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Good morning team,
We’re getting right into it with a deep dive into Formula 1's extraordinary evolution from a struggling European motorsport into a global entertainment juggernaut.
Regardless of whether you care about F1 or not, it’s a compelling story on how the motorsport cracked the American market, and where the next billion dollars in growth will come from.
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🇺🇸 The American Breakthrough: How F1 Finally Won Over the US
So, for a long time, Formula 1 was the sport America refused to embrace. Bernie Ecclestone tried a lot of things, and it turns out that parking lot races in Las Vegas, Phoenix street circuits in oppressive heat, and a spot at Indianapolis Motor Speedway didn’t exactly work…
There’s a lot of problems here, but the main one is the attraction itself. There was no narrative to build on, nothing that could align F1 within the American culture.
Enter Liberty Media in 2017
When Liberty Media acquired F1, they had something Ecclestone was missing: the ability to market to Americans. Simply put, they knew that sport is more narrative than actual product.
The Netflix Effect: "Drive to Survive" launched in 2019 and transformed everything. Oh look! Here’s Prestige TV we can watch live!
Turns out, people love the magic sauce of personal storylines, rivalries, and behind-the-scenes drama. Suddenly, people who never cared about racing but were deeply invested in whether Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen could repair their friendship.
The Experience Revolution: Liberty really leaned into the fan experience when it came to the U.S. market.
Austin: Multi-day music festival meets racing (huge success)
Miami: Fake marina, beach clubs, positioned like Coachella or the Super Bowl
Las Vegas: Perfect luxury visuals (a race with casinos in the background? C’mon)
The Numbers Tell the Story
The growth has been remarkable:
Pre-Netflix: ~500,000 average viewers per race
2023: 1.5 million average viewers
2025: 1.3 million average, up 7% year-over-year, with the crucial 18-49 demographic up 14%
Food for thought: F1 is closing the gap with NASCAR, America's traditional motorsport king. Recent head-to-head races showed differences as small as 190,000 viewers, while NASCAR ratings dropped 13% in 2025.
We know, those 2 are apples and oranges. Just a little comparison for size.
But Is America "Solved"? Not Quite.
Despite the hype, F1 is only 40-50% through its US growth curve. The easy wins, like the Netflix narrative, novelty factor, and new races are mostly captured.
What remains are stubborn structural barriers:
The Time Zone Problem: Most races happen in Europe and Asia, meaning 7am-2pm ET starts. Americans don't naturally wake up for sports.
No American Hero: Still waiting for a competitive American driver to root for.
The Ceiling: F1 currently averages 1.3-1.5 million viewers. NASCAR does 2-3 million. If F1 can match NASCAR's baseline, that's roughly 2x growth potential—but breaking into true mainstream penetration (4-5 million viewers) faces those structural barriers.*
Current US Contribution: $300-400 million annually (about 10-11% of F1's total revenue) Potential: $700-900 million (if they can fully mature the market)
*Again, this isn’t a true comparison, Nascar is not F1 and vice versa. We’re just measuring for size. And maybe a ceiling is useless to talk about at this point. Maybe it stays luxury and keeps a small, but rich audience.
Where the Money Actually Comes From
Here’s something surprising but not so surprising. Despite the American hype, Europe still dominates F1's finances.
The $3.65 Billion Breakdown
Total 2024 Revenue by Source:
Media rights: 32.8% (~$1.2 billion)
Race promotion: 29.3% (~$1.07 billion)
Sponsorship: 18.6% (~$679 million)
Other: 19.3% (~$704 million)
Europe: The Cash Cow
Europe generates $1.8-2 billion annually—roughly 50-55% of all F1 revenue.
Sky UK alone pays approximately $255 million per year for British broadcasting rights. That's more than the entire US market contributes across media rights, race hosting fees, and sponsorships combined. Add Sky Germany ($60 million) and Sky Italy (tens of millions more), and just three Sky markets generate $330-350 million annually, exceeding every dollar F1 makes in America.
The US Media Rights Journey
The evolution here shows F1's American transformation:
2018-2022: ESPN paid ~$5 million/year (essentially free content)
2023-2025: ESPN pays $75-90 million/year (18x increase)
2026-2030: Apple will pay ~$140-150 million/year (30x increase from 2022)
Other Key Markets
Middle East: $200-250 million annually (Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia pay massive hosting fees of $35-55M each)
Asia-Pacific: $250-300 million (Japan, China, Australia, Singapore)
Latin America: $100-150 million (Brazil as regional anchor)
🌍 The Next Billion: Where F1 Will Grow Next
The US playbook was surprisingly straightforward. You have content-driven marketing, experiential races, and a digital-first strategy executed perfectly.
The next growth phase? Ehhh, it’s far more complex.
1. African Continent: The Last Frontier (Highest Potential, Highest Risk)
Africa hasn't hosted an F1 race since 1993. That's about to change.
Three countries in active discussions:
South Africa (front-runner): Government seeking $100 million from private investors to upgrade historic Kyalami Circuit. Target: 2027 season.
Rwanda (dark horse): President Paul Kagame revealed intentions to host F1 as part of nation-branding strategy—similar to how Middle Eastern countries used F1 to project modernity.
Morocco: Also in preliminary talks.
Why African Continent Matters: By 2050, Africa's population will reach 2.5 billion with a median age of just 19.7 years. It's the world's youngest, fastest-growing demographic—exactly the audience F1 needs for long-term sustainability.
The Challenge: Hosting F1 requires ~$40 million annual hosting fees plus massive infrastructure investment. Hard to justify given pressing socio-economic needs.
Revenue Potential: $150-250 million annually
2. India: The Elusive Prize
Here are some facts that should keep F1 executives up at night:
India is projected to be F1's 5th largest market with 31 million viewers
Within top-5 global fan bases
Yet fails to make top 20 countries by television viewership
When Star Sports and Hotstar picked up broadcasting, India's F1 audience grew 87% in one year
What Went Wrong: The Buddh International Circuit hosted F1 from 2011-2013, then vanished due to tax disputes. F1 wanted "sport" classification; the Indian government called it "entertainment"—triggering much higher taxes. They never resolved it.
The Opportunity: If F1 can solve the tax issues and adopt appropriate pricing strategy (not premium OTT that alienates price-sensitive Indian consumers), this single market could generate $200-300 million annually—rivaling entire regions.
3. China: Underperforming Giant
The most frustrating opportunity: China has 70+ million unique TV viewers—the most of any country—but generates relatively little revenue because state broadcaster CCTV keeps it free-to-air with low commercial rates.
If F1 could monetize China's viewership at Western rates: $300-500 million opportunity. But execution is nearly impossible given state-controlled media environment.
📊 The financial potential of the next wave
Total Addressable Growth Opportunity: Close to an additional billion dollars in additional annual revenue
Strategic Priority Ranking:
African continent: Highest symbolic value, completes "global sport" narrative, taps youngest demographics—but highest execution risk
India: Biggest commercial prize if tax/distribution issues resolved
China: Massive existing viewership needs monetization strategy
The Strategic Tension: Unlike the Netflix-fueled US surge, these opportunities require government partnerships, regulatory navigation, and infrastructure investment. Not plug-and-play marketing plays.
🏁 Final Thoughts: The Liberty Media Legacy
Liberty Media has fundamentally transformed F1 in just eight years:
Converted it from a sport into an entertainment brand
Cracked the American market through content strategy
Grew total revenue 91.2% (2017-2024)
Made F1 culturally relevant to younger, digital-native audiences
But the business remains geographically concentrated. Europe generates 50%+ of revenue.
The US, despite dramatic growth, contributes just 10-11%. The next chapter requires F1 to maintain momentum in maturing markets while building foundations in emerging ones without diluting the brand's premium positioning.
But unlike the Netflix playbook, these gains are gonna demand patience, and long-term investment.
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