- All-Star Race records average of 2.57m viewers on FS1
- F1 drops to 861k viewers on ESPN2
- IndyCar gets highest viewership of season for Indy 500 qualifying
Nascar maintained steady viewership on FS1 at last weekend’s All-Star Race, while Formula One and IndyCar experienced contrasting fortunes.
Taking place at the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway, Nascar’s All-Star Race recorded an average viewership of 2.57 million viewers on FS1.
This represents a 17 per cent year-over-year increase, with the 2023 race recording 2.2 million viewers. It was also an increase on the 2.48 million viewers that watched the 2022 race held in Texas.
The 2024 figure falls in line with the viewership that Nascar is seeing on FS1 this season, which has been in the region of 2.1 million to 2.6 million for six races. No race on the main Fox channel has dropped below an average of 3.3 million so far this year.
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After seeing record viewership for the Miami Grand Prix, Formula One will be disappointed to see the average audience drop below one million. 861,000 viewers watched Max Verstappen pip Lando Norris to victory at Imola, representing a 23 per cent decrease compared to the last applicable race at Imola in 2022.
The 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was cancelled due to flooding, but the year prior saw 1.12 million viewers tune in, although that was on the main ESPN channel instead of ESPN2 in 2024. Thanks to the race in Miami, though, Formula One is currently averaging 1.09 million viewers in 2024 despite only reaching seven figures twice this year.
Impressively, IndyCar recorded its highest viewership of the season so far with qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, highlighting the importance of this race not just for its history but its contribution to the series' visibility.
An average of 1.15 million on NBC watched Scott McLaughlin set a blistering four-lap average for pole position at this weekend's Indy 500, the first time that IndyCar has breached the one million barrier this season. It was also a 35 per cent increase on last year's audience of 842,000.
In the races, the series is only averaging 747,200 viewers, a poor return considering the strides that IndyCar has made in recent years.
Elsewhere, Sky Sports has announced that this weekend's Indy 500 will be available free-to-air (FTA) in the UK on its YouTube channel.
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