I knew the numbers over in the USA for the Malaysian Grand Prix were excellent when I posted them on Twitter last night, but I didn’t realise just how good they were.
Today, NBC Sports have issued a press release stating that the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix recorded the highest rating for an overnight race in the USA on cable in nearly 18 years! I find that frankly astonishing considering the trend for Formula 1 in general appears to be heading downwards across the world. From the press release:
Malaysian Grand Prix in the USA
2013 – 121k
2014 – 248k
2015 – 384k
Where the growth stops, I don’t know, but F1 is definitely tapping into a new market in America, which can only be a positive for the sport.
I really believe that this is down to 2 things, Swales and Buxton.
They have completely change the way F1 is presented to America, with a great mix of UK and US style coverage and a passion, knowledge and enthusiasm Sky could only dream of.