Privateers around the world are noticing this upward trend too. IMSA’s paddock is becoming more populated with teams, drivers and partners from outside North America. LMP2 is a prime example. It’s a category that now features some of the best teams Europe has to offer in United Autosports, Inter Europol and Algarve Pro Racing.
By actively pushing for growth internationally, it’s opening doors and breaking down barriers. Previously, a common complaint for teams in Europe was that IMSA was too inward-focused. For a long time, teams wanted to take the leap and race in IMSA but were unsure how viable it would be commercially for backers and customers who don’t do business in the States. This is not the case anymore and business is booming as a result.
“We’re going to need 20 more pit boxes at Daytona in 2025, based on demand, to fit the interest we’re seeing,” Doonan points out.
The demographic that IMSA’s race broadcasts are reaching is also worth noting. YouTube is as accessible as it gets, with apps on phones, tablets and TVs, making it simple for younger race fans to find and consume content, and this shows in the figures.
More than 70 percent of IMSA’s YouTube audience is aged under 44 and they come from every corner of the globe. The top 10 countries for the race streams by audience size include the UK, Germany, Canada, Italy, Australia, France, Indonesia, Brazil, the Netherlands and Japan.
For fans in the USA, these numbers all sound great, but they don’t apply as YouTube isn’t currently an option to watch races live. But that doesn’t mean that Doonan and the team around him have lost sight of their core domestic fan base and the potential to attract new supporters locally.
The current deal with NBC is at the heart of its strategy. This deal has proved to be an enormous success. IMSA viewership on NBC Sports has grown by 37 percent in the past five years and year-on-year, the coverage IMSA gets on its Peacock streaming platform has seen a 60 percent increase in total minutes streamed.
“If you can drive people to your product, you’ve got it,” Doonan says when asked about the recent multi-year extension to NBC’s TV deal. “The NBC renewal is really important and we are building it.
“Not only do we have more network coverage in general, and more racing on the network, but we have a preseason show on NBC before the Rolex 24 too. We’ll also have a pre-championship weekend show prior to Petit Le Mans.”
Beyond the race broadcasts, IMSA has taken strides through other types of content on its YouTube channel, which are available to fans everywhere. Doonan feels these accompany IMSA’s traditional race coverage nicely.
The fly-on-the-wall behind-the-scenes series “Win The Weekend,” in particular, stands out. It’s there to showcase the human side of the championship and has helped build up the profile of its teams and drivers immeasurably.
IMSA has used this opportunity to elevate the visibility of its free content on YouTube, rather than sign a deal to air it behind a paywall on a streaming service, like other championships have done in recent years with documentary series.
“What ‘Win The Weekend’ has done is send a whole new audience to the IMSA brand and show. It’s targeted motorsport fans who haven’t ever really focused on sports car racing,” Doonan explains. “Go back two years, our channel had 10 million views in 2022 and thanks to Win The Weekend, 80 percent of the audience who watch had never been to the IMSA channel before.
“Then you look at the views in 2024 vs last year, in this calendar year, we already have 25 million views on IMSA YouTube. Last year, for the year, we were at 17 million. And with our network coverage with NBC, we use our nationwide shows to remind them that our documentary series ‘Win The Weekend’ exists, giving people additional options to follow our championship.
“I think the social features, digital pieces and ‘Win The Weekend’ feed the monster and help get people to watch the actual race broadcasts, no matter which venue we are visiting.”
Other initiatives that are growing fast include the shorter-form supplementary features hosted by Marshall Pruett on YouTube and social media. His tech tours, paddock walks and explainers have achieved their target of retaining the new audience and giving them reasons to come back regularly during and after key race weekends.
“They all add to the bigger picture,” Doonan says. “This sport isn’t the easiest for new fans to grasp, so if you have all these extra pieces like Win The Weekend, short videos explaining how things like hybrid systems on GTP cars work, then it makes it so much easier for people to understand what they’re watching and appreciate it.
“We just want to keep adding value for fans. We want to educate the fans. You want to make sure the broadcast comes across in a quality manner and thanks to our NASCAR Productions and broadcast team, it is, but it has to be the highest quality going forward too. That’s number one.
“Number two is you want to make sure that you have a critical mass of people that are tuning in regularly. That allows you to dictate those features and make sure that the quality of the production and technology comes through quickly to get across the racing and tell stories.
“But, we have to be careful,” he concedes. “This is not all just a money grab. These initiatives are more about getting people invested. Fans around the world are now tuning in at a consistently growing rate and we will continue to do our best to deliver exciting racing to them through the rest of the season and into 2025.
“Once someone watches IMSA for the first time, I want them to be so captivated that they come back again.”