(Motorsports news) The first-ever F1 triumph of Lando Norris was televised by ABC to an average audience of 3.1 million viewers, surpassing the previous record of 2.6 million viewers who watched the event in Miami in 2022.
Additionally, it is a 48% increase in viewers over the same event last year, when 2.1 million people watched Miami’s second event.
The Miami event is scheduled for late afternoon, which makes it late for television viewers in Europe and Asia. Nevertheless, it has worked well to draw attention in the USA, as seen by the fact that the three races are the most watched in the nation’s history.
With 946,000 viewers, the Saturday sprint race on ESPN became the most watched sprint event in the United States since the format debuted in 2021. The crowd size for the official qualifying on Saturday was 625,000.
For F1’s broadcast partner, the increase in US interest in the Miami race is welcome news, given the season’s beginning performance had been uneven.
1.12 million people watched the Bahraini season opening, which was fewer than the 1.31 million who watched it in 2023.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix then saw a 40% decrease in attendance year over year, drawing in 920,000 spectators as opposed to 1.523 million for the race in 2023.
Nonetheless, a portion of this decline was attributed to the race airing on ESPN2 on a Saturday.
Just 626,000 people watched the Chinese Grand Prix, which aired at 3am Eastern Time. However, this was a significant increase over the 268,000 people who watched the previous Shanghai race in 2019.
Despite Formula One’s significant attempts to get larger crowds to Miami, last weekend’s sell-out attendance of 270,000 demonstrated the public’s great interest in grand prix racing.
Over the weekend, Daniel Ricciardo made the suggestion that the Miami Grand Prix felt like it was surrounded by the kind of hype usually associated with the Super Bowl.
“It feels like, and I’m not trying to say it’s Super Bowl, but Super Bowl week,” he stated.
It seems like a full week of activities. Though not to the same degree as a Super Bowl week, I think our weeks are starting to fill up with activities and people are starting to show an interest.
“They get enthusiastic about the event not just on Sunday, but starting on Wednesday. We had a great turnout, with a large number of, I believe, young people and newcomers. So, expanding the sport is undoubtedly a positive idea.”
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