F1: Growth of the F1 series by the numbers (Update)

–by Mark Cipolloni–

The table below has been updated as Las Vegas GP organizers expect more than 105,000 fans per day to attend beginning with open practices on November 16-17 and the race on November 18. We used 100,000 originally.

Corrected table shown below.

“There is no better way for Las Vegas to draw the attention of our international customers than through Formula 1,” Steve Hill, CEO of Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, told Reuters.

“The anticipation of this race has injected a sense of excitement into the city that’s going to be around for years,” he said. “It’s a real phenomenon.”

–by Mark Cipolloni–

We all know that Formula 1 is growing by leaps and bounds since Liberty Media bought it.

But just how much is the growth?

Financial Strength

For the 2022 calendar year, F1 saw total revenues of $2.573 billion, up from $2.136 billion for calendar year 2021. More importantly, profits increased dramatically – for Formula 1 in 2022 it was $173 million, up a staggering 333% from the $40 million in operating income the racing league saw for 2021.

Attendance

Formula 1 saw record attendance in 2022 and is likely to surpass that in 2023 with the addition of the Las Vegas Grand Prix which will bring the series to 23 races. Total attendance for 2022 was 5.7 million, up 36% compared to 2019, the last year before the pandemic.

Television Audience

USA: ESPN set records for viewership in 2022 posting an average of 1.21 million viewers per race across ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC, a 28% increase over the previous U.S. television record of 949,000 average viewers that was set in 2021. The 2022 season also became the first in U.S. television history to average 1 million or more viewers per race.

Global: For 2021, F1 reported a global TV audience of 1.55 billion – all 21 races combined or 71.4 million viewers per race. 2022 numbers are not in yet.

Sponsorship

Formula 1 is especially popular with sponsors due to the race schedule being global.  Heineken and Mercedes have invested heavily in the U.S. in 2023. Both are now sponsors for all F1 races on the Walt Disney Co. of networks of ESPN and ABC with Mercedes as the presenting sponsor.

“No one has the depth, diversity, and width of sports offerings as Disney and Formula 1 is the perfect example of this,” said Sean Hanrahan, SVP, Disney Advertising Sports Brand Solutions. “Through this property, we are able to expand our reach and curate an incomparable advertising experience for brands.”

Heineken is the presenting sponsor of the Las Vegas Grand Prix that is seeing unprecedented interest as a November night race.

Major brands that are part of the F1 racing series sponsorships include Oracle SalesForce, DHL, Rolex, ARAMCO, AWS, MSC Cruises, Qatar Airways, Liqui Moly, Heineken, and more.

Ticket Revenue

10 races that generate the highest ticket revenue