
Fox Sports Wants to Hook NFL Fans on This Fast-Paced Sport
By Movieguide® Contributor
Fox Sports wants NFL fans to tune into another fast-paced sport: IndyCar.
IndyCar will make its debut for Fox Sports on March 2 after the network secured exclusive rights to all 2025 NTT IndyCar Series races and the Indianapolis 500 in 2025. As a way to gain viewership, the network is going to put IndyCar footage in front of NFL crowds during playoff games as well as Super Bowl LIX.
The first promo sees back-to-back Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden driving the car. It also features a cameo from former NFL quarterback and multi-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady.
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“First and most important for us is the Indy fan,” Robert Gottlieb, president of marketing for Fox Sports, told Variety. “We wanted them to be really fired, up and excited about the switch to Fox. We wanted to, in advance, have them feel validated in their love and passion for it, and feel like, yes, Fox gets us. They get this property, this is something new and special.”
“We know that there’s affinity, that if you’re a motor sports fan of NASCAR, you know, it’s a shorter walk to become a fan of Indy,” he added. “Our research and our insights on the NASCAR audience was that they had not rejected Indy. They just weren’t really aware of it. and it just wasn’t on their radar.”
Veteran broadcaster Will Buxton will make his return to Fox Sports and will handle the play-by-play of the series.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be embarking on this new and incredibly exciting opportunity to return to FOX, exactly 15 years after SPEED Channel offered a young and very green reporter his first break on network TV,” Buxton told Fox Sports. “I’ve been a fan of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for as long as I’ve been watching racing cars and have always marveled at the skill and bravery of its incredible drivers. To have the chance to tell their stories and call their races is a dream come true, and something I never imagined I’d have the honor of doing. It’s a tremendous responsibility, and not one I take lightly.”
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