F1’s fan base is changing – and the ‘Netflix effect’ is only part of it

Nothing in Formula 1 is simple. Driver weight, tire pressure and wind speed are measured to the fourth or fifth decimal place to determine how cars should be set up for a given race.

But off the track, things seem incredibly simple. Since its release in 2019, “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” has been credited with everything from helping F1 break through the United States to rejuvenating the sport itself. These narratives not only oversimplify Netflix’s impact on F1, but also overshadow a broader shift in the way fans engage with the sport.

Proponents of the “Netflix effect” often cite a 2022 poll that found 28% of American adults consider themselves F1 fans, with more than half attributing “Drive to Survive.” If this were true, that would mean there would be 72 million F1 fans in the United States alone. Perhaps more incredibly, that could mean that nearly 71 million of them aren’t watching the races themselves. ESPN, which has exclusive rights to broadcast F1 in the United States, averaged 1.1 million viewers per race in 2023, fewer than IndyCar and less than a third of NASCAR’s audience.

One explanation for why the show’s popularity has not directly translated into F1 viewing figures is that races are not always held during the day in North America. This argument proves slightly irrelevant, however, when you consider that only 2 million Americans watched the 2023 Miami Grand Prix. The reality is that the impact of the series on the viewing figures of the F1 has been less than the headlines suggest. A Nielsen analysis of the crossover of “Drive to Survive” with the races themselves shows that Netflix added approximately 360,000 new viewers to the Miami Grand Prix in 2021.

But racial numbers are a poor measure of the Netflix effect. The real impact of the series was not in convincing 360,000 Americans to watch the races, but rather in making the 71 million Americans who don’t, fans of F1.

“There’s only one way to be an F1 fan anymore,” F1 commentator and content creator Toni Cowan-Brown told CNBC. “Drive-to-Survive sparked this interest in F1 during lockdown, which people then took online, creating this community of content creators who could show people a whole new side of the sport,” he said. -she declared.

Influencers such as Cowan-Brown began creating content to interest this new generation of F1 fans, while creative agencies such as Parc Fermé were set up to show people “the human stories and lifestyle of the sport automobile”.

Today, F1 fans are estimated to be around 40% female, up from just 8% in 2017, and are significantly more culturally diverse. “Things like Netflix have been incredible,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown told CNBC. “It’s attracted (a female audience), a younger audience and a North American audience, and I feel like we’re just getting started.”

But while it may have been Netflix that helped introduce F1 to this new, diverse audience, it was the content creators who took the wheel. A study published by Buzz Radar in late 2023 found that people were now much more likely to discover F1 through social media (22%) or family (21%) than through ‘Drive to Survive’ (14%).

“In particular, algorithmic recommendations on YouTube attract audiences by broadcasting team radio clips, race highlights, and historical documentaries,” the study explains.

F1 owner Liberty Media has contributed to this growth by relaxing notoriously strict licensing rules that once prevented drivers from posting photos of the paddock on their own social media channels. This has allowed content creators like Cowan-Brown to bring Netflix’s diverse audience even closer to sports.

The ability to engage this audience makes content creators extremely valuable. “Content creators have the ability to help brands tap into F1-adjacent topics,” said TJ Adeshola, operating partner at Arctos Partners, a private equity firm that has taken a stake in Aston Martin Racing l ‘last year.

“So let’s say you have a mom blogger or a food critic who has a very strong, engaged audience, how can I create that content adjacency that’s going to attract that audience to become fans of F1 and Aston Martin.”

F1 teams have become content creators in their own right. “McLaren Unboxed,” a YouTube series that followed Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri during race weekends, regularly garnered more than 300,000 views on the platform before its hiatus this year (apparently due to its overlap with “Drive- to-Survive”).

Finding new ways to engage fans across different social platforms will be crucial to the growth of the sport in global markets. While significant, Netflix’s reach is concentrated in a handful of countries, with 37% of new “Drive to Survive” fans coming from the United States, 12% from the United Kingdom and 9% from Australia, according to Buzz Radar. new territories, F1 aligns its social media strategy with its global calendar. In the run-up to the Chinese Grand Prix earlier this month, F1 launched on BiliBili and Kuaishou, the Chinese equivalents of YouTube and Instagram. “We have several influencers on site on race day, creating content to increase the visibility of our channels in the market,” the F1 press team told CNBC.

There is, however, a larger narrative to contend with. The speed at which F1 has grown its online audience has led many to wrongly diagnose a 46% year-on-year drop in new followers, despite the sport reaching its ‘peak’ in 2023 “When you see rocket growth, you will inevitably see a decline at some point,” Adeshola explained. “But you are left with deeper, more sustained engagement on your digital channels.”

Keeping these new audiences engaged without alienating F1 traditionalists will be one of the sport’s biggest challenges over the next decade. If he succeeds, he will not only have Netflix to thank, but also his new stars on social networks.