ESPN is at a pace that records audience numbers for Formula 1 for the 2025 season.
The Italian Grand Prix in Monza attracted an average of 1.2 million viewers on ESPN2 on Sunday, with Max Verstappen dominated and a 1.4m peak audience portrayed as McLaren incited team orders to negate Rand Norris’ slow pit stop. This marks the 10th event record of the season, with all but one of this year’s races also registered year-over-year.
Miami is the only event that doesn’t exceed last year’s viewer figures, but the Italian Grand Prix is currently racing in Australia, China, Monaco, Spain, Canada, Austria, the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The 2025 season is currently tracking with an average of 1.4 million viewers per race for ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, with a record average of 1.21m in 2022. In eight races, the title fight between two McLaren drivers comes to mind, but in the US, two races in Austin and Las Vegas and the Mexico City Grand Prix are still running.
Entering the final third of the season, there is no confirmation of the next owner of US broadcasting rights yet, but sources have shown that Apple TV is suitable to take over ESPN after a one-year negotiation period. The two appeared as major bidders earlier this year, following the interests of other streaming Giants’ Netflix and Amazon Prime videos.
“I think it’s pretty well documented from a negotiation perspective,” LibertyMedia CEO Derek Chang said he was appearing at this week’s Goldman Sachs Commune Technology Conference. “We are quite far away and we are pretty happy and comfortable where we are going.
“The more substantial questions are what we are looking for and what we are looking for. I think it’s a good time to not talk about the media situation and give history lessons, but as everyone knows, I’ve been dealing with media partners in the past.
“Now, this isn’t just Formula 1, but on the whole, are they media partners and even media partners? Are they sponsors too?
“In the US, we’ve been on a pretty amazing path of growth together with Austin, Miami and now Vegas. We’re very proud of how it goes, and we’re very pleased. It’s important to amplify it overall and promote engagement with our fans.”
ESPN has held rights in the US since 2018 and took over NBC Sports early in Liberty Media’s F1 ownership.
