IMSA Set for First Live NBC Network Broadcast of Season

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be featured live on network television for the first time this year, with coverage of the Monterey Sports Car Championship powered by McLaren from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca set for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

It will mark the first of two consecutive WeatherTech Championship races that will be carried live on NBC, with the first three hours of the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans set to be on the ‘Peacock’ as well.

The first planned live network broadcast, from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in July, was moved at the last minute to CNBC due to the rain-delayed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

IMSA President Scott Atherton said during last month’s ‘State of the Series’ address that he expects a significant boost in year-to-date ratings with the the two end-of-season races on network television.

As of the Road America weekend, NBC Sports has delivered 4.1 million views from its IMSA broadcasts, with online streaming having seen a 58 percent increase year-to-year courtesy of the NBC Sports App.

Leigh Diffey will be joined by Calvin Fish and former NASCAR driver A.J. Allmendinger in the booth this weekend at Laguna Seca, with Kevin Lee and Jon Beekhuis on pit road.

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