Format Change - Big Increase in Viewers, Especially on Saturdays
Categories: MotoGP
The new MotoGP format is working: Dan Rossomondo reports encouraging viewer numbers and especially in front of the TV screens.
In the first year after the Valentino Rossi era, and in view of the difficult economic situation in some countries, the MotoGP World Championship recorded significant declines in viewers.
Among other things, those responsible tried to counteract this with the new format including a MotoGP sprint on Saturday.
After the first five race weekends of 2023, the interim results of World Championship promoter Dorna Sports are encouraging. The most important markets are showing enormous growth, it has now been announced.
TV viewership has increased by a whopping 27 percent, Saturday’s viewership alone being up an estimated 51 percent.
However, that’s not all. According to Dorna, viewer numbers for the Sunday race rose by almost a fifth in the most important markets as well, showing that the new format not only had an impact on Saturday but also increased interest and viewership for the sport as a whole.
In addition to the TV figures, the development on the grandstands is positive too. The figures available show an average increase of 40 percent over the first five race weekends.
The French Grand Prix, already one of the best-attended events in 2022, recently even broke the spectator record with a total of 278,805 fans at the track across the weekend.
Commenting on the figures, Dan Rossomondo, Dorna’s new Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We are very pleased to announce the increase in attendance for the first part of the season.”
“The new format and the introduction of the Tissot Sprint aimed to deliver a better show across the board and the early results are encouraging. These figures are a fantastic foundation on which to build further.”
