Formula One’s American Takeover: Will Brands Race Into F1 or Hit the Brakes? | In the Game

Summary

Behind the Numbers: an EMARKETER Podcast

Episode: Formula One’s American Takeover: Will Brands Race Into F1 or Hit the Brakes? | In the Game

Date: March 17, 2026
Host: Marcus (A)
Guests: Blake Droesch (B), Ross Benish (C)

---

Episode Overview

This episode of In the Game, EMARKETER’s sports marketing podcast, delves into the soaring popularity of Formula One (F1) in America. Host Marcus is joined by senior analysts Blake Droesch and Ross Benish to examine F1’s rapid growth stateside, fueled in part by Netflix’s Drive to Survive, celebrity intrigue, and the expansion of US-based races. The group debates whether this momentum is sustainable or simply part of a fleeting hype cycle, and explores what brands and marketers should know as F1 races forward in the US sports landscape.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

F1’s Explosive Growth in the US

• Rising Viewership: ESPN’s coverage of F1 in 2025 averaged 1.3 million viewers per race—up 142% since 2018 ([01:47]).
• The Netflix Effect: The docuseries Drive to Survive (launched in 2019) is credited with doubling US viewership within three years ([03:14]).
• Storytelling vs. Action: Unlike other sports, F1’s US breakthrough is driven by narrative—the personalities and rivalries—not just competition.
  • Notable quote:

    "I think it’s probably 90 to 95% [because of] ‘Drive to Survive’... American audiences had no exposure to the drivers or the stories of the teams prior to the launch." (Blake, [03:14])

• Celebrity Drivers: Lewis Hamilton’s status as a sporting icon—and his high-profile dating life—has attracted attention from beyond traditional motor sport fans ([07:24]).

“Shoulder Content” and Celebrity Culture

• F1-themed content outside live races (movies, docuseries) broadens the sport’s appeal ([07:24]).
• The presence of celebrities at F1 events and in coverage further elevates the sport’s “hype” factor ([08:10]).

US-Based Races: A Strategic Play

• Adding events in Miami and Las Vegas (in addition to Austin) has doubled American viewership for those races; Miami draws as many as 3.1 million viewers ([09:13]).
  • Witty aside:

    "Well, it helps being awake!" (Ross, [09:13])—referencing time zones.

The Plateau: Growth Slows After 2022

• Viewership grew quickly between 2019 and 2022, but has since plateaued, with some years even seeing dips before reaching a new high in 2025 ([09:23]).

Debating F1’s Long-Term Prospects in the US

• Ross’s Argument (Lasting Breakthrough):

  • Despite slowing, numbers remain at record highs.
  • Motorsports usually struggle for national reach in the US—F1’s numbers are impressive given this context ([10:43]).
  • Notable quote:

    "Even though growth may have slowed down, it hasn’t reversed itself. It’s still at record levels in the US... F1, I think, is doing as well as reasonably can be expected for an international thing transported to the US." (Ross, [10:43])

  • Enhanced viewing experience (Apple TV+, customization, notifications) increases engagement and marketer opportunity ([11:21]).
  • Collaborations (e.g., Netflix’s Drive to Survive season airing on both Netflix and Apple TV+) promise continued momentum ([13:06]).

• Blake’s Argument (Fleeting Hype):

  • Future growth will be hard without new “narrative vehicles” like Drive to Survive ([14:04]).
  • Timing of races (often mornings) and competition from dominant US sports (NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCARR) limits further growth ([15:42]).
  • Depth of engagement needed:

    "To really enjoy the entirety of an F1 race, you have to be pretty up on all of the technical dynamics... That’s a curve that’s going to be pretty difficult for a fair weather fan." (Blake, [15:41])

  • No major US driver for fans to root for; difficult to cultivate loyalty (“All the F1 drivers are kind of European Nepo-babies… it’s hard to get behind them.” — Blake, [18:35]).

Parallels to Other Sports

• Absence of an American star is a “ceiling” for US fandom, echoing how Yao Ming boosted NBA popularity in China ([21:17]).
• Formula One’s structure (high financial barriers, family connections) makes American-style “underdog” narratives rare ([19:03]).

Marketing and Sponsorship Landscape

• F1 has evolved from tobacco sponsors in the ’60s–’00s to premium brands and luxury experiences ([26:06]).
• Sponsorships now focus on exclusive hospitality, high-end branding, and affluent audiences.
• Viewing F1 as a “premium global marketing platform” is a deliberate shift, opening opportunities for brands targeting an international (not just US) audience ([23:21]).

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the U.S. Growth Spike:
  • “People may barely watch the race, but they do want to know what Lewis Hamilton had for dinner… it’s very true.” (Marcus quoting Derek Chang, Liberty Media CEO, [06:04])
• Technical Accessibility and Attention Spans:
  • “Young people especially don’t have the attention to sit and watch a two-hour race. And there are no commercial breaks in between, obviously, because it’s a race...” (Marcus, [16:42])
• Barriers to Entry for Drivers:
  • “Not a sport where you can have that sort of all-American, ‘came from nothing, worked his way up’ story you see in the NBA… doesn't really exist in F1 because of just how high the barrier to entry is.” (Blake, [19:03])
• Premium Audience Focus:
  • “I would be skeptical around really trying to scale the US audience and instead focus on the value of the existing US audience… they're already really valuable.” (Blake, [23:21])
• Strategic Growth:
  • “If you could insert some US drivers in here, even if they are Nepo babies in a way, maybe you can find an heir to some sort of fortune who wants to build a team and get into F1, it generates some interest.” (Ross, [21:17])

---

Important Timestamps

• 00:00-01:31 — Introductions and viewership stats
• 03:14 — F1’s growth attributed to Drive to Survive
• 06:04 — Importance of driver celebrity and US franchise marketing
• 09:13 — Miami and Las Vegas events spike US viewership
• 10:43 — Debate: Is F1 breaking through or just peaking?
• 11:21–12:22 — Apple TV and enhanced audience engagement
• 14:04 — The hype cycle argument
• 15:41 — Barriers to deeper engagement and US sports competition
• 18:35–19:03 — American driver shortage and F1’s “Nepo babies” issue
• 21:17 — Lessons from NBA’s international strategy
• 23:21 — Brands should focus on F1’s niche, affluent audience
• 26:06 — History and current state of F1 sponsorship and advertising

---

Summary & Takeaways for Marketers

• F1’s US Expansion is Real, but Has Limits: Audience growth has plateaued, but it remains historically strong for an international sport in a crowded US market.
• Engagement over Reach: The American audience is niche but engaged and affluent—ideal for premium, global advertisers.
• Content Innovation is Key: “Shoulder content” (docuseries, celebrity tie-ins, immersive streaming experiences) has been F1’s most effective engine for US growth.
• Brand Opportunities Abound: F1 offers brands a unique way to reach global consumers and tap into year-round, high-profile events backed by intense audience loyalty—especially among affluent fans.
• The Missing Piece: Without a star US driver or culturally resonant narrative, F1’s US appeal may always be capped—but for now, it’s a premium property worth watching.

---

For brands and marketers looking to engage with F1’s US rise, the lesson is clear: Tap into the storytelling, the spectacle, and the affluence of the audience—whether or not mainstream breakthrough ever fully arrives.

Transcript

[A]

In today's economy, every ad dollar counts. That's why performance marketers are turning to rocked ads to reach 1.1 billion unique customers globally in the transaction moment when they're completing a purchase online. You only pay when customers engage. That's it. That's the only time. Learn [e-mail] eMarketer that's R-O-K-T.com eMarketer. Welcome everyone to in the Game, a new marketing sports marketing podcast made possible by Rokt. This is a conversation about America's new and developing relationship with F1, Formula One, and what Audi and Cadillac's entrance into the competition could do for their brands and for the sport at large, and how advertisers can get involved. Hello folks, I'm Marcus and today I'm alongside two senior analysts, both of them one living in New York City. Blake Droesch, welcome to the show.

[B]

Hey Marcus, I didn't even know we had a new podcast, so I'm happy to be here.

[A]

Thank you. Thank you.

[B]

This is a nice way to find out.

[A]

Blake thought it was just a meeting. Surprise. You're live and also living up in Westchester as Ross Benish.

[C]

Hey Marcus, I'm glad to appear on 100% of the episode so far.

[A]

Ross here for his second installment and everyone's second installment in the game. Thank you guys for being here. Okay, so the new 2026 Formula One season is off to the races. Get it?

[C]

I got it.

[A]

This final season, 2025 on ESPN delivered a viewership record, writes Colin Soleio. He explains the ESPN announced that F1 averaged 1.3 million viewers across 24 races. So per race, ESPN says F1 has seen a 142% viewership increase since 2018. So the sport is getting more and more popular with every year. Its first year with the network was 2018, and it says it kind of points to the success of Netflix's docu series, Formula 1 Drive to Survive, that was released in 2019. And that highlights the kind of personal drama, the rivalries, the behind the scenes narratives from the sport following the show's release from 2019 to 2022, the average number over those three years, the average number of Americans tuning in to F1 races doubled. So from 600,000 people a race in the States to 1.2 million. And so I want to start there with that. The kind of high growth period of Formula one in America before that is relatively flat. And we'll talk about the growth since then as well because it hasn't been as impressive as that 2019-2022 block. Blake, I'll start with you. What do you think has been some of the biggest drivers. Nothing. Okay. Of Formula One's recent growth in the

[B]

US I'm just going to pretend that.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Didn't have to.

[B]

Let's move past that.

[A]

That's fair.

[B]

I think it, you know, it's probably 90 to 95% drive to survive because, you know, look, sports has appeal for two reasons. One, there's just the raw excitement of the competition, and then the second is the story. Right. So the character arc of the people that you're watching compete. And you know, we just got through the Winter Olympics. And what fuels those broadcasts, Right. It's the stories of the athletes. The American audience had no exposure to the drivers or the stories of the teams prior to the launch of the docu series in the US and that, I think, really gave it some life. And it really, I think, incentivized the audience that like the show, like the storyline, and also learned about, you know, how the sport operates to tune into the actual events themselves. I think it had a massive impact.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of that story, as you're saying, that storytelling versus traditional sports coverage, differentiator and people, you know, connecting a lot more with the individuals, the personalities, the drivers, the mini celebrities that they are. That's a huge part of it. So, okay, 95. And then. And then the rest of it is just. What's the last little slither?

[B]

Lewis Hamilton probably, I mean, like, you have a guy who went on, you know, basically a sport defining run, much like, you know, probably American audiences saw with Tiger woods or Michael Jordan over the, you know, last couple of decades. And when you have a fit, who is that transformational in terms of just setting records and, you know, really raising the sport to new heights, I think that's. That's bound to bring more appeal to it. I think the, the sort of, the shame, in a sense is that American audiences didn't really catch on to what Hamilton was doing until that documentary came out. I think that that was actually a huge miss for the F1 to not sort of recognize this guy's appeal in the way that the PGA did with Tiger woods to try and bring it to a larger audience. But we can get into that later. But I still think that, you know, just the, you know, the run that Lewis Hamilton had in the late 2000 teens definitely brought some more international hype to the sport for sure.

[A]

Yeah. Seven time champion. For folks who are new to F1, that ties. He's tied for first for the most championships of all time. Schumacher being the other person who has seven. And I was speaking to Stuart who runs the team about this. The best drivers are bigger brands than the teams. In a lot of respects, Verstappen's kind of taken that mantle now. Four time Dutch champion Max Verstappen. But Lewis Hamilton, I went and looked at his Instagram followers. He has 42 million. That's 10 million more than one of the most storied franchises in the sport. His own team, Ferrari. And by comparison, if you look at US sports, Luka Doncic, who's one of the five best, most recognizable faces of the league in the NBA. 10 million Instagram followers. The team he plays for, the Lakers, one of the most storied franchises in the sport. 25. So double over, double what he has. So these drivers really are. And there was a really great quote from Derek Chang. Liberty Media. Liberty Media owns the F1. They bought them in 2017. It's an American media company. Chief executive Derek Chang said people may barely watch the race, but they do want to know what Lewis Hamilton had for dinner. To think is very true. Ross, where do you see most of this growth coming from, from that period specifically?

[C]

Well, yeah, so a lot of it is the, like the shoulder content. You mentioned the series. Blake mentioned the series is also the more recent movie. So there's been a lot of programming that isn't the actual live races, but that is F1 themed. That has helped popularize it and bring more people in. And then with Lewis Hamilton, it's not just that he's so good at racing. He's such a celebrity and like the, the number of celebrities that he's dated has also kept F1 in the, you know, general populace. Like, I think a lot of people are probably aware of it more so now just because like his, his romances, people who aren't necessarily sports fans get exposed to it that way.

[A]

Mm. Yeah. Dating Nicole Scherzinger, singer for the Pussycat Dolls. And a lot of other people. There's a lot of, yeah. Celebrity partners who are featured during the race. They're in the pits. And so it does. And there's a lot of celebrities at the events as well. Different folks who hang out with the. In the pit lane and kind of cheer them on from their respective pit lanes or sometimes luxury suites. I think another, you mentioned the F1 movie Apple has as well. So that, that Brad Pitt in that. That was also a big driver saying, I think that's a Good one. Helping some of those casual fans get into the sport. I think the other part of this is the US Races expansion. So they had Austin, but they added in recent years, Miami and Las Vegas and US Races get double the number of American viewers as the other international races. Miami actually gets 3.1 million. As I said before, the normal numbers are closer to 1.2.

[C]

Well, it helps being awake.

[A]

Yes, exactly.

[C]

If you're six times away, people are like, hey, I'm working or I'm sleeping, depending on where they live.

[A]

I watched the Australian Grand Prix, the first one of the year. It just, just happened at 10pm on Saturday because it was starting at lunchtime in Australia on the Sunday. So it does definitely have to sync it up. Very, very international sport. So let's move to that's 2019 to kind of 2022. If you look at the numbers from then, ESPN shows that their figures from 2022 to 2025, it went from 1.2 to 1.3 million. So it did go up, but not nearly by as much. And actually 2023 and 2024, the two in between years dipped a little bit. So it goes 2022, 1.2, 1.1, 1.1, 1.3. So it is a record, record year they had last year in terms of average viewership of a race in the U.S. but I asked Ross and Blake to take two different angles here, two different sides of the debate. And we're going to start with Ross. He's going to be arguing that Formula One is breaking through in the U.S. blake's going to argue that, no, it's just in kind of a temporary hype cycle because of things like drive to survive. But Ross, why, why, if you were the lawyer for the case of is breaking through in America, what do you think you'll be presenting to the court?

[C]

Well, so even though growth may have slowed down, it hasn't reversed itself. It's still at record levels in the US which may be coming from a small base, but it isn't retreating. And in general, motorsports in the US have had trouble reaching like a national audience. Like NASCAR is very southern and very popular there, but not so much like in northern states. Monster Jam, motocross, things like that are a little niche from a TV advertiser perspective. But, you know, F1, I think is doing as well as reasonably can be expected for an international thing Transported to the U.S.

[A]

yeah, it's breaking a bunch of records. Records. ESPN said 16 of the 24 races. So race 24 times throughout the year. 16 of them in 2025 set event viewership records in the U.S. and with close to. If you totaled up all the people who watched a single race throughout the year, 30 million Americans watched at least one race. And those races as well, Ross, they're becoming even more engaging. I was speaking to Stuart who runs the team about this and he was making this point because he has an iPhone and he also has Apple TV plus. And he was saying that it's a more engaging experience because Apple TV lets viewers switch between. I think it's close to 30 different live feeds. You get the main broadcast, the driver on board cameras, the pit lane, etc, etc, and it gives marketers more opportunity to capture the attention of folks. Also offers notifications when the race starts, key moments overtake, safety cars, things like that. So it does seem like it's a more becoming a more engaging viewership experience.

[C]

Apple TV doesn't do a lot of live sports, but when they do, their broadcasting quality is excellent. Like, I watched some Friday night baseball last year and it's better than espn. Like the, the level of like, you know, crispness on the image that's so high def, but also the displays that they have and the statistics they bring. Like, I haven't actually watched F1 on there, but just seeing how they've done baseball and also soccer, I think they're ahead of most of the TV networks, even though, you know, they aren't reaching most US homes.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, I had some trouble signing up to Apple TV plus, but it's

[C]

not an easy user experience.

[A]

No, I didn't find that either. But once I did sign up, it was. The coverage was great, especially if you have an Android. Yes, yes, exactly right. Exactly right. And then I think another big part of this as well. We're talking about Apple TV and what they're able to do. They're able to inject into the sport. They've got a partnership this year and so Apple TV plus is not one of the most popular streaming services, but Netflix is, and they're collaborating with Netflix on coverage this year. So Netflix's drive To Survive Season 8 will be on both platforms. Netflix and Apple TV Plus. And Apple TV plus, which has the rights to the F1, will give Netflix the Canadian Grand Prix in May and it'll be available available on both platforms. So I think that could also give it a bit of a lift. Blake, why do you say. Why would. I mean, I've asked you to pick a case. So maybe not you personally, but as the lawyer for the Hype Cycle Case, why do you think that this actually is going to kind of fizzle out eventually?

[B]

Yeah, I think it's really because I don't think growth will. I don't think that the viewership will drop drastically. I think that the fans that they've accumulated through Drive to Survive will be sticky to a degree in the U.S. i think that they're going to have a hard time continuing to grow the audience without that vehicle. I don't necessarily think that the Apple partnership is necessarily going to be this Trojan horse that maybe F1 hopes it will be to getting onto American screens. I think to Ross's point, Apple TV has great broadcast quality, but it doesn't have the subscription size, the subscription base that would be really necessary, I think to really have it be the sole promoter of the. Of the events. I also think it's something that Ross alluded to before is that, you know, the timing of these events is just not really conducive to growing an American audience. A lot of these, A lot of these races take place early Sunday morning or sort of mid morning Sundays. And I think that's just not really a great time for an American audience, particularly when, you know, most of the year are at least 20 to 25 weeks out of the year. Sundays are really dedicated to American football.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I think it's going to be really hard to compete with that. I also think that F1 is this interesting sport where it has this sort of adoption curve where it's very exciting to watch a few clips of a race, particularly the end of the race. And I think that Drive to Survive had done a great job of really focusing in on that excitement. But to really enjoy the entirety of an F1 race, you have to be pretty up on all of the technical dynamics of the racing and the cars themselves. And that's a curve that I think it's going to be pretty. It's going to be pretty difficult for a fair weather fan to really get brought up to the speed to the point where they're watching a consistently.

[A]

Yeah, I think you touched on two very good points there, which is one in particular. One the competition from the other sports, popular US Sports is just so overwhelming. And the season goes from March through to.

[B]

It's a long season. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And you're hitting a lot. Basically all of the major U.S. sports. You've got NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS now and NASCAR as well. NASCAR's huge. It's about 2.5 million per race, so double what the F1 is getting. And so it's that's a formidable competitor in terms of motorsports competition. And. But then the second thing you mentioned there is young people especially don't have the attention to sit and watch a two hour race. And there are no commercials breaks in between obviously, because it's a race, even though there are kind of ads everywhere. And so. And they are. There's a fair amount of technical terms as well. So maybe, I mean fans can engage with it in different ways and that's what they're trying to push more kind of social media, short clips, behind the scenes footage. But TV audiences I was reading Liberty Media said TV audiences for the races are down from 2019 to 2024. Liberty Media said cumulative views this is around the world went from 1.9 billion to 1.6. So I think that they are struggling to get people to sit and watch the entire race. Also you need a good US Driver to root for. I mean that's part of the problem. If there were no British drivers, I think I'd struggle to get into the sport. You have the US Teams, you have Haas and you now have Cadillac who just got into the sport. So General Motors joined the F1 this season under the Cadillac brands. They're coming in as the 11th racing team. But you don't have a good. You had Logan Sargent, he raced from 2023 to 2024, I think it was with Williams, but he finished 10th. His best finish was 10th, which gets you one point. So I think he had one point for the season. Mario Andretti, people might be more familiar with that name. He won the Formula One. He's an American, won in 1978. So I think part of this also is does America have a driver to get behind?

[B]

Yeah, I think that's like a lot of the F1 drivers are kind of just like European Nepo Bab. And it's hard to get behind them, I think, unless it's. Unless there's a certain, you know, there's a certain audience for that. But then when you sort of dig into the sport and realize that like half of these guys that are like great F1 drivers come from like a long lineage of people who have been in the sport, brought up around the

[A]

sport or have tons of money.

[B]

Or have tons of money, right. And just buy these teams and then they have their son, you know, become the driver. This is not a sport where you can have that sort of all American, you know, came from nothing, worked his way up and like it just that type of ladder that you could see in like the NBA for example does not really exist in F1 because of just how high the barrier to entry is in the sport.

[A]

Outside is a great point. Outside of Lewis Hamilton, I think he's the only one who like karting as a kid, which is why they should have jumped on that bandwagon a long, long time ago because he was a true kind of rags to riches story.

[B]

Yeah, for sure.

[A]

Yeah. Everyone else, not so much for the most part. I want to move on to the next question, but two other things in support of when I was going through this, I was trying to find reasons from both sides of this argument, but I did end up finding more for the breaking through argument and two more I've got here. One is that the rights are getting more expensive and so that typically indicates that the demand for them Apple paying 140, 140 million dollars a year for the new rights contract. F1's last year with ESPN was about 75 to 90 ish a year. This is a longer contract as well. This is a five, last one was a three. So I think that's part of it. And then just F1 doing well around the world. American companies Liberty Media buying them in 2017. An Economist article noting that since then F1's revenues have more than doubled to nearly $4 billion in 2025, operating profits before depreciation and amortization to nearly 1 billion. And F1 stock market value has also surged to over 20 billion. All three main revenue sources fees paid by race promoters, sales of media rights and sponsorship and advertising have grown impressively. The article was noting. But we're talking about America. We're talking about viewership in this country and ad dollars and sponsorship going to Formula One in this country. Ross, what does F1 need to do to make US fandom sustainable? Put another way, your CMO pretends CMO of F1. What's the first thing you change to try to keep eyeballs on this sport?

[C]

Well, I would recognize first that the American audience isn't what's most important. You've got to maintain your base everywhere else. But if I'm tasked specifically with growing US Audience, I would focus in on what you and Blake were talking about. That there is, you know, no major US Driver really US Driver at all. When I think about how the NBA has been popularized in other countries, like Yao Ming really helped popularize it in China. Dirk and before him, Tony Ku coach and a bunch of other guys helped popularize the NBA throughout Europe. It helps, you know, it helps that there's guys like Luca right Now. And Giannis. Exactly. So if you could insert some US Drivers in here, even if they are Nepo babies in a way, you know, maybe you can find a, an heir to some sort of fortune who wants to build a team and get into F1. It generates some interest.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Blake, how about. Well, actually, really quickly on that. I think that's. We're talking about growing the US Audience and it's become more popular in the US but this is a great opportunity for advertisers to reach the international community through, through this sport because it is a really global audience. I mentioned 24 races. They span across 21 different countries. And the viewers in many, many, many more than those 21 countries. I think the global audience is around 1.6 billion people. And so definitely don't ignore that international audience that you could be reaching with this sport. And also, really, we ment. Or the race calendar goes from March all the way to December. And so you're getting coverage all throughout the year, getting exposure all throughout the year. But these are also three day weekends, so going from practice events on Friday to qualifying on Saturday to the race on Sunday. So a lot of opportunity, whereas a lot of other games, it's just the one event and then you have to wait. There's really something going on almost every day throughout the F1 calendar. Blake, what would you do?

[B]

I think, and I'm sorry, I'm not going to like fully answer your question here, but I would be skeptical around really trying to scale the US Audience and instead focus on the value of the existing US Audience and really just sort of cater to that niche as much as possible for a couple of reasons. One thing that Ross said that I think really stands out is like F1 is a European sport. And I think that if the F1 really tries hard to Americanize it, it will be off putting. And there has been sort of some pushback against the, you know, push to expand the number of races that they have in the US and sort of America, you know, catering to an American audience with the sort of core audience. You definitely don't want to isolate the growth that they've had in the, in the US and this, you know, I don't have any stats to back this up, but I would imagine is just based on the sponsorships that they're getting an affluent audience that likes to spend a lot of money. Right. That likes watches, they like luxury, they like cars. And that is something that is not necessarily going to. If as you grow the sport, it could potentially like water down like the higher value of that audience. And I also think that the American audience that sort of has come around to it is sort of more akin to its existing European audience than it would be. If you sort of try to expand the tent in the us, I think it's going to become necessary that the ethos of the sport sort of changes in order to bring in a wider US audience. I would be skeptical of that. And I think, you know, just to look at, like the pga, for example, Marcus, as you know, I'm a big golf fan. You know, they've been trying for years to grow the sport. To grow the sport. It's very similar to the way that F1 is. Is looking at it. Right. And because it's a similar format, you've got, you know, frequent tournaments, but only a few that really get a high amount of interest from the general public. And that's. That's why with the live league, they've tried to make it way more applicable to a general audience, make it fun, make it exciting. That's not what the golf fan wants. And that's why the live league is struggling with F1. You potentially have a similar predicament where if you try to make a big tent, you're going to lose that core audience. And that core audience is already really valuable.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. It's a really good take and it kind of ties back into where the sport is at the moment. From an advertising perspective. I went back and looked at kind of how F1 got into sponsorships, kind of the history of it. The first race, 1950 in Silverstone in the UK, teams raced. They had national racing colours back then, so there were no kind of sponsors. Then in the late 60s, tobacco companies, gold Leaf, Marlborough, Camel started to sponsor teams, in part because the cigarette industry was facing pressure from advertising restrictions on tv. So they were like, we'll advertise on cars. But the European Union Tobacco Advertising Directive effectively removed tobacco sponsorship from Formula One by 2006. So then here come the energy companies, Shell financial services, Santander tech companies, Vodafone. This is a phone carrier in the UK. Then F1 repositioned itself as a premium global marketing platform. In the 2010s, enter Rolex, Emir, etc. And sponsorships pivoted to these experiential events, these hospitality suites, VIP race experiences. So that's kind of where they are now. It is a very affluent audience, premium branding opportunity, sponsorship opportunities. So I like that. Maybe you don't have to grow it to 10 million people a race, maybe just continue to grow slowly and focus on the audience that you have. All right, gents, well, that's where we leave the conversation for today. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today for the second installment of in the Game. Thank you. First to Ross.

[C]

Thanks, Marcus.

[A]

Yes, indeed. And of course, to Blake.

[C]

You're welcome.

[B]

Now that I know this podcast exists, maybe I'll come back again sometime.

[A]

I'll see you every month until eternity. Thank you so much to the production crew, Lance, helping us out with this one institute who runs the team as well. Many thanks to them. And of course, thanks to everyone for listening in to in the Game, a new marketer sports marketing podcast made possible by rokt. Hope to see you in next month's episode of the show.