Formula 1 2023 Season on ESPN Platforms Ends as Second Most-Viewed Ever on U.S. Television

Eight Races Set Event Viewership Records

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.

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 March 2 in Bahrain.