TV News: Weekend USA Motorsports TV Ratings
The TV rating data is in for the last major motorsports race of 2024 that ran last weekend – the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP under the lights at Yas Marina Circuit, won by Lando Norris.
It was an event record for the Abu Dhabi F1 viewership (telecast started 7:55 a.m. ET on ESPN)
Just over 1 million viewers tuned in for the race on ESPN, beating last year (927K) by 13% and the previous event high (998K in 2021). It was the seventh F1 event record this season and the 11th race up year-over-year.
The broadcast peaked at 1.1 million viewers between 9:15-9:30 a.m.
The 2024 Formula 1 World Championship season reached nearly 30 million fans across ESPN platforms and concluded in a per-race average viewership tie with 2023 for the second most-viewed season ever on U.S. television. Just over 1 million viewers watched the telecast of Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on ESPN. Globally, over 70 million fans watch each F1 race.
An average of 1.1 million viewers watched races across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC during the season, tying the 2023 season average for the second most-viewed season. The all-time record average of 1.2 million viewers was set in 2022. The reach of 29.5 million was up from 24 million last year.
The season included multiple viewership records, led by the Miami Grand Prix in early May, airing on ABC, setting the all-time U.S. television F1 record for a live telecast with 3.1 million average viewers.
In addition, seven races in the 2024 season set event viewership records (Miami, Monaco, Canada, British, Italian, Qatar, Abu Dhabi) and 11 races saw year-over-year viewership gains over 2023 (Japan, Miami, Monaco, Canada, Spain, British, Hungary, Dutch, Italian, Qatar, Abu Dhabi).
The growth of Formula 1 television audiences in the United States since the championship returned to ESPN platforms in 2018 remains a sports success story. Average viewership has essentially doubled from 554K in 2018 to 1.1 million in 2023 and 2024, a total increase of nearly 100 percent.
TV Rating Data For Last Weekend
| Network | Event | Location | Total Viewers |
18-49 Viewers |
Ratio: 18-49 Yr Old/ Total Viewers |
2024 Rating |
2023 Rating |
Rating % Chg. |
2023 Network |
2023 Viewers |
2023 18-49 Viewers |
Total Viewers % Chg |
18-49 Viewers % Chg |
| ESPN | F1 Race Sun. | Abu Dhabi | 1,050,000 | 475,000 | 45% | 0.58 | 0.51 | +13% | ESPN | 927,000 | 409,048 | +13% | +16% |
| ESPN2 | F1 Qualifying Sat. | Abu Dhabi | 554,000 | 240,000 | 43% | 0.30 | 0.31 | -3% | ESPN2 | 565,000 | 247,000 | -2% | -3% |