A Great Race Wasn’t Enough To Get Las Vegas Grand Prix Ratings Over The Hump

The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix turned out to be arguably the best race of the Formula 1 season. One that has been a little bit on the boring side with Red Bull winning all but one race this year, with only Abu Dhabi (where Max Verstappen has won three years running) left on the schedule.

Still, despite the copious amounts of promotion, intense coverage and scrutiny, and a race that saw nearly 100 on-track overtakes, the ratings were something of a letdown.

At least stateside.

According to ESPN — which airs a simulcast of UK broadcaster Sky Sports' telecast of all races — the Vegas Grand Prix drew 1.3 million viewers. That's the largest audience since June's Canadian Grand Prix which drew 1.76 million. The only other races that drew bigger audiences were the Miami Grand Prix with 1.79 and the Monaco Grand Prix which brought in 1.96 million.

All three of those races came when it still looked like Sergio Perez might have a chance of challenging Verstappen for a title. Although, if you'll recall his title hopes went up in smoke after a rough run through the early summer that started with a crash in qualifying at Monaco's Sainte Devote.

Considering the Las Vegas Grand Prix was once one of the most hyped and compelling races of the season, you'd think there would've been more people tuning in.

There would seem to be some reasons for this, and it will be interesting to see if things change in the years to come.

No Championship Battle Means Less Interest

The first issue is that both World Champions have been locked up by Red Bull and Max Verstappen respectively for weeks. Sure, Sergio Perez still needed to lock up P2 in the driver standings, meanwhile there are still some battles that will happen in Abu Dhabi between Mercedes and Ferrari for P2 and Aston Martin and McLaren for P4 in the constructor standings.

One position in the constructor standings is worth millions in prize money, so Abu Dhabi will be hugely important for this reason. However, good luck explaining this to someone newer to F1 and expecting them to sit through a Grand Prix in the middle of the night.

I know this first hand, having explained this to my girlfriend numerous times, but she still looks at me like an idiot for staying up until 3:30 in the morning after work to watch a race with no championship implications at the top of the standings.

Although, in fairness, that may be other reasons she was looking at me like I was an idiot...

The last thing they should do is manufacture a championship battle, so this is sometimes how things go. Surely, ESPN probably wished that this race fell during the highly contested 2021 season.

Terrible Scheduling Hurt Las Vegas Grand Prix Ratings

This was Vegas' other, bigger problem. The start times for every session were horrendous for viewers in most of the United States. The race started at 10 pm local time which meant 1 am on the East Coast.

This was done for a few reasons. F1 wanted a night race (duh) but they also wanted one that was reasonably watchable in Europe, where the bulk of the sports audience is.

I get that, but wouldn't you think for a race in the US — a market in which they're still trying to grow the sport — they'd make it easier to watch for folks in the US?

1.3 million viewers isn't a terrible number, nor is the 626,000 that tuned in to watch a qualifying session that only started at midnight locally (which I'd argue is the more impressive figure). But there's no denying that some viewers were left on the table, especially when you consider how compelling the lead-up to the race was.

Spectacle alone may not be enough to get eyes on the Las Vegas Grand Prix in the years to come. (Photo by Clive Mason - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

F1 May Need To Make Some Changes To Bring US Eyes To Future Las Vegas Grand Prix

The sheer spectacle of F1 cars flying down the Vegas Strip past Sin City landmarks would've been good enough for more than a few non-F1 fans to take a look... if it didn't start in the middle of the night. Plus, the months-long controversy surrounding the set-up and then the additional controversy surrounding the first night of practice would have put it on people's radars.

I don't know about you, but if I wasn't an F1 fan and heard about this stuff, I'd want to check it out. Then the second I saw when it started, I'd be like, "Meh, I'm good."

ESPN sure is trumpeting those numbers and seems pleased — and they should be to a degree, they're far from terrible — but there's no doubt some frustration that a race that started at 7 o'clock locally may have done wonders for the stateside ratings.

Despite everything that happened in the lead-up, I think it's hard to say that the Las Vegas Grand Prix wasn't a success. It's just that on some fronts — like TV ratings — it could've been an even bigger success if handled a little differently.

Follow on X: @Matt_Reigle