Formula E: 4% more live TV viewers worldwide, fan base grows fastest in Germany & USA

Formula E has again increased its live audience in its past 2023 season. In addition, the international fan base, which was determined via a representative survey, continued to grow. Significant increases were reported in Germany and the USA in particular. Formula E now ranks fourth in this category among all international motorsport series.

The 16 races of the 2023 Formula E World Championship attracted a total of more than 225 million live viewers in front of the screens. This was an increase of more than four per cent on the value from the previous year (216 million live viewers). In addition to China and the USA, there was particularly large growth in Brazil, India and South Africa. All three countries had hosted the electric racing series for the first time in 2023.

The reason given by the racing series for the increases is the more exciting races as a result of the introduction of the Gen3 cars. There were more frontrunners than ever before in the past season: 19 different drivers led an E-Prix for at least one lap. In addition, there was a record number of overtaking manoeuvres, with individual races often even reaching triple figures here. In Portland, a new record was set with 403 overtaking manoeuvres. Whether in this case a high score also means a best score at the same time, but we questioned it even then.

45 per cent increase: fan base in Germany grows fastest

According to the racing series, a survey of 33,000 nationally representative adults in 17 different markets, conducted in July 2023 by the British market research institute Potentia Insight, revealed particularly large growth figures for two countries in terms of their fan base: for example, the number in the USA increased by a full 30 per cent. An increase of 45 per cent was even recorded for Germany.

With 344 million fans worldwide, Formula E overtook the NASCAR series in an international comparison. Within the motorsport series, it is now in fourth place. The racing series did not disclose which series are ahead of it in the ranking. However, it can be assumed that both the Formula 1 World Championship and MotoGP currently have even larger fan numbers.

Dodds: "The entertainment value of the racing is off the scale"

"We are well on the way to establishing Formula E as the most exciting and innovative motorsport for fans, alongside being the world’s most sustainable sport," describes Jeff Dodds, CEO of Formula E. "Our teams and drivers exceeded all expectations from a year ago to take the GEN3 car and push it beyond what we all thought was possible. As a result, the entertainment value of Formula E racing is off the scale, which is attracting more fans and TV viewers than ever before."

"We are committed to building on that momentum," continued Dodds, who does not see the growth of the racing series coming to an end. "We are developing new ways of presenting our race events to grow the fanbase and audiences even faster."

The tenth Formula E season begins on 13 January 2024 in Mexico City. Before that, the traditional pre-season tests are already scheduled in Valencia in just under three weeks, from 23 to 27 October. e-Formula.news will be in Spain again this year and will report live from the test drives.