The rise of Formula 1: How F1 took over the US

A sport with 500 million viewers that couldn't crack America for 50 years — until new owners gave it away for free and made a Netflix show.

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By The Numbers

500M

global viewers annually

200M

fans lost by 2016

3.1M

viewers for Miami 2024

What They Nailed Early

Built global dominance as the premier motorsport brand. Hit 500 million viewers annually by the early 2000s. Created an aspirational, high-end product that commanded premium sponsorships and elite audiences worldwide.

What Changed

Bernie Ecclestone ran F1 like a 1950s elitist club — banned social media, hid behind paywalls, refused to court young fans. Viewership crashed 200 million by 2016. Liberty Media bought it for $4.4B in 2017, replaced management, and flipped the script entirely.

Where it Landed

✓ Comeback complete. 1.1M US viewers per race by 2022, up from 540K in 2018. 46% of Americans 18-29 now follow F1. Miami 2024 became most-watched US F1 race ever.

The Principles

Distribution beats product quality. F1's racing was always great — but locked behind paywalls and elitism, nobody could discover it.

Storytelling unlocks fandom. Drive to Survive humanized drivers and teams. 42% of viewers became rabid fans by connecting to the narrative, not just the sport.

Give it away to build it up. Liberty handed ESPN free broadcast rights and flooded social platforms. Short-term revenue loss created long-term audience capture.

Builder's Takeaway

If you're trying to grow a stalled brand:

•

Tear down access barriers — paywalls kill discovery in the attention economy

•

Sell the story, not the product (docuseries > highlight reels)

•

Meet audiences where they are (social, streaming) not where you wish they were

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