In 2023 Formula 1 will race three times in the United States, this did never happen before. Formula 1 was always a category B sport in the United States. They loved and still love the more entertaining NASCAR and IndyCar series more.
Formula One is the highest class of international racing sanctioned by the FIA. Formula 1 enjoys a reputation of luxury with Rolex and Emirates Airline & Group as partners and Aston Martin, Mercedes, and Ferrari as teams. F1 cars are the fastest regulated road-course racing cars in the world. Since the 1950s, the championship has gained international popularity, especially across Europe, but it never managed to reach widespread popularity in the US.
For a country dominated by car culture, and considering the popularity of Indycar and NASCAR, it seems odd that F1 never got a foothold. It's difficult to say for sure why that was the case. It could have been the lack of American promotion of the sport, or the existing saturation of racing tournaments in the US that halted F1 from gaining popularity stateside. So… how did it gain a foothold? There are a few reasons that made F1 more popular over the past few years
Liberty Media
In 2017, US-based Liberty Media acquired a controlling stake in F1 for $4.4 billion and began pushing F1 stateside. Liberty Media is a cable television conglomerate with stakes in SiriusXM radio and the Atlanta Braves. In the past five years, Liberty has reengineered Formula One to become an American Luxury passtime.
Starting with transforming race weekends into luxurious festival-like spectacles, Liberty has successfully begun the Americanization of Formula One. Liberty's strategy for F1 can be described as the combination of sports, culture, and lifestyle to create a luxurious racing spectacle for global audiences.
Netflix's Docuseries
Netflix's documentary series, “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” is a major driver of F1's recent rise in popularity. The show brings the audience behind the scenes of the racing world and gives F1 drivers the celebrity treatment. The latest season drew in 4 million viewers in the first weekend alone. This makes it one of the most watched streaming shows in existence. According to a Morning Consult survey, 74% of US F1 fans under 45 said Drive to Survive is what got them into the sport.
According to Nielsen data, nearly 16 million people watched at least part of the Netflix docuseries. Of those 16 million, only 2.3% did not watch any of the last three race weekends of 2021 F1 programming. At the same time, 41% of Drive to Survive viewers also tuned into the first three weeks of the new F1 season in 2022.
Liberty Media developed Drive to Survive as part of a strategy to expand F1 into new markets. After its launch in 2019, F1 saw a massive increase in viewership. ESPN reported that average American viewership was up 56% in 2021 compared with the 2020 season.
ESPN
In the mid-2010s, motorsports seemed to be cooling down in the US. ESPN did not renew its NASCAR contract at the end of the 2014 season, and their NHRA and IndyCar coverage ended following the 2015 and 2018 seasons respectively. However, F1 came to ESPN in 2018 and debuted a new concept for American fans - commercial-free coverage.
John Suchenski, ESPN's director of programming and acquisitions, claimed that the lack of commercials and F1's strict two-hour format hold particular appeal for American audiences. “The product itself is very consumable,” Suchenski told the Washington Post. “The nature of how condensed F1 is, in that two-hour window, is another element we feel has helped us retain viewers longer.”
Why should you care?
Formula 1 has always been a sport for the rich. Whether fans were watching from their yacht in Monaco or the SkyPark at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, they have always been willing to spend big for a weekend of racing. Now, Miami brings a new level of spending for a US sports event, events that are not often demonstrations of wealth and class stateside. Rerace is here for you to make sure you don't miss out on the action. We bring coverage to everyone all around the world.
In 2023 another US race is being added, making the US the country with the most grands prix globally. The Las Vegas Grand Prix is set to make its Formula 1 debut in 2023 at a track designed around the Strip. It was confirmed in 2021 that the Super Bowl would take place at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium in 2024; yet, according to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, the Las Vegas GP announcement garnered quadruple the interest on social media.
Miami changed the game for motorsports in the US. Not only was the 2022 Grand Prix a display of opulence, but the crowds looked a lot more like music festival crowds than like NASCAR crowds. And that's the point, F1 is trying to appeal to a group that has a lot of money to spent.
