While NASCAR is looking to expand its horizons and grow its viewership to record-breaking heights, Formula 1 has slowly been setting the precedent for how a motorsport organization can amass a sizeable US audience fairly quickly.

First, it was Netflix’s Drive to Survive which pulled American fans into the dramatic world of Formula 1. Then, the expansion of the US Grand Prix to Miami and Las Vegas catapulted the sport’s on-track fan presence to the likes of major soccer leagues. But even with all of their recent success, the pinnacle of motorsport falls short of America’s homegrown racing series when we consider viewership and financial numbers!

NASCAR reigns supreme despite F1’s campaign

Despite the Las Vegas GP having its own set of flaws and mishaps that plagued the weekend, F1’s commitment to the Vegas GP for a decade shows just how lucrative the motorsport business is touted to become in the coming years. But even with over $500 million invested into F1’s return to Sin City, the most popular racing category in the United States remains NASCAR.

According to entrepreneur and investor Joe Pompliano, the bustling V8s still hold the title of fan favorites, especially when we consider the viewership numbers. He shared that, while Formula 1’s US races averaged 1.1 Million viewers throughout the 2023 season in the US, NASCAR saw almost double the number of eyes watching its races in 2023 with 2.86 million viewers on average.

He added, “That’s an increase of over 157%, the difference between Formula 1 and NASCAR in the United States.”

Formula 1 has received a lot of praise in the US — but NASCAR is still significantly bigger.

2023 Avg. US Viewership
• Formula 1: 1.1 million
• NASCAR: 2.8 million (+154%)

And now they have signed a new 7-year, $7.7 billion media rights deal.

Listen:

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 14, 2023

The viewership numbers alone didn’t impress Pompliano as much as NASCAR’s $7.7 Billion media rights deal. While Pompliano felt the reason NASCAR was able to rake in so much compared to Formula 1’s ESPN deal was not just because of the larger US fanbase. He added, “They went out and signed deals with various different broadcast partners. For example, NASCAR’s new media rights deals have agreements with four different media broadcasters, including Fox, NBC, Warner Bros Discovery and Amazon.”

Pompliano also felt NASCAR’s growth was evident through its media rights deals. While the sport was receiving 400 million dollars in media rights and sponsorships deals, the 2025 deal has placed them well above the billion-dollar figure annually, which will carry on into the 2030s. However, that’s not all the money the sport will bring in!

It’s more than just the media rights deal that brings in the big bucks for NASCAR

Speaking on the fact that NASCAR doesn’t release its financials to the public, Pompliano felt the community lacked insights into the financial side of the sport compared to F1 fans, who could easily access Liberty Media’s records since it is a publicly traded company.

Although the case isn’t the same for NASCAR, Pompliano revealed some telling financial details about the sport’s sponsorship deals. He shared, “It’s said that NASCAR makes over 400 million dollars annually in sponsorship. We’re talking about Xfinity paying 35 million dollars annually for their sponsorship deal. Companies like Snowkill paying 26 million dollars annually, and Good Year reportedly pay 25 million dollars annually as well. Coca-Cola, Busch Light and Geico, all of those companies paying 15 million dollars a year each.”

While it’s clear, the sport is making millions from sponsorship affairs outside of broadcasting rights, its social media following is no joke either. Pompliano shared, “The sport also has over 14 million followers across Social Media and they even held their first-ever street race in Downtown Chicago last year.”

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It’s safe to say that while many claim Formula 1 to be the new benchmark of American motorsport marketing, NASCAR had the crown all along!