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.

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.

A television production was already set up at Daytona International Speedway for the coverage of the season-opening IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races.

“Throughout the two days leading upm 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.

“For sure,” he said. “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 audiences, while Friday’s Michelin Pilot Challenge season-opening BMW M Endurance Challenge will be available to all regions.

Source: Sports Car 365