

Pre-race coverage earned a 2.0 overnight on ABC, up from 1.9 last year.

The website used ratings numbers from ESPN.

The race is not broadcast live in the Indianapolis market; however, a rebroadcast that aired during prime time on WRTV last night drew a 9.3 rating. That compares to the 17.3 rating the NBA playoff game between the Pacers and the Heat drew on TNT and the 7.7 rating NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 pulled on WXIN-TV in the Indianapolis market last night.

UPDATE: Ticket prices for nearly 2/3 of the seats at next year's race will increase 15%. This is the first increase in nearly a decade. On top of the ticket price increase, a new admissions tax will be collected for the first time ranging from 2% to 6% depending on the price of the ticket.

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