Formula 1 has undergone some drastic changes in terms of viewership and popularity since its acquisition by Liberty Media in 2017. Through various marketing initiatives including but not limited to the popular Netflix series Drive to Survive, Formula 1 has seen a 40% spike in viewership as of 2022, and the numbers are ever-rising.
Apart from this, since 2019 Formula 1 has also seen 7 of the 10 most-watched races ever as well as the most attended race ever in the USA (at Austin) with 400,000 attendees! This growth was accentuated by the nail-biting 2021 season, and such a spike in popularity has not been lost to the eyes of the teams and drivers.
Quite recently, Red Bull boss Christian Horner commented on this spike in viewership, contrasting it to the situation in 2016.
Christian Horner uses Taylor Swift to demonstrate F1’s crowd-pulling power
During the 2016 United States Grand Prix, Formula 1 attempted to draw viewership by banking on the popularity of popular pop icon Taylor Swift by incorporating one of her concerts into the race weekend.
However, as Horner points out to ESPN, the situation is quite different today. In his view, Swift, a celebrity with over 336,000,000 followers, would be “lucky” to get to be part of a grand prix event at all!
“If you remember Austin a few years ago, we were having to get Taylor Swift there to get a crowd there,” says the Red Bull boss. “Now, she’s lucky if she’s allowed in, if she can get a pass! It’s changed so much.”
It is true that Formula 1 has seen a significant spike in its American viewership. However, the overall rise in audience is not just tied to the American crowd, this is actually happening on a global scale!
How many people attend the Belgian GP 2023?
With an increase of 20,000 on last year’s attendance at the 2022 Belgian GP, the event saw a record-breaking 380,000 fans come to watch the track action live! And this was only the third-best-attended race of the season so far, losing out to the British Grand Prix (480,000) and the Australian Grand Prix (440,000).
It should perhaps come as no surprise that the Belgian Grand Prix was included in the calendar for 2024 as well, operating as a one-year extension to the pre-existing agreement. In fact, similar increases in viewership are expected for the upcoming United States Grand Prix and the Mexico City Grand Prix, following the pattern viewed in previous years in terms of viewership.
Formula 1 has tried to capitalize on the rising hype over the years with the introduction of aspects like the F1 paddock pass. Over the last three years, Formula 1 has seen a 124% growth in revenue and a 195% growth in profits!
What do you think about Horner’s statement regarding Taylor Swift? Is it too soon or ambitious to make a claim as bold as that? Comment on what you think down below!
