- First Azerbaijan GP to average over 1m viewers on ESPN
- Nascar records lowest viewership figure of the season as just 1.29m watch New Hampshire playoff race
Formula One averaged 1.1 million viewers for last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix on ESPN in the US, marking the 11th event record of the 2025 season for the Disney-owned broadcaster.
It was also the first time the race has ever drawn more than one million US viewers. The Grand Prix began at 7am ET, making live viewing particularly challenging for audiences further west, which underscores the significance of this result.
The audience represented a 27.2 per cent year-over-year (YoY) increase, the largest gain for ESPN since the Belgian Grand Prix, which was up 27.3 per cent on 2024.
Last year, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was one of nine races to fall short of the one-million mark on ESPN, but in 2025 that has happened only twice. Formula One remains firmly on course for its strongest season for viewership in the US.
Through 17 races, the series is averaging 1.33 million viewers, ahead of its previous benchmark of 1.18 million at the same stage in 2024. Last season ultimately concluded with an average of 1.13 million.
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Meanwhile, Nascar’s latest playoff race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend averaged 1.29 million viewers on USA Network – the series’ lowest audience of the season. It also marked the first time in Nascar’s TV history that four consecutive races have drawn fewer than two million viewers.
New Hampshire returned to the playoff schedule for the first time since 2017. Airing on NBCSN, it averaged 1.99 million viewers, which was the worst-performing race of that season for viewership.
Last year, Kansas held the first race of the ‘Round of 12’ phase of the playoffs and averaged two million viewers. That means New Hampshire’s 2024 return represents a 36 per cent drop compared with the equivalent race slot a year ago.
After four rounds, this season’s playoffs are averaging 1.56 million viewers, well below recent years at the same stage.
Notably, this is also the closest that Formula One and Nascar’s US viewership figures have been all season as just 190,000 viewers split the two series.
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