TV News: Weekend USA Motorsports TV Ratings (Update)

This article has been updated with additional USGP F1 TV Rating/viewership context as well as the NASCAR Cup data  below.

TV Ratings in the USA this past weekend for NASCAR in Las Vegas and the Formula 1 USGP in Austin.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

TV Rating Analysis

NASCAR

NBC averaged 2.3M viewers for the NASCAR Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday, up 2.2% from 2.25M viewers in 2023. Only 16% of the viewers were in the all-important 18-49 age group, far less than the 41% that F1 drew

Formula 1

ABC averaged 1.3M viewers (peak 1.5M) for the race portion of the USGP in Austin, up 11.1% from 1.170 million viewers in 2023. This is an excellent result for F1 that was up against the NASCAR race in Las Vegas and the Sunday NFL games.

18-49 year old viewers accounted for 41% of the TV Rating audience – a solid number that advertisers are interested in, and much higher than NASCAR and IndyCar, which are always under 20%.

The 2024 F1 season average on ABC/platforms is up 3% over full ’23 season.

The 2024 audience tied 2022 for the second-highest viewership for the race since F1 returned to ESPN in 2018. The highest was an average of 1.4 million for the 2021 event.

Through 19 races, the 2024 F1 season is averaging 1.2 million viewers per race across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, up over the 2023 F1 full season average (1.1M).

The next race is the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday, Oct. 27. The race will air on ABC and stream on ESPN+ in the United States – coverage starts at 2:30 p.m. ET with Grand Prix Sunday with the race starting at 4 p.m.

Some key TV Rating points from the 2024 season so far:

• Five races this year have set event viewership records (Miami, Monaco, Canada, British and most recently, Italian).
• The Miami Grand Prix in early May, airing on ABC, set the all-time U.S. television F1 record for a live telecast with 3.1 million average viewers.
• During one point in the season, five consecutive races had year-over-year viewership gains: Japan, Miami, Monaco, Canada and Spain. (China and Imola were not run in 2023).
• Nine races this season have seen year-over-year viewership gains over 2023 (Japan, Miami, Monaco, Canada, Spain, British, Hungary, Dutch, Italian).

Remaining Races – 2024 Formula 1 World Championship Calendar

* all race day coverage also includes Grand Prix Sunday pre-race show. ESPN platforms also carry live coverage of all practice and qualifying sessions as well as F1 Sprint races and other pre and post-race programs.

TV Rating Data