IMSA Always Looking at “New Opportunities” After Roar Stream

Image: IMSA

IMSA’s impromptu video stream of Saturday’s night session from the Roar Before the Rolex 24 could be the start of additional YouTube-based “opportunities” for fans according to IMSA’s head of brand, digital strategy & communications Doug O’Donnell.

The two-hour session, featuring commentary from IMSA Radio’s Ryan Myrehn and NBC Sports’ Matt Yocum, who also hosts the IMSA Endurance Hour Podcast, drew in more than 160,000 views as of Sunday morning, including 12,000 simultaneous live viewers at the time of the broadcast.

Additionally, there were 11,000 comments during the session from fans.

Deemed as an overwhelming success by fans as well as numerous teams in the paddock, O’Donnell revealed the idea stemmed from fan feedback, as well as its trackside capabilities this weekend.

A full video production team was already set up at Daytona International Speedway for coverage of the season-opening IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races, which made streaming the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship test session technically possible.

“Throughout the two days leading up we got a lot of inbound social media requests and people commenting on, ‘Can you guys put the Roar up on YouTube?'” O’Donnell told Sportscar365.

“We started seeing more and more of a pattern of it, so our team just started asking questions to the people that are running the broadcasts internally on the in-house [system] and tried to determine if it’s even possible.

“The whole day [on Saturday] was determining if it was possible. I think we decided two hours before it happened that we think it’s possible.

“We didn’t promote it because we wanted it to be a surprise for the fans, and we titled it as such and had some fun with it.

“I think the people in the chat appreciated that. They were excited and couldn’t believe they were getting a sneak peek.”

O’Donnell said the overnight success of the stream has prompted IMSA to evaluate offering similar streams in the future.

When asked if there could be opportunities at selected events to stream WeatherTech Championship practice sessions, for instance, O’Donnell said: “for sure.”

He added: “I think we’re always looking for, ‘What do we have that’s already happening that we can unlock and bring more audience in?’

“We’ve done that on YouTube; that’s been the strategy from the start. We started with just Sebring (in 2024, for international viewers).

“Then as we’ve gone one, we’ve unlocked Michelin Pilot Challenge (races) in the U.S. and now VP Racing SportsCar Challenge.

“We have so much product out there that can be unlocked, especially on a platform like YouTube, and we’re always looking for new opportunities.”

IMSA’s YouTube channel, which reached 1 million subscriptions last August during the Road America event, has now soared to 1.3 million ahead of next weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The entire Florida endurance classic, featuring IMSA Radio commentary, will be streamed live to international viewers, while Friday’s Michelin Pilot Challenge season-opening BMW M Endurance Challenge will be available to all regions.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John