Research shows: Formula 1 finally knows how to engage young fans
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Under the reign of Bernie Ecclestone - who owned Formula 1 for many years - the audience of the world's premier racing series was quite old. Mainly people who had followed the class for years watched the races. New growth of fans was not forthcoming.
Masterplan
One of the first things Liberty Media did after buying Formula 1 was to set up a master plan to reach a new group of fans. Not an easy task, as the right people to get started with this were lacking. In haste, Liberty set up an experienced marketing team in London.
Their first task was to find out why young people in particular ignored Formula 1. In the end, it turned out that Formula 1 lacked the charisma that a younger generation was looking for. Formula 1 then decided to embrace sim racing in the first place. This already led to a growth in the number of fans of Formula 1.
Netflix
The next good step was Drive to Survive, the Netflix series that keeps millions of people around the world glued to the screen every season. It is mainly thanks to this docu-series that Formula 1 has gained a foothold in the United States. According to Nelson Sports, writing AutoBild, Formula 1 has gained 73 million fans worldwide. Of those, 77 percent are between the ages of 16 and 35, making the average Formula One fan four years younger compared to a similar poll last year.