Digital Media Helps W Series and Formula 1 Expand
The W Series is the first international motorsport racing series for women and completed its inaugural season in 2019. The series was created by Catherine Bond Muir, a British sports lawyer and corporate financier, to advance female drivers to Formula 1. The first season in 2019 held a total of six races with Brit Jamie Chadwick taking home the title.
Before its inaugural season, the series was met with some criticism that it might be a regressive step for women in motorsport because it separates women from competing against men in their pursuits of an F1 seat. Following the first season, this opinion has almost entirely gone away with the racing community fully supporting the series as a stepping stone to Formula 1. An influential woman in motorsport, Claire Williams, was initially skeptical of the series saying, “at the moment our sport allows women to compete against men, unlike so many other sports, so was creating a single championship for women only a regressive step?” After the first season, she changed her mind like so many others saying, “it is quite interesting because a lot of drivers who were initially critical have come to their senses, have seen what it is all about, and have had their heads turned” she continued, “when you realize it isn’t about segregation, we are all trying to achieve the same thing, to get more women involved in motorsport, it’s a really positive step.” After a successful first season, the series continues to expand and grow.
Quotes courtesy of Ian Parkes at The New York Times.
Pictured above is the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. This track is host to the Austrian Grand Prix on the F1 calendar and just held the initial race of the W Series 2021 season. This is a big step up for the W Series as they are now on the card with Formula 1 for eight race weekends this year. Formula 1 is the most popular form of motorsport with the largest international reach. This will help the W Series grow and gain more media coverage. You can see where to watch the W Series races here. The W Series has also made a push into the digital streaming services with the races being broadcast live on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. According to our Fan Project Report findings, we know that Fans of Women’s Sports are digital natives and are more likely to consume sports on OTT programs. Therefore, airing the W Series races on these digital platforms allows fans easy access to the sport.
Immersive media has become a major part of the sports industry within the last few years. Cord-cutters and cord-nevers are consuming sports on digital platforms when and where they want. The mobile device has become more important than ever for the sports industry. Major streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime, YouTube TV, Facebook, Hulu and more have been claiming up media rights to live sporting events but it is not all about live media rights. Fans of Women’s Sports are passionate about the storytelling aspect of sports, and streaming services like Netflix have taken notice.
This graph shows average viewership per race on ESPN broadcasts in a given year. “Drive To Survive” was released in 2019, you can see viewership increase following the premiere.
This graph shows search interest of F1 in the United States. You can see the search interest spiked in March 2019 when the series was released. Consumers are clearly engaging with the series as the spike is higher than the last four years of search interest.
F1 viewership in the U.S. is growing in large part to the Netflix series “Drive To Survive.” Through the first six races of the 2021 season, U.S ESPN ratings averaged 911,000 viewers per race, which is up 50 percent from 2020 and 36 percent from 2019. The 2021 French Grand Prix hit 1.1 million viewers, the biggest audience in the U.S since the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix was broadcast on ABC. The U.S. Formula 1 scene continues to grow as Miami has locked in a Grand Prix starting in 2022. It’s safe to say the “Netflix effect” is in full swing, and some form of media content similar to this could help the W series grow even more. It’s also worth noting that F1 viewership is up all around the globe so the effects go beyond just the United States.
Formula 1 is one of the most innovative sports leagues in the world and with the addition of the W Series, it continues in that direction. At Sports Innovation Lab we often talk about how leagues and teams need to focus on Revenue Diversification. Investing in a women’s team and or women’s league allows you to create new revenue opportunities and reach a new diverse set of fans. Fans of women’s sports are passionate, loyal, and show an extreme level of brand affinity. Our Fan Project Report shows that these early adopters investing in women’s sports generate high amounts of revenue. The W Series is still in its infant stage but with growing auto racing viewership and expanding women’s sports, we should be primed to see female drivers getting more sponsorship money than ever before and likely women landing F1 seats in the future.