Written by Rohan Brown, Edited by Umut Yelbaşı
With the recent announcement that F1 will be hosting its own ‘launch’ next year to mark their 75th anniversary, Rohan analyses how this series has become more commercialised.
Liberty Media took control of Formula One’s commercial rights holder in 2018. F1 has since become more than a racing series, it has become a brand.
When Liberty Media took over, focus shifted to the media side of the series, with the establishment of their own in-house broadcasting and subscription service ‘F1 TV’, a new logo and rebranded website, with a focus on media and fan engagement in comparison to how F1 was before Liberty Media took over.
The introduction of the ‘Drive To Survive’ Netflix show was the foundation for this change. As the dramatic nature of the show gave character to the drivers and created sensationalised storylines across the season, it certainly acted as a catalyst for turning many of the viewers into fans of the series.
The show pushed the drivers as personalities and honed in on the drama of Formula One, and I’ve met many fans who told me it was this very show that got them hooked on Formula One.
Ticket prices have also become a reflection of F1’s commercialisation. In 2014, a 3-day general admission ticket to the British Grand Prix would have cost you just shy of £90. It now costs (at the minimum) £319 for the same ticket if you want to go to next year’s 2025 British Grand Prix, a £229 rise in 11 years.
Rising ticket prices are attributed to what ‘you are getting’ for what you pay, an ‘experience’ with concerts and other things to do across a race weekend and not just the racing, for example live performances from artists like Stormzy at the 2024 British Grand Prix.
This sharp rise in ticket price has come with controversy, as fans have become increasingly angry with the prices required for tickets in the modern day.
With a WTF1 video from 22nd September 2022 saying, “a bit of a madness how expensive Formula One is becoming for fans”, extortionate ticket prices have left a negative mark on the growth of F1 in recent years, with fans feeling priced out.
In 2014, the British Grand Prix had a confirmed attendance of 122,000 on race day, 2018’s confirmed race day attendance was 140,500, and in 2024 it had a confirmed race day attendance of 164,000.
This suggests F1’s growth under Liberty Media has clearly left a positive impact on attendance at races, with 42,000 more fans attending race day in 2024 compared to a decade ago.
With 18,500 more fans attending race day in Liberty Media’s first British Grand Prix with its control of F1’s commercial rights holder compared to just four years prior.
F1’s fixation on selling the series to America also adds to this. They haven’t had much of a strong following in the US compared to Europe, so F1 has placed more of a focus in recent years on marketing the series there.
By adding the Miami Grand Prix in 2022 and Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023 (F1 is the promoter for these races), both races that Formula One has placed a focus on marketing it and putting on a show.
Miami’s 2023 Grand Prix had a confirmed attendance of 297,000, and Las Vegas’s inaugural Grand Prix had a confirmed weekend attendance of 315,000, even when it was plagued by the controversy over the ticket prices for the event.
With F1 doing driver ‘entrances’ at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix and Bruce Buffer the announcer being present to announce the drivers whilst they were preparing for the drivers’ parade at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
With fans leaving comments on the video such as “Please don’t delete this video. Leave it here as a monument of what not to do” and “...Please for all that is holy…NEVER DO THIS AGAIN”, was a damning sign that things like this where the drivers were displayed like trophies was not accepted by the fans and felt more like it was being shoved down our throats.
And most recently, we have ‘F1 75 live’ , F1’s new event where we will get our first opportunities to see the looks of the 2025 teams with other entertainers present.
This marks a change for F1, it’s the first time that anything like this has been attempted, and it has already been receiving mixed reviews, with some critics seeing it as just another form of commercialisation for the series, as the car unveiling season was an exciting time for the F1 community.
This event has been rocked by the scandal with ticket sales for the event. The O2 Arena it is being hosted in can hold 18,000 seats although the majority of fans who were gunning for tickets were left empty-handed, coupled with rumours of 17,750 tickets being available for sponsors and influencers has left a negative impact on an ambitious event.
Comments