TV News: Weekend USA Motorsports TV Ratings

TV Ratings for major motorsports events telecast in the USA this past weekend.  The season finale, F1 Abu Dhabi GP was just about the only series still racing.

The 2023 Formula 1 World Championship season on ESPN platforms has ended as the second most-viewed F1 season ever on U.S. television.

An average of 1.11 million viewers watched the 22 race telecasts on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC during the season, second only to last year’s record-setting average of 1.21 million. Last year’s average included the 2.6 million average viewership for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, the largest live audience ever for a Formula 1 race on U.S. television.

The season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Nov. 26 attracted an average audience of 927,000 viewers, including the race telecast on ESPN and the F1 Kids alternate telecast on ESPNU.

44% of the viewers tuned in for the Abu Dhabi GP were in the all-important 18-49 age bracket, an increase of 2.3% over last year. The Las Vegas GP at 1:00am drew 1.3 million viewers, and 51% were in the 18-49 age group.

This is a typical number for a F1 race broadcast.  While F1 is increasing 18-49 viewership year over year, IndyCar, NASCAR, IMSA and the NHRA races are almost all below 20% and falling as their fanbase continues to age out.

The 2023 season included numerous superlatives:

• Three of the four largest live American TV audiences on record for races: (Miami, 1.96M; Monaco, 1.79M; Canada, 1.76M).
• The iconic Monaco Grand Prix aired live on ABC for the first time and attracted its largest live audience on record (1.79M for the race).
• Eight races set U.S. television viewership records: (Saudi Arabia, Monaco, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Mexico).
• The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix on Nov. 19 attracted an average audience of 1.3M despite a 1 a.m. ET starting time.

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 1.11 million in 2023, a total increase of nearly 100 percent and an average increase of 15 percent per year.

The 2023 season was the first of a three-year renewal deal between ESPN and Formula 1 announced in the fall of 2022.

The 2024 F1 season begins Saturday March 2nd in Bahrain.

TV Rating Data For Last Weekend