So, here’s a funny thing—I spent my entire Sunday afternoon glued to the TV, popcorn in hand, for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one. ESPN just spilled the beans on Tuesday, saying they snagged the second-biggest U.S. audience for the race. Like, ever. Which is just wild to me considering I thought I was the only one into this rubber-burning spectacle.
Anyway, so the race got bumped to ESPN from ESPN2, right? That meant 1.5 million eyeballs were fixated on it, and over a third of those belonged to the 18-49 age group (which, let’s be real, encompasses most of us who alternate between nostalgia and mid-life crises). There was this moment where it peaked to 1.7 million viewers. Maybe everyone just sensed it was getting somehow more exciting? I dunno. Last year’s numbers, though? Pfft, like 920,000. That race happened on a Saturday that time, owing to Ramadan making a timely appearance the day after. I guess Sunday races just hit differently.
Oh, and get this. The numbers for the Jeddah race are pretty much part of a bigger pattern. It’s like ESPN struck some magical viewership gold with these races. This season, all five races so far did better than last year. The Australian and Chinese Grands Prix, for instance, had record-breaking audiences too. China’s race was at this ungodly hour—3AM ET, if you can believe it—and still saw a leap by 32%, way beyond the previous record. Australia’s kickoff race? Around 541,000 more people tuned in compared to the last one. I mean, who knew F1 was having such a moment?
Looking ahead, the Miami Grand Prix is just around the corner on May 4, saving our collective sanity with a 4PM ET time slot. Remember last year? The Hard Rock stadium was jam-packed with F1 enthusiasts, with a record live TV audience of 3.1 million. Freakin’ impressive. Plus, there was that Sprint race on the Saturday that pulled in an average of 946,000 viewers. This year, they’re doing another Sprint on May 3 at noon, local time. So, mark your calendars—I know I will.
Seriously though, my little obsession with F1 feels validated with all these stats. Roll on, Miami!
