F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Sets Viewership Record Despite Novel Free Hack

• Gambling News
• 26 November 2025

In terms of viewership, the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix outperformed the previous two. The race last Saturday attracted an average of 1.5 million viewers, exceeding the record of 1.3 million set by the first race in 2023, according to Nielsen data made public by ESPN. This happened in spite of a brand-new free hack that was made public on social media.

The key was scheduling. Compared to the 2024 event, which attracted just 905,000 viewers, this year's race started over two hours earlier at 8 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET. While still serving foreign markets, the change increased accessibility for US audiences. The payback was instantaneous: between 8:45 and 9 p.m. PT, viewing reached a peak of 1.8 million.

However, as of Wednesday morning, F1 officials had not provided an official audience count, so it is still unclear whether attendance saw a comparable surge. With 315K people packing the stands in 2023 and 15K fewer last year, attendance had been declining in tandem with viewing.

ESPN's eight-year stint of covering Formula One will come to an end with this Las Vegas Grand Prix. Formula 1 will switch to a five-year exclusive US streaming agreement with Apple TV starting in 2026. All races, qualifying sessions, and practices will be broadcast.

Benefits of Creativity

Despite a clever new pattern of race viewership, F1 managed to reach the audience milestone. Many fans who don't have memberships to premium networks like ESPN or Sky Sports use public street cams as a workaround.

The Nevada Department of Transportation's traffic cameras provided free access to the event because the Las Vegas circuit is located on public streets. These feeds, which are accessible online around-the-clock, cover a variety of topics.

Fans' videos, such as this one from X user @Rebootjayx, show how it's done. The editing was evidently done after the fact, and the disadvantages were clear: there was no commentary, no instant replays, no pit footage, and the resolution was so low that it was frequently impossible to recognize cars.

The uncut video does, however, offer a free, if flawed, glimpse into an event that would otherwise be protected by copyright.