[mouseboy33]

Before ESPN took over the rights in the US, NBC did their own coverage and had their own commentary team.

Yeah i realize that. For them to provide all the post and pre race coverage and and all they do its got a long way to go. More importantly for it to be PROFITABLE its got a long way to go. Sports are cut-throat in the US because there are just far more available. In Europe the majority of sport centres around Football and then you do have other niche sports to fill it out (rugby cricket etc) . Unlike in the USA. Were you even have college sports (like the March Madness NCAA Basketball Tournament...this year the womens game was massive) that can capture the entire countries attention. BUTS Its gotta make money.
The F1 Vegas race on the strip got some attention. But it barely registers nationally.
NCAA Womens Basket Final

The final game, between South Carolina and the University of Iowa , averaged about 18.7 million viewers and peaked at a whopping 24 million combined on ESPN and ABC, making it the first time in history that a women's final has drawn a larger TV audience than the men's, according to ESPN

F1 Vegas

Despite the overnight telecast, the highly anticipated Vegas race posted better viewership numbers than ESPN’s season-long average of 1.12 million viewers — down 9% from last season’s record 1.2 million viewers per race.