Built one of the world's most popular sports by the early 2000s. Reached 500 million viewers per season globally. The racing product itself was spectacular — speed, danger, precision, and drama.
Bernie Ecclestone ran F1 like an elitist club, dismissing young fans and banning teams from social media. Viewership crashed. Then Liberty Media bought F1 for $4.4 billion in 2017, replaced leadership, and flipped the strategy. They gave ESPN free broadcast rights, flooded social platforms with content, and launched Drive to Survive on Netflix to humanize drivers and tell stories.
Complete turnaround. U.S. viewership more than doubled since 2018. Miami 2024 became most-watched F1 race ever with 3.1M viewers. 46% of Americans 18-29 now follow the sport.
