High viewership and full stands at Markham Indy debut put the city on the map
By Gene Pereira, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
When Marcus Ericsson crossed the finish line to take the checkered flag at the inaugural Markham Indy, he wasn’t the only one celebrating a major victory.
The city of Markham marked its own triumph, turning its first-ever IndyCar race weekend into a ringing commercial and operational success.
Despite early Friday construction hiccups that temporarily delayed track activity, the August 14–16 event rebounded sharply, delivering impressive television numbers and a vibrant live attendance.
Sunday’s race, carried in the U.S. on Fox, averaged 913,000 viewers—a 24 per cent jump compared to the previous year’s race in Toronto—and peaked at 1,081,000 viewers. It marked the highest TV audience for the Canadian IndyCar round since 2012, when 1.129 million tuned in to watch Dario Franchitti at Exhibition Place.
For city officials and event organizers Green Savoree, the momentum extended well beyond television screens. Projected weekend attendance reached between 140,000 and 150,000 spectators over three days, driven by ticket sales that outpaced former Toronto figures by 20 per cent to 30 per cent, alongside elevated demand for VIP suites and local sponsorships.
Markham Ward 5 Councillor and Chair of Destination Markham, Andrew Keyes, noted that while official figures are still being tallied, the live atmosphere spoke for itself.
“I was there all three days, and on the Sunday race day, the grandstands, to my eye, looked full,” said Keyes, who says he wouldn’t be surprised if the numbers exceed the 150,000 estimate. “The general admission is a little harder to gauge in terms of how many people were there, but I couldn’t see any empty seats in the grandstands.”
“All I can say is it was packed, and everybody was having a good time, and the weather cooperated.”
For many residents, the sheer magnitude of hosting a top-tier motorsport event only became clear once the engine noise filled the air.
“This was the first time for the city of Markham,” Keyes explained. “Many people in the city really didn’t, I guess, quite appreciate what was coming. One of the things I noticed when I spoke to people was, ‘Wow, it’s a lot bigger than I had expected.’ There were some people I spoke to who were more cynical… after the race, it was quite a different story. Now they know how big it is, how important it is.”
Keyes highlighted the unprecedented global visibility the event generated for the municipality.
“I love just hearing the word Markham mentioned every time the race is mentioned,” he said. “Every time they talk about this particular race, they’re referring to the city of Markham, and that’s something that we really never had before in terms of international exposure… Yes, there are things that put a city on a map, and this is certainly one of them.”
Drivers and spectators praised the freshly repaved street circuit, with some calling it one of the most exciting finishes of the year. Transportation management also ran smoother than anticipated across transit, GO Train, and vehicular routes.
However, city leadership is already focused on fine-tuning the event for next year through an upcoming comprehensive debrief report.
One area is support for restricted-zone businesses. While regional hotels and broader area restaurants saw strong traffic, businesses located within immediate road-closure zones south of Highway 7 off Kennedy saw customer drops due to access perception.
“That’s an area we need to address,” said Keyes. “We don’t want to be hurting any local businesses if at all possible.”
City staff will also analyze exact parking demand, GO Train usage, and transit patterns to streamline traffic flow further in year two.
Ways to capitalize on this year’s success will be used to grow the event further and increase fan participation next year.
“We knew going into it that there would be some things that we would learn, and, yeah, we’ve done that,” Keyes said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of people who didn’t make it to the race, feel that they missed something… The awareness is much, much higher. The reviews have been great, and we’re just looking forward to seeing everybody next year come out and have a great time.”
Keyes also praised city staff for all the work they did in getting the Indy race into top gear.
“The staff were fabulous,” he said. “They worked night and day to make sure that everything was ready. We learned a lot about how to make projects happen quickly and how to deal with some adversity. So, it’s really made us a lot stronger as an organization as well. We’re a lot better for it.
“That being said, we’re not finished. We know we can improve, and it’ll be even better next year.”
Photo: Despite early Friday construction hiccups that temporarily delayed track activity, the August 14–16 Markham Indy event rebounded sharply, delivering impressive television numbers and a vibrant live attendance. (Matthew Fletcher photo)