163 replies to this topic

[absinthedude]

We've all been there. It gets better...

 

The two kids in my entire high school who knew a lick about F1 were a belgian and a brit.

 

When I was at school, mostly in the 80s, we used to discuss F1 in the playground and with the teachers. Of course this was in the UK....but I can tell you that the Monday morning after Suzuka 89 I had a chemistry lesson and we spent the first 20 minutes discussing whether Prost had committed a professional foul and if Nannini would ever win another grand prix. When Mansell failed to win the title in Mexico in '86 we gathered in the playground to place small bets on him winning in Adelaide. I lost a Sting cassette...

 

Point is, kids discussed F1. I work in a secondary school. Not one child or staff member has mentioned F1 during conversation in about a decade. Funny that. Sky took over about that time. But not a single one. Kids and teachers talk about cricket, football, rugby, Olympics. Black History Month is super important for us as most of the kids and staff are not white....last year we did "black heroes" as a project and Lewis Hamilton only got mentioned when a teacher brought him up after all the kids had done posters of their black heroes (Bob Marley, Barack Obama, Mary Seacole, Neil De Grasse-Tyson, Chatwick Boseman, Mo Farah, Usain Bolt and so on). 

 

So when I went to school at a time when no Brit actually won the title, we were talking. OK we talked about Mansell but also Rosberg, Piquet, Lauda, Prost, Senna....now we have a candidate for GOAT winning everything for years and F1 is not a conversation starter.

[absinthedude]

Imo an expanded social media presence, race event hype (real or not, as it drives fomo), and Netflix are undoubtedly beneficial for the long term financial health of the sport.

 

 

 

The problem with over hyping something (eg Netflix over egging the drama) is that people will indeed tune in....but they'll expect that level of drama....not find it...and won't resubscribe. Then what?

[SmellOfPetrolInTheMorning]

The problem with over hyping something (eg Netflix over egging the drama) is that people will indeed tune in....but they'll expect that level of drama....not find it...and won't resubscribe. Then what?

It literally does not matter! Those tuning into Netflix are likely to be newcomers to the sport (so a new revenue stream). And the fact that they have watched DTS in the first place means they are paying Netflix customers ($$), which means more revenue for F1. It is very unlikely that those subscribers would have signed on to Netflix purely for D2S, and even LESS likely that they would unsubscribe when the actual sport doesn't meet up to their inflated expectations (more likely they'll just carry on watching more Netflix!)

Whether or not those people ever watch a race at all, or tune in / out briefly after being disappointed doesn't matter. They have generated more $$ for F1.

I think that some (not suggesting you!) are more concerned around "uneducated" F1 fans spoiling their idea of what an F1 fan "community" should be like. Hence why some of the bad press for Netflix and social media.

I personally loathe "reality TV" (fake made up overhyped crap. But, if that drives more money and stability for the sport that I love, the more the merrier!

Edited by SmellOfPetrolInTheMorning, 03 November 2021 - 20:59.

[AustinF1]

If they had a double bill like we saw last year it would definitely have a regional name. To me it seems that during the Bernie era, track promoters had to sell their appeal to F1? Where now it seems the opposite in a way.

I'm sure there were as many metrical (if that's a word) studies to show that bottle necking the viewership seemed like the smart money thing to do. Rolex generation and all.

The funny/sad thing about the State Texas having paid close to $300 Million for its race is that the State of Florida is paying $0 and stilling getting the benefit. 

 

And both Governors have Presidential aspirations & will likely come up against each other for the next Republican nomination.

[aportinga]

Been a fan since1988 and this weekend was the best moment - maybe funniest, I've ever been part of!

 

It's 7AM Sunday and my youngest and I are at a College Soccer Showcase at Grand Park Indiana. I get up - grab some hotel breakfast and head back to my room where my kid is still sleeping. At 9AM she had a team breakfast and asked me to come along - other parents were there as well. 

 

In anycase I said that there was no way I was missing the first lap so I would join her shortly.

 

Around lap 4 I go to the hotel lobby and turned on the race (on the lobby TV). About 15 minutes later some dad (different team) grabs the remote and puts on Prem League football. Guy two tables behind me yells "Hey I was watching Verstappen!" 

 

Shocked - and smiling I hear one of my kids mates yell - "I was watching Verstappen!" So I yelled "I was watching Verstappen!"  My kid yells the same and then then her mates dad yells it as well.

 

I never thought I would see such a thing in the States - never!

 

Super cool!

 

 

[Risil]

When I was at school, mostly in the 80s, we used to discuss F1 in the playground and with the teachers. Of course this was in the UK....but I can tell you that the Monday morning after Suzuka 89 I had a chemistry lesson and we spent the first 20 minutes discussing whether Prost had committed a professional foul and if Nannini would ever win another grand prix. When Mansell failed to win the title in Mexico in '86 we gathered in the playground to place small bets on him winning in Adelaide. I lost a Sting cassette...

 

Point is, kids discussed F1. I work in a secondary school. Not one child or staff member has mentioned F1 during conversation in about a decade. Funny that. Sky took over about that time. But not a single one. Kids and teachers talk about cricket, football, rugby, Olympics. Black History Month is super important for us as most of the kids and staff are not white....last year we did "black heroes" as a project and Lewis Hamilton only got mentioned when a teacher brought him up after all the kids had done posters of their black heroes (Bob Marley, Barack Obama, Mary Seacole, Neil De Grasse-Tyson, Chatwick Boseman, Mo Farah, Usain Bolt and so on). 

 

So when I went to school at a time when no Brit actually won the title, we were talking. OK we talked about Mansell but also Rosberg, Piquet, Lauda, Prost, Senna....now we have a candidate for GOAT winning everything for years and F1 is not a conversation starter.

 

I sort of wonder whether that time was the exception rather than the rule. I was at school maybe a decade or two before you and barring two golden years when I had an F1-obsessed friend at an international school (high turnover of students, sadly), I think the last conversation I had about F1 was about Damon Hill's championship winning year in 1996. Since then Rugby Union professionalized, English and European soccer became an all-consuming TV show, Britain got good at winning Olympic medals. Possibly Grand Prix racing was squeezed out. (I knew quite a few bike racing fans, oddly.)

[pdac]

I sort of wonder whether that time was the exception rather than the rule. I was at school maybe a decade or two before you and barring two golden years when I had an F1-obsessed friend at an international school (high turnover of students, sadly), I think the last conversation I had about F1 was about Damon Hill's championship winning year in 1996. Since then Rugby Union professionalized, English and European soccer became an all-consuming TV show, Britain got good at winning Olympic medals. Possibly Grand Prix racing was squeezed out. (I knew quite a few bike racing fans, oddly.)

 

I was at school in the 60's and 70's. Never heard anyone talk about anything other than football.

[Risil]

I was at school in the 60's and 70's. Never heard anyone talk about anything other than football.

Indeed but the 1980s were a low ebb, at least if matchday attendances are anything to go by.

[Fastcake]

I think that was was just the cynical reaction. It was obvious what was meant if you knew anything about a S.B. weekend and we have seen that direction taken with various success.

I missed this at the time, but since this thread got bumped, I’d welcome an explanation of what exactly has changed with the average Grand Prix from 10 years ago to now? What exactly was “obvious” about the nebulous plans of Liberty?

[FLB]

How Netflix and an epic championship battle made Formula One Canada’s fastest-growing sport | The Star

[Ross Stonefeld]

Netflix have really really good PR people don't they?

 

 

 

“I can see next season’s Canadian Grand Prix as a massive moment,” Hauraney says. “I’m talking next level. You could get to the point where they’ll get to 400,000 over the weekend. 

 

400k is the new 6 Tenths. 

[Alfisti]

Where will more than the usual crowd even fit at Montreal? The grounds are very, very small and the general admission viewing is abysmal. You really, really need a seat there.

[FLB]

Netflix have really really good PR people don't they?

 

 

400k is the new 6 Tenths. 

AFAIK, the record was set in 2001: 304,000, over three days, at a time when Villeneuve was still competitive:

 

Record de foule au Grand Prix de Montréal | TVA Nouvelles (en francais)

Edited by FLB, 12 December 2021 - 00:11.

[Afterburner]

Well they’ll certainly do better than they did this year!