ESPN suffer Las Vegas GP blow as viewership figures emerge

A cropped image of Max Verstappen at the Las Vegas GP — Photo: © IMAGO

Las Vegas Grand Prix

ESPN suffer Las Vegas GP blow as viewership figures emerge

The 2024 race took place last weekend

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson

Thursday 28 November 2024 00:00 Updated: 17:35

The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix saw a significant drop in viewership in the United States, figures have revealed, despite the race's TV audience rising 10% across other markets.

This year's event was the second iteration of the modern-day night race around the streets of the iconic city, with it proving an exciting weekend of action on track.

Mercedes star George Russell was the man to win the race on Saturday night, leading a stunning Mercedes one-two home ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, but Red Bull star Max Verstappen had even greater cause for celebration in Vegas.

Following his P5 finish — one place above title rival Lando Norris in P6 — Verstappen had done enough to secure his fourth consecutive drivers' championship, putting him in an exclusive club of just six drivers to have won four or more titles.

Max Verstappen and his team celebrating in Las Vegas

George Russell won the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Las Vegas Grand Prix viewership figures

Article continues under video

Despite the fact the drivers' championship was wrapped up in the race, and the fact that start times had been brought earlier into the evening compared to 2023, it was not enough to attract more viewers than the previous year.

In fact, according to ESPN figures relaid by Blackbook Motorsport, the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix lost viewers compared to the 2023 race, and quite a few.

In many ways, the gap between Vegas and the other US races this season is a positive for the sport thanks to some eye-popping numbers elsewhere – with the Miami Grand Prix attracting a record-setting 3.1 million viewers on ESPN, while the US Grand Prix in Austin in October was watched by 1.3 million viewers in the US.

905,000 viewers tuned in to watch the Las Vegas GP in the US

With the Miami GP having been new to the calendar in 2022, that is the biggest viewership any US race has had, after figures of 2.58M in 2022 and 1.96M in 2023.

The figures on the US GP are fairly stable, too, with the race having attracted broadly similar numbers in 2021 (1.4M), 2022 (1.34M), 2023 (1.17M) and 2024 (1.3M).

The Las Vegas Grand Prix will be hoping that their viewership figures can bounce back in 2025, with the race contracted until next year and reported plans for a further extension into the future.

Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Mercedes George Russell Las Vegas Grand Prix