Austin F1 ticket sales “took off” since Verstappen stopped winning

Organisers of Austin’s United States Grand Prix say ticket sales swung upwards in recent weeks as the 2024 Formula 1 season became more competitive, and they are banking on a rare crossover of F1 and college football to draw in new fans.

Since its inception in 2012, Austin’s race at the Circuit of the Americas has grown into one of the best attended events on the calendar, with its mix of racing and concerts enjoying a post-pandemic bounce amid F1’s new-found popularity in North America.

COTA is confident of another strong attendance this year, and between hosting a sprint race and an Eminem concert it is expecting a record number of people to attend on Saturday. But the race’s promoter Bobby Epstein admitted overall sales for COTA’s 13th running of its Formula 1 race were looking soft until recently, right about until Max Verstappen and Red Bull stopped dominating the 2024 season and teams like McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari all started taking turns at the front.

“I think it would have been our weakest year in four, since the pandemic,” he explained. “Our ticket sales really took off when Max stopped winning and it got more competitive. So, I give a lot of credit to our fan base and the audience, they’re paying attention and I think it’s exciting to see the season shape up the way it is.

“We’re expecting another big crowd, probably somewhere around where it’s been the last couple years. I would think whatever the record is for a Saturday sprint race, we should shatter that record, because Eminem has outsold Taylor Swift [who performed at the 2016 edition], and we’ve increased the size of the infield lawn to get to near 100,000 for the concert. So, I think 130,000 to 150,000 people will be there for the Saturday sprint race.”

Adding to Austin’s typical grand prix weekend buzz this year is a Saturday night clash between the local Texas Longhorns and the Georgia Bulldogs, a heavyweight match-up between two top-ranked college football teams in the country that is set to draw another 100,000 fans to the DKR Texas Memorial Stadium just north of downtown Austin.

For COTA president Bobby Epstein, the game was an opportunity to tap into a brand-new subset of potential fans, selling a Friday-Sunday combo ticket that fits around football fans attending the game on Saturday.

“We have wound up on the same weekend as college football games before, which makes for a fun downtown…