IndyCar’s new broadcasting deal with FOX for 2025 should help the sport reach more fans than ever and hopefully drive viewership figures up.
For a while now, the series has been desperate and primed to explode to the level of popularity that sister series NASCAR enjoys.
All the tangibles are there, from the characters on the grid to tight racing and affordable events – so 2025 could be the year it truly marks itself on the map.
With a fantastic young driver defending his crown, and an array of experienced and young talent chasing him – IndyCar might yet become America’s next big thing, right?
Andretti COO Rob Edwards calls compressed calendar ‘challenging’
One of the main problems of modern IndyCar, which perhaps affects its potential to retain a major fanbase, is that the season isn’t very spread out.
Six months from start to finish leaves a very long off-season, where not a lot happens other than the odd test or driver signing.
With a new FOX deal, it’s now an even tighter calendar, posing challenges for teams according to Andretti COO, Rob Edwards.
“When you look at the schedule next year, obviously the good news is that we’re on FOX,” he told RACER. “The challenging part is that from the time we start racing to the time which we stop racing is very compressed.
“So, I suspect that all of the top teams are looking at what that means in terms of turnaround, being prepared, making sure that we have the ability to recover from things that we don’t like to happen, but we all know do happen sometimes, and so on.”
Where is Andretti headed for 2025 under a new structure?
With Michael Andretti stepping back into more of an advisory role for 2025, the Andretti team will be headed in a new sort of direction.
It may be the first time ever for the team in a whole multitude of situations – but one of the most important aspects remains stable.
Their driver line-up will continue to consist of Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson and Linus Lundqvist, who is set to be confirmed as early as this month.
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Herta finished as runner-up in the 2024 championship, thanks to a heroic season finale effort where he won his first-ever oval race.
If they can continue to make more breakthroughs like that, expect to see Andretti contending for their first title since 2012 again soon.