Saudi Arabia’s Grand Prix last weekend had the second-largest US audience at the event, ESPN announced Tuesday.
The race, which was first listed on ESPN2, attracted an average audience of 1.5 million viewers, more than a third from the 18-49 demographic. This represents an increase from 920,000 in line with Saudi Arabia’s Grand Prix last year. This was held six weeks before and Saturday this year, rather than the usual Sunday slots, to accommodate Ramadan, which began the day after the race.
A strong number of races in Jeddah continues to trend ESPN’s Grand Prix, with all five races so far this season offering year-over-year viewership growth. The Australian and Chinese Grand Prix also had record viewers, with the latter rising 32% from last year’s previous recordset, despite its 3am start time. Australia’s season opening attracted 541,000 viewers more than the same event last year, but the event’s 659,000 record in 2019 was 1.1 million.
The next race, the Miami Grand Prix, will be held on Sunday, May 4th. The race begins at 4pm ET and will be displayed in ABC and ESPN+.
Last year’s race at Hard Rock Stadium attracted the largest live TV audience at the Formula 1 Grand Prix, with an average of 3.1 million tunings, plus a Saturday average of 946,000 in sprint races that weekend.