NFL clashes less of a concern for U.S. F1 races now, says COTA's Epstein

Football clashes less of a concern for US races now - EpsteinCircuit of the Americas chairman Bobby Epstein says Formula 1 does not have to be as worried about going up against college football and NFL games in the United Sates as it might have in the past.

F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali said one of the reasons an extra U.S. race is not being considered as a back-up for the final two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi is because F1 should avoid going up against the NFL. However, United States Grand Prix promoter Epstein says the football schedule is less of a factor than it used to be.

“That was the concern at the beginning,” Epstein said. “But I don't know if his concern is more about the in-person attendance, or the TV competition that they find American viewers going up at three o’clock on a Sunday afternoon in November against the NFL – he would know that audience better than I would.

“But we know that the fans that come, whether they are more NFL or college football fans, for that matter – because Saturday is going to be perhaps our biggest day, because you have the Post Malone concert that night – but we used to have to put a lot of TVs around and we made sure every bar had TVs in it so that people could follow the NFL game and still come out here.

"Now, because of [mobile phones], there’s other ways to follow (NFL matches). I think we've overcome that hurdle, but people still have ways to access the football games.

“Maybe the NFL, someone's asking soon – is the NFL worried about going up against the US Grand Prix on Sunday?”

Epstein confirmed there were never any discussions with F1 about COTA being used as a stand-in venue if required, despite Las Vegas hosting the round prior to the two races in the Gulf, and reiterated his reservations about detracting from the USGP by having two events within two months of each other at the same venue.

“I wouldn't want to see our track host an F1 race and not have the massive crowds in the city," he said. "I think it's part of what makes it so special. And I don't think logistically, you can put that together in such a short back to back with our U.S. Grand Prix.

“I wouldn't want people to have to choose between the weekends and I'm very happy with our mega weekend as it is. And that's the way it should always be. I don't want it to be less than that.

“But I would say, if it helped F1, we'd be here to do that. And we want to do whatever we can to make them a success and understand that sometimes – just as we saw during COVID – circumstances dictate you do things a little differently than you otherwise think ideal.”