By Ryan Bologna
Formula 1 racing has become more popular in the United States in recent years. A big part of that is from the Netflix series “Drive To Survive” which tells the story of the F1 season through the eyes of each driver and team.
The series uses interviews, clips from the races, audio messages, and behind the scenes footage of the teams discussing what went right and what went wrong. It has also been confirmed for a fifth and sixth season on Netflix. “Drive To Survive” brings to light how dramatic F1 racing can be beyond just cars driving in a circle, which is what a lot of people think racing is.
2021 was a season like no other….👀
Drive To Survive, now streaming on Netflix 🍿#DriveToSurvive #F1 pic.twitter.com/htGhsyKofo
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 11, 2022
If you want an indication of the growth of the sport in the U.S., look no further than the addition of the race in Miami that will run for the first time this year. F1 already ran a grand prix in the U.S. before in Austin.
It has also been announced that there would be a race in Las Vegas starting in 2023, eventually giving F1 six races in the U.S. time zone with grand prixs in Las Vegas, Miami, Austin, Montreal, Brazil, and Mexico City.
Oh Miami, you're a beauty 😍#MiamiGP #F1 @f1miami pic.twitter.com/q2MX9tggsl
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 4, 2022
ESPN currently holds the rights to broadcast F1 in the U.S. and viewership surged in 2021. Each race averaged 934,000 viewers, which is up 54 percent from 2020. ESPN pays F1 $5 million a year, and that contract is up after this season. What better time to negotiate a TV rights deal than right after a surge in viewership. F1 is sure to get a substantial raise in the next TV rights deal in the U.S.
Given the rise in popularity of the sport in the U.S., one of the notable parts is what F1 and its teams are doing with their sponsorships. Once again going back to the Miami race, the official name of the race is the Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix.
People in the U.S. are well aware of Crypto, but have we had something to do with Cryptocurrency being an official partner for a big sporting event like this? Outside of a Super Bowl commercial and Odell Beckham Jr. opting to be paid his contract in Bitcoin by the Los Angeles Rams, the U.S. sports leagues have not embraced it as much as F1 has.
The NFL allows individual teams to secure sponsorships with blockchain companies, but they are not allowed to promote specific currencies and tokens. Given the fact that F1 got its first big surge of money coming into the sport from tobacco sponsorships in the 1960s, it is not a surprise that they are ahead of the game here too.
Individual F1 teams have gone deep into the Crypto world as well, with nearly all of them securing partnerships with crypto platforms. Red Bull’s agreement with Bybit pays upwards of $150 million a year. Will U.S. sports leagues see this trend presented in front of them at the races held in the country and be able to resist these types of partnerships? Only time will tell.
Looking forward to this weekends crypto conference… @F1 #MiamiGrandPrix. When did F1 become dominated by crypto? Congrats to @VelasBlockchain @FantomFDN @FTX_Official @cryptocom @RealFlokiInu @binance @tezos @Bybit_Official @okx, etc for partaking in the best sport on earth! pic.twitter.com/vPEHFzxovg
— Kevin Lehtiniitty (@KevLeht) May 4, 2022
We have seen agreements between Socios and many NFL teams, but they have not gone all-in like F1 has. Only 13 of the 32 teams have become partners with them, and crypto is not seen as prominently in promotions with the NFL or other major U.S. major sports like they are in F1.
This will be a trend to keep an eye on in the coming years. Will F1 be the trailblazer, or will this fall flat?
Photo Credit: Michael Cola
