The anatomy of the F1 fan

What is the Formula 1 World Championship really? As the F1 stock market flotation document states “The FIA Formula One World Championship is the world’s most widely watched annual global sporting competition. The World Championship is followed by 515 million television viewers (editors note: latest reports provide a drop in that value) in over 187 countries and our Events host live audiences of up to 300,000 on race weekends at our largest Events such as the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit and the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Formula 1 has a rich heritage and is among the world's most iconic entertainment brands which is associated with the specific brand attributes of speed, glamour, high technology, high performance, excitement, innovation and luxury. Our unique, premium content delivers large audiences which combined with the appreciation for live premium sports make our content a highly desirable platform for Event promoters, host countries, broadcasters, advertisers and sponsors. The World Championship is the world’s most widely watched annual global sporting competition and is one of the leading global sports entertainment businesses. It is a global series, with 20 Events scheduled to take place in 2012 in 19 countries across Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and North and South America. In addition, the World Championship receives global media coverage through local and international newspapers, television news shows, magazines, websites and numerous forms of social and other media. The World Championship is the pinnacle of world motor sport competition”.

 

But F1’s success is rooted in its fanbase. Passionate people, petrolheads - and not only them - who follow the action, either at the races or via any media channels. So we had the idea to look at who those people are and to understand their anatomy. The best source for this information is Repucom.

 

Repucom is a global leader in sports marketing research. Utilizing the leading technologies and facilities for market research, media evaluation and commercial auditing, Repucom has created the industry’s first global, full-service portfolio for sports marketing research and consultancy.

 

The company provides a single, independent source of holistic market data and insights to help its clients achieve value in their marketing and sponsorship activities. According to a Repucom research conducted in 2012 the aggregated totals in 10 markets, Australia, Brazil (urban areas), China (urban), France, Germany, India (urban), Russia (urban), Spain, USA and of course UK, show that 58% of people in the age range between 16 and 69, have interest in motorsport. The majority of them are interested in F1 with WRC and MotoGP following hand in hand. Out of the 46% of the ones interested in F1, the “hardcore fans” represent in the region of 13%. The values for WRC and MotoGP are 36% with 7% “hardcore fans” for WRC and 36% with 6% for the MotoGP.

 

Focused now on the ones that are showing “highest” interest in F1, the results say that the average age is 39y and that 70% of them are males. But how are they informed on the latest developments?

 

You can find also in this section some interesting numbers. Around 96% of the fans consume the sport via TV, 79% have their eyes at the internet, 68% are reading newspapers, 60% listen on the radio and only 39% using their mobile handsets. Many of them are using a combination of these to get their information.

 

Another area that Repucom has analysed is how much the sponsorship is affecting the fans. A total of 79% of the fans asked agree that sponsoring sport helps companies gain in appeal, 61% would choose a sponsor’s product over a rival brand if the price and quality were the same, and another 47% have consciously made purchases from motor racing sponsors because of their involvement. Finally, the top product categories they intend to spend money on in 12 months time are fashion, computing, travel, mobile phones and electronics.

 

We might experience some hard times for F1 and sponsorship right now, but definitely there is a lot of potential. Worth mention is that with the renewed attempt in the US F1 is trying to widen the market and the first signs are very encouraging. At the other end F1 should look at the new ways of expansion and the use of new media. It goes hand by hand and at the end it should be a win-to-win relationship!