Way More Women Love Formula 1 Than Ever Before
For the first time in history Formula 1 says around a quarter of its current fanbase is female, growing from just 10% in 2017. The sport is currently in a massive growth phase, particularly in North America and among Gen Z viewers, and this is borne out in the data of the recent Motorsport Formula 1 Fan Survey conducted among over 100,000 self-identified F1 fans. With the sport pushing new boundaries on streaming and social media, the perception of F1 being an Old Boy's Club is diminishing. Fans now have greater access to the machinations of the F1 paddock than ever before, seemingly proving that if you break down the barriers to entry and create initiatives to promote the involvement of women in the sport like F1 Academy (42% of women surveyed follow F1 Academy) or initiatives to promote women within the staff of racing teams, the fans will follow. Formula 1 and its American owner Liberty Media have reaped the benefits with attendance and viewership records breaking seemingly every week and more sponsorship dollars than ever.
Among all self-proclaimed new fans included in the survey, 3 out of 4 of them are women. This indicates to me that F1's initiatives to reach young women are working. Women in younger generations are even more enthusiastic and involved with the sport as well, with a full half of Gen Z responses coming from women fans. That Gen Z group is increasingly important for F1's growth and success as more than 70% of Gen Z respondents say they engage with F1 content every single day. This is particularly true in Liberty's home country, the United States, which is riding a wave of F1 momentum right now, accounting for the largest share of respondents from any of the 186 individual countries represented.
The full results of the survey are out now and you should take some time to scroll through all of the amazing factoids that it has brought to bear. According to the survey, just 10% of new fans found the sport through Netflix's "Drive to Survive," while the largest driver of new fan involvement is getting involved through friends and family.
Liberty's full-court-press to attract younger viewers and women to the sport is a dramatic difference from what F1 was just a decade ago. Former elderly billionaire sport owner Bernard Charles Ecclestone claimed that F1 didn't need to chase younger viewers. During a 2014 interview, Ecclestone said "We should use social media to promote F1, I just don't know how." He later offered that F1 didn't need to attract a younger audience, because "Young kids will see the Rolex brand, but are they going to go and buy one? They can't afford it." He preferred to chase an older audience because "I'd rather get to the 70-year-old guy who's got plenty of cash."
Ecclestone closed his argument by telling advertisers hoping to reach a young and diverse audience to take their advertising dollars to Disney instead. In a somewhat ironic twist of fate, F1 recently inked a multi-billion dollar co-branded licensing deal with Disney, and F1 broadcasts on Walt Disney Company-owned ESPN in the U.S.
