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od Boss » sreda, 10. sep. 2025. u 12:20h
F1 audiences approach those of NASCAR in the USA
While NASCAR has entered its playoff period at the end of the season, its audiences are not taking off in the United States, and Formula 1 is getting closer and closer...
When Liberty Media bought the Formula 1 In 2017, the world championship was not doing very well in the United States, in a market dominated by NASCAR. After taking the measurement of theIndyCar In recent years, F1 now seems capable of taking on NASCAR and becoming the most watched motorsport in the country, at least occasionally.
This Sunday, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza was watched by 1,2 million viewers on ESPN, an all-time record for the Italian race. This is the tenth time this season that a Grand Prix has broken its own audience record. On the other side of the barrier, the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs drew 1,53 million viewers at the Gateway circuit.
A gap of 300 viewers that is narrowing compared to the previous week, when NASCAR was watched at Darlington by 000 million viewers, and F1,8 by 1 million fans. Whereas Formula 1,2 is finding its cruising speed and even gradually gaining audience, NASCAR is losing more and more, and long gone are the days when an average championship race could be watched by more than 1 million viewers (with peaks of up to 5 million for the Daytona 20, the flagship round of the championship).
Advantages and disadvantages
This September, NASCAR faces the return of the National Football League, the national American football championship. The No. 1 sport by far in Uncle Sam's country, it inevitably attracts some motorsport fans when races are held at the same time as certain matches. To contain this erosion as much as possible, NASCAR introduced a playoff system in 2004, which evolved several times before becoming the current system, in place since 2014, with eliminations every three races. This format could start to show some signs of slowing, with audiences for the first two rounds being lower than last year.
Formula 1 doesn't have the problem of having to compete with the NFL, or even any other sport, when it comes to broadcasting. European Grand Prix races are held at 15 p.m. French time, which is equivalent to 9 a.m. on the country's east coast. This gives it an advantage over NASCAR, with the ability to attract more "average" fans... but with an effort required to watch the early morning races! Because while the 9 a.m. start (one of Liberty Media's intentions when moving the Grand Prix from 14 p.m. to 15 p.m.) isn't a big problem for motorsport fans on the east coast, it's equivalent to a 6 a.m. start for fans in California, for example... Succeeding in these conditions to attract almost as many people as those watching a NASCAR race can therefore be considered an achievement.
Formula 1 is especially successful in rejuvenating its audience, something that NASCAR or IndyCar are not able to achieve, by attracting a much greater audience among the 18-35 age group. With an upward trend in recent years, it is not impossible to imagine that an F1 Grand Prix could overtake a NASCAR race in terms of audience figures before the end of the season. Brazil and Qatar, broadcast just before American football matches, could offer good audience figures to F1, which will have to try to resist as best it can during the United States and Mexican Grands Prix. If it succeeds and NASCAR continues to lose ground, this could motivate a new format change...
Revamped playoffs?
Because this end of season proves, in IndyCar (which doubled its audience between the penultimate round and the final, despite a title already awarded) and in F1 (with the fight Norris-Piastres), that American fans don't necessarily need a championship that comes down to the final round to be passionate about a motorsport. NASCAR's playoff system, which eliminates four drivers every three rounds until the Phoenix finale where the last four drivers compete for the title, is attracting increasing criticism, particularly in light of recent seasons, where it wasn't necessarily the drivers with the most success over the entire year who won the title.
NASCAR is reportedly considering changes, including a final round of playoffs that would no longer involve just the final round, but the last three races on the calendar, in order to regain the consistency needed to clinch the title. The audience gains made by Formula 1 and its three American Grands Prix should, in any case, be closely scrutinized in Charlotte, North Carolina...
Best finish: 2nd (2022)