ESPN says 1.3M viewers tuned in to watch the Las Vegas Grand Prix
ESPN said Tuesday the Las Vegas Grand Prix averaged 1.3 million viewers, despite the race’s late night air time.
Though the telecast aired from 10 p.m. Saturday to 12:05 a.m. Sunday in Las Vegas, the inaugural race saw the third-largest Formula 1 race viewership of the season on cable and sixth-largest on ESPN platforms, the network said in a news release.
Viewership peaked at 1.5 million between 10:15 and 10:30 p.m., ESPN said. Of the 1.3 million viewers, 668,000 were between 18 and 49 years old.
The main event wasn’t the only thing getting eyeballs. The grand prix’s qualifying, which aired from 11:54 p.m. Friday to 1:09 a.m. Saturday, averaged 626,000 viewers on the network.
ESPN said the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix was the most-viewed F1 race since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, which aired on ABC and garnered 1.76 million viewers.
But, the race wasn’t just successful when compared to other F1 races. Viewers tuning in to watch Max Verstappen win his 18th race of the season made the inaugural race the most watched telecast overall on cable after 8 p.m. on Saturday night and in the overnight hours, ESPN said.
The next Formula One race to air on the network will be the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday at 4:55 a.m.
