Formula 1 is not a startup. However, if Sean Bratches wants to run it like one, he can start by adding an IndyCar-style “Prix View” day.
Formula 1 Commercial Operations Director Sean Bratches likes to say that F1 is like a startup, but it’s not. It is a multi-billion dollar global sport. Despite yearly dwindling viewership and controversial sporting regulations, F1 is still the pinnacle of motorsport. While it may lack the business “teams” that Bratches is accustomed to, it is still functioning just fine.
Assuming that Bratches wants to instill startup-type “21st-century business practices and leadership” in F1, there are more effective ways than updating the logo, accepting bids from any venue that wants an F1 race, or making children hold up number signs. What Bratches and F1 need is to take a cue from IndyCar.
IndyCar as a series is closer to Bratches’ idea of a startup. Still recovering from the split and trying to move on together after reunification, IndyCar has seen its stock rise in both racing prominence and viewership. And it started with the fans.
IndyCar has remade itself around the fans, trying to get those who come and watch as involved as possible. The third annual “Prix View” at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona is a big part of that. The free event during IndyCar’s first open test allows fans to get up close to the drivers and the cars before the season starts. That’s what F1 needs.
While F1 testing days are open to the public and a lot of fun (I’ve been to a couple of tests), they are not on the same level of interactivity as IndyCar’s “Prix View” day. IndyCar is as open with their fans as they can be during “Prix View” day, hosting many “Prix View”-only events and conferences.
Through the use of streaming, social media, and good old-fashioned word of mouth, IndyCar generates positive publicity and hype for itself and the upcoming season throughout the event by endearing itself to fans, which is something that F1 under Bernie Ecclestone sorely lacked.
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F1 under Ecclestone was about making money by any means possible, be it adding or removing fan-favorite races because venues could not or would not pay his hosting fees, removing race broadcasts from free-to-air TV, or charging $55 for a cotton t-shirt with the words “Scuderia Ferrari” on it. To say the least, F1 under Ecclestone was not fan-friendly.
It was hoped by fans that when Liberty Media acquired the commercial side of F1, it would make the races and the sport in general more fan-friendly. That has yet to be seen. However, there is a glimmer of hope.
With Liberty relaxing the draconian social media rules of the Ecclestone era, perhaps F1 will take a more grassroots approach to running things. Staging a free F1 “Prix View” day would be right up there.
By giving fans a chance to see all their favorite drivers, teams, and cars up close, F1 would be cultivating a new and organic audience, including a digital audience. By opening themselves up to the fans who show up, they allow the consumers to generate a more genuine, goodwill buzz through social media than they could themselves—a trademark of a good startup.
A “Prix View” day is what F1 needs. By putting on a good show while being open to fans, it allows F1 to clear away any bad press in the offseason by showing fans that what was reported is not what actually is true, especially after a turbulent first year of ownership.
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With Forbes reporting that F1 may lose as much as $220 million in revenue by 2020, it may be in F1’s best interest to invest in the fans—again.