Sam Flood, the executive producer for NBC Sports, is telling me Sunday’s race on his network “is the biggest event in auto racing.”
Wait a minute. When did NBC acquire the rights to the Indianapolis 500?
The answer: It didn’t.
Flood was talking about the Monaco Grand Prix. For the time ever, NBC will air the race live Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET. It highlights the network’s new package to air all the Formula One races on either NBC or NBC Sports Network.
So what about that other race Sunday? You know the one in Indianapolis?
“The most watched series in the world is Formula One racing,” Flood said. “And the Grand Prix is the biggest race in that series. The entire world will be watching.”
With the possible exception of the U.S. Much like European Premier League soccer, the trick now is for NBC to develop a following for Formula One here.
“This is one of those sports, when you get into it, you’re hooked for life,” Flood said.
Flood thinks the Monaco Grand Prix will be a good opener.
“It truly is like a Kentucky Derby,” Flood said. “You’re not going to a car race. You’re going to an event. It’s stars and celebrity and the luxury of Monaco. You’ll be amazed how cool it is when they race by those multi-million dollar homes. It’s stunning.”
Hi Ed, great to see F1 getting a bit of press this weekend! This actually won’t be NBC’s first F1 race, Monaco is the 6th race of the F1 2013 season and all previous races have been carried on NBCSN. In my opinion it’s an improvement over Speed – I like the new pre-race show and love the side-by-side commercial breaks.