After a 28 percent television viewer increase for the debut of IMSA’s new Grand Touring Prototype class in the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona, the ratings for the 2024 edition slipped some, despite a thrilling finish with Porsche’s Felipe Nasr holding off Cadillac’s Tom Blomqvist for the 963’s first endurance victory. The linear television ratings, though, only tell part of the story.
Streaming viewers on Peacock were up 108 percent from 2023, and international viewership on IMSA.tv was up 42 percent over the year before. International linear television reaches 148 countries and 584 million households, all of which indicate that the reach for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is growing.
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“The momentum and excitement that was created last year in the WeatherTech Championship has carried over to 2024 and continues building,” said IMSA president John Doonan. “The competitiveness of the hybrid-electrified GTP class played a key role in that, as does the growing car counts and competition in the LMP2 and GT classes. We witnessed records last season on multiple fronts – competition, event attendance, fan engagement – and saw more set at this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. The number of fans watching the race on Peacock grew dramatically as we continue seeing a shift in the way viewers consume our sport.
“Combining those streaming numbers with traditional over-the-air TV figures, we saw almost four million unique viewers tuning in to the race. We also saw a substantial increase on IMSA’s social media platforms in both reach and engagement, including over 31 million video views in January alone. The fans have spoken through their actions and they want more IMSA content; we look forward to providing it to them.”
As significant as the numbers for live event viewing are, the social media reach keeps fans engaged between events as well. IMSA’s “Win the Weekend” video series, along with other video content, has boosted IMSA’s social media reach, which is up 96 percent year-over-year. Fifty percent of that social media reach is short-form video content.
“Win the Weekend,” supported by Michelin, has been renewed for a second season. With GTP being new in 2023, the series highlighted that class in its inaugural season. But with the big growth in the GT categories, the eight episodes in 2024 will focus on GTD PRO and GTD. The first episode, highlighting the Rolex 24 at Daytona, is expected shortly before the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring next month.