Weekend attendance at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix increased by around 30,000 from the inaugural race weekend figure in 2022, with 270,000 fans in attendance.
Formula 1 has announced a weekend attendance of 270,000 for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix. The second race at Miami International Autodrome welcomed more fans than in its inaugural year. 242,955 fans attended over the 2022 Miami Grand Prix weekend, meaning that the 2023 figure is up by just under 30,000.
The 2023 Miami Grand Prix has bucked the usual trend of Formula 1 races attracting lower spectator numbers in their second year on the calendar than in their first. On Friday, it was reported that all grandstands, club and suite tickets for the race had sold out.
It should be remembered that Formula 1 weekend attendance figures are calculated by adding together the number of people who attended on each day of the race weekend. Fans who attended on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are therefore counted three times in the final weekend figure.
89,427 fans attended for Free Practice on Friday, 90,298 fans attended qualifying on Saturday, while 90,766 were at Hard Rock Stadium for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Last year’s race day attendance figure was just over 85,000.
Like in 2022, the 2023 Miami Grand Prix was a star-studded affair, with tennis star Roger Federer rapper ASAP Rocky, actors Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez and stars of the Miami Dolphins NFL team just some of the famous faces who were in attendance.
Also among the attendees at Hard Rock Stadium were two of the world’s richest men. On Saturday, Jeff Bezos was spotted on the McLaren pit wall, while Elon Musk was given a tour of the Red Bull garage.
Ahead of the Grand Prix and the National Anthem, the 20 Formula 1 drivers were introduced on the grid by LL Cool J in a pre-race ceremony which is expected to make further appearances at the other American venues on the calendar. A similar driver introduction ceremony was trialled at the 2017 United States Grand Prix, with Michael Buffer introducing the drivers.
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Why did attendance increase at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix?
The 2023 Miami Grand Prix has bucked the trend of Formula 1 races having fewer spectators in their second year than in their first. When Formula 1 last launched a new race in America – the return of the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas in 2012 – weekend attendance fell from 265,000 in 2012 to 250,000 in 2013, while the race day figure also fell by 4,000.
There was a similar story at the last Formula 1 race to be added to the calendar prior to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2018, the French Grand Prix returned to the calendar for the first time in a decade. The race weekend – held at Circuit Paul Ricard – attracted 160,000 fans upon its return in 2018. That figure fell by 25,000 in the following season.
There are a number of factors which caused the increase in ticket sales for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix. The most obvious factor is the expansion of grandstand seats at the event in 2023 compared to the inaugural year. In January 2023, Miami Grand Prix organisers announced that grandstand capacity had been increased by 3,000 seats. In addition, 41 new hospitality suites and two new VIP club spaces were also added.
Reduced ticket prices prior to 2023 Miami Grand Prix
The second reason for the increased spectator numbers at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix is the reduction of many ticket prices in the weeks leading up to the race. At face value, tickets for the Miami Grand Prix ranked as the second-most expensive of the 23 races on the 2023 Formula 1 calendar.
However, large reductions were placed on a number of ticket categories in the days before the event began, leading to a late increase in interest in buying tickets. Tickets in the start/finish grandstand which were priced at close to $2,000 when first on sale were priced at under $800 in the days before the race weekend.
Two more races to come in the United States in 2023
The 2023 Miami Grand Prix is the first of three races to be staged in the United States this year. The 2023 United States Grand Prix takes place at Circuit of The Americas in October. The race attracted 440,000 fans over the weekend last year, with another record-breaking figure expected in 2023. Race organisers have recently announced The Killers and Queen + Adam Lambert as the headline performers.
The COTA race is followed by the highly-anticipated inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. Taking place on the Las Vegas Strip on a Saturday night in November, Formula 1 already has its sights set on the race becoming its new show-piece event.
Next on the agenda for Formula 1 in the 2023 season is the first triple header of the season. Imola is the destination for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on May 21, which will then be followed by the Monaco Grand Prix and the Spanish Grand Prix on the following two weekends. It’s an intense period of racing for F1 at the moment, with the latest races – the Azerbaijan and Miami Grands Prix – marking the first of 10 races in the space of 14 weekends.
Complete fantasy. I guess these fans were disguised as empty seats on Friday and Saturday. It was clearly a much lighter attendance on those days versus last year. Ask anyone that was there this year versus last year, and they all agree this was not as busy.