FOX Company has acquired a one-third possession stake in Penske Leisure, the father or mother firm of IndyCar and the enduring Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.
The announcement, made collectively on Thursday by Penske Leisure and FOX, marks a big funding within the continued development of the IndyCar Sequence and coincides with a multi-year extension of IndyCar’s media rights settlement with FOX Sports activities.
“This partnership is constructed on long-standing belief and a shared imaginative and prescient for the long run,” stated Roger Penske, Chairman of Penske Company. “FOX sees the unbelievable potential throughout our sport and desires to play an energetic function in constructing our development trajectory. Lachlan Murdoch and his group, beginning with Eric Shanks, are dedicated to our success and can carry unbelievable vitality and innovation to IndyCar.”
The deal is supposed to bolster IndyCar’s future, with a renewed deal with racing innovation, immersive content material methods, enhanced digital platforms, and the event of driver personalities as family names, in accordance with the official press launch.
It additionally solidifies FOX Sports activities because the long-term broadcast house of the sequence, capitalizing on a 2025 season that has already proven substantial viewers development.
FOX turned IndyCar’s broadcast companion in 2025 and has delivered record-breaking outcomes, together with a 41% improve in viewership for the Indianapolis 500, which averaged 7.01 million viewers — the best in 17 years. Total, the season is averaging a 31% year-over-year improve in rankings.
“We’re thrilled to hitch the IndyCar possession group at such a pivotal time for the game,” stated Eric Shanks, CEO & Govt Producer, FOX Sports activities. “IndyCar represents every little thing we worth in dwell sports activities — passionate followers, iconic venues, elite competitors, and year-round storytelling potential. This funding underscores our dedication to motorsports and our perception in IndyCar’s continued development on and off the observe. We’re excited to assist elevate the game to new heights throughout all platforms.”
In 2026, the sequence will additional increase its footprint by including a brand new road race by Arlington’s leisure district in Texas, created in partnership with the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers — a first-of-its-kind collaboration in U.S. motorsports. The schedule, but to be launched, can be anticipated to incorporate a race on the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico Metropolis.
Penske Leisure first acquired IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from the Hulman-George household in November 2019. That buy marked a brand new period for the game, and now, with FOX approaching board, IndyCar seems poised for its subsequent chapter.
The primary race beneath this new administration would be the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, August 10.
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