Formula Money - Driving Popularity

  • Thread starter Thread starter StockCarRacer
  • 142 comments
  • 11,645 views
StockCarRacer
The point is if we have a Puerto Rican in F1, then he would create interest in his homeland.
Click to expand...
And if we had a Moldovan in Formula 1, then the sport would be popular in Moldova. The same goes for Bhutan or Suriname or the Maldives or Ghana or Kazakhstan or any other country. There is no "point" to be made here - there is no "point" to this entire conversation, because a country having a driver in the sport means the sport gets coverage in their home country. You're basically telling us what we all already know, and you've somehow managed to make a six-page conversation out of it. You might as well have started a thread called "The Sky Is Blue". There is no point to this thread, and it really ought to be closed.
 
Now, for more info, a said competitor's homeland would bring in sponsorship from there, create huge economic revenues, host a Grand Prix, and create a lasting impact.
 
StockCarRacer
Now, for more info, a said competitor's homeland would bring in sponsorship from there, create huge economic revenues, host a Grand Prix, and create a lasting impact.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. Take the newest country to have a driver in Formula 1, Russia: Vitaly Petrov is believed to have $15 million in sponsorship to his name - but how many Russian companies have you seen on the side of the Renault? Lada, maybe, but the team has not received any sponsorship from any of the major Russian companies like Lukoil or Gazprom. In fact the biggest Russian sponsor, Marussia, isn't even associated with the team! There is no "huge economic revenue" and no "lasting impact", but there is a following of Formula 1 (and of motorsport in general) in Russia because the expensive, elite and glamourous nature of the sport resonates with the post-Soviet generations.
 
For example, in Argentina, Juan Manuel Fangio gave motor racing to the Argentine people. Without him, motor racing wouldn't have a presence there and F1 wouldn't have a big following.
 
StockCarRacer
Without him, motor racing wouldn't have a presence there and F1 wouldn't have a big following.
Click to expand...
During Fangio's time in Formula One, there were twelve other Argentine drivers in the sport. It was perhaps the fourth most-represented nation (after Italy, the UK and Germany) at the time. Perhaps those other twelve drivers did not experience the success that Fangio did, but to solely credit him with "bringing Formula One to Argentina" is erronous at best.

Please stop posting for the sake of posting. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about, and you are trying to make an intellectual debate out of a subject that has no further points of discussion to cover.
 
Before 1950, Formula One was simply known as "Grand Prix racing". There were literally dozens of events - and plenty of drivers - even before Fangio. Carlos Arzani, for instance, won the 1936 Buenos Aires Grand Prix. Why don't you credit him with establishing the popularity of motorsport in Argentina? Or how about Juan Malcom, Domingo Bucci, José Canziani, Óscar Alfredo Gálvez or José Froilán González? They all won the race, which was considered to be a major international sporting event long before the world had ever heard of Juan Manuel Fangio.
 
Last edited:
StockCarRacer
And today, F1 is a popular sport there. Fangio's impact led the sport to popularity in that nation.
Click to expand...

And your proof is what? All you have done (repeatedly) is prove that you don't know what you are talking about because you continuously fail to support your arguments and when somebody calls you out on it, you either make another argument or you or you spout nonsense. Didn't I also mention last page that America ≠ South America? Did that sink in or are you selectively ignoring any post that differs from yours? If you are then this thread is pointless because you will automatically be right in your mind and you are too ignorant to see what others are trying to explain to you.
 
I'm not sure I understand why people are calling a lock on this thread. Bernie seems to think F1 is a lost case in the USA. My guess is he also thinks the same about Europe, because his concern is not public support, is ... money.

I think this quote, attributed to him, says it all (especially the part I bolded):

taken from ESPNf1.com
"We've got maximum two races in America, and when you consider the country is as big as Europe and we've got several races in Europe, it's difficult," he told Al Jazeera. "If we had a lot more races there and a lot more television, it would be okay. We've been there, years ago, and it's a little bit like the rest of America, they want to see a profit before they start something and it's not easy to do that."
Click to expand...

Apparently, and if we take out the money issue, what Bernie says is that F1 can never be successful in the USA because it can't have more than 2 races there. And I say this is a total nonsense. F1 covers the WORLD and although americans from the USA are very "domestic" in what they like, there's no doubt there's a following for many major international events too.

Now, would it be better if american drivers from the USA were racing in F1? Would it have the impact Schumacher had in Germany or Alonso in Spain? I guess so, but I do doubt that this impact is as huge as it is portrayed to be. A new "surge" of fans would show up, but they'll be short lived. And F1 will always live as it has always: like the most elitist, pinnacle-of-racing, form of motorsports. With enough following to be successful worldwide (including in the USA).

So, replying to the OP, I'll say: no, an american driver wouldn't do much for the following of F1 in the USA. Sustained TV coverage and one (or two) Grand Prix being held in the USA will.

And I'll end with one example: Dan Wheldon. I bet very few people in the UK knew that a british driver had won the Indy 500. Another: Dario Franchitti. If I ask about him to a bunch of people somewhere in England I bet many will look at me and say they don't know italian drivers that much.

Why? Because in the UK you don't get easy access to Indy coverage. And you get no race in Britain (I know it's not supposed, Indy is a domestic series from another country anyway). So, you can have excellent drivers from the UK winning everything across the pond, but that doesn't create a following in their own country.
 
Hun200kmh
I'm not sure I understand why people are calling a lock on this thread. Bernie seems to think F1 is a lost case in the USA. My guess is he also thinks the same about Europe, because his concern is not public support, is ... money.

I think this quote, attributed to him, says it all (especially the part I bolded):



Apparently, and if we take out the money issue, what Bernie says is that F1 can never be successful in the USA because it can't have more than 2 races there. And I say this is a total nonsense. F1 covers the WORLD and although americans from the USA are very "domestic" in what they like, there's no doubt there's a following for many major international events too.

Now, would it be better if american drivers from the USA were racing in F1? Would it have the impact Schumacher had in Germany or Alonso in Spain? I guess so, but I do doubt that this impact is as huge as it is portrayed to be. A new "surge" of fans would show up, but they'll be short lived. And F1 will always live as it has always: like the most elitist, pinnacle-of-racing, form of motorsports. With enough following to be successful worldwide (including in the USA).

So, replying to the OP, I'll say: no, an american driver wouldn't do much for the following of F1 in the USA. Sustained TV coverage and one (or two) Grand Prix being held in the USA will.

And I'll end with one example: Dan Wheldon. I bet very few people in the UK knew that a british driver had won the Indy 500. Another: Dario Franchitti. If I ask about him to a bunch of people somewhere in England I bet many will look at me and say they don't know italian drivers that much.

Why? Because in the UK you don't get easy access to Indy coverage. And you get no race in Britain (I know it's not supposed, Indy is a domestic series from another country anyway). So, you can have excellent drivers from the UK winning everything across the pond, but that doesn't create a following in their own country.
Click to expand...
There is sustained coverage of Formula 1 in the United States. There has been for nearly over a decade. I saw all but 1 race this past year. All F1 races are on Speed Channel or on Fox Sports (via the dreaded tape delay). F1 won't match the major sports in America due to various reasons. One of them is the fact that its on at 8 AM EST on Sunday Mornings.

Am I saying I don't want F1 to succeed in America? No. I am going to the 2013 NY Grand Prix and I plan to go every year if its enjoyable but the sad reality is that money is what corporations care about. The world is in a recession and those who have want more are akin to squeezing every last nickel from those people who pretty much have to choose between life and a sport.
 
Hun200kmh
Apparently, and if we take out the money issue, what Bernie says is that F1 can never be successful in the USA because it can't have more than 2 races there. And I say this is a total nonsense. F1 covers the WORLD and although Americans from the USA are very "domestic" in what they like, there's no doubt there's a following for many major international events too.
Click to expand...

I'd wager that the United States Grand Prix (or whatever it's official title was and will be) probably gets better TV ratings than any other F1 race in the season, and that's probably because of local interest.

Look at the Olympics, it's a really big deal every 2-4 years, but the ratings fall off dramatically once the Games are over, unless it's a sport that carries it's own weight well in certain countries. Sure, there's yearly national events, World Championships, and other events, but they probably aren't as interesting to anyone other than it's most rabid of fans. And I'd imagine that the World Cup has a similar effect on the public at large, which many people probably pay more attention to, because it's a larger stage.

Even our Super Bowl ratings outstrips every other weekend of "average games" and even playoff games, which is really proof that people will focus their attention on one event, rather than a series of events. The point is, the big events get more attention. An F1 World Championship with 15 races in America simply isn't a World Championship (don't bother pointing out that our American sports do that, we've discussed that).

I'm guessing that there's a patriotic reason for that, and it's probably the case worldwide, not just some annoying American-only syndrome.
 
Hun200kmh
Dario Franchitti. If I ask about him to a bunch of people somewhere in England I bet many will look at me and say they don't know italian drivers that much.
Click to expand...

But in Scotland, he is quite well known. Even my mum knows who he is and she does not follow Motorsport at all.
 
Why is this even being discussed still? Does StockCarRacing fan even READ anything other people try to tell him or is he trying to troll now?
 
Blitz24
And your proof is what? All you have done (repeatedly) is prove that you don't know what you are talking about because you continuously fail to support your arguments and when somebody calls you out on it, you either make another argument or you or you spout nonsense. Didn't I also mention last page that America ≠ South America? Did that sink in or are you selectively ignoring any post that differs from yours? If you are then this thread is pointless because you will automatically be right in your mind and you are too ignorant to see what others are trying to explain to you.
Click to expand...

My proof is that he made a lasting impression on the Argentine people.
 
MikeTheHockeyFan
Open wheel racing in the United States gets less coverage than womens' golf. No one gives a S about it in the grand scheme of things.

I wouldn't put the Indy 500 in the same sentence as the Superbowl, World Series....heck not even in the same paragraph.

I hate to be a pessimist, but an American F1 driver competing for or eventually winning the World Drivers Championship would be an on-and-off sports story of note over the course of a season in the U.S. You want to know what Americans care about? Watch Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn. Now try to imagine Formula 1 sliding into that thick slate of NFL/college football, MLB, NBA/college basketball, golf, boxing, MMA, and sporadic NASCAR and soccer coverage....will. Not. Happen.

Americans, for the large part, love situational sports. 4th and inches. Bottom of the 9th inning with a full count. 1 stroke up at the final hole at Agusta. The need to make 2 freethrows to win the whole NCAA tournament. They love savouring the anticipation of a play, the rush of emotion from all that pent up waiting, the roar of the crowd.

Just ask soccer or hockey fans in the States whether their extended friend circle is into their constantly-moving, hard-to-pin-down sports. The answer is usually "no". Formula 1 is almost the ultimate constantly-moving sport. The barrier to entry for someone who prefers situational sports is a huge cliff.

~

The huge interest void F1 sees in the US is part of a vicious cycle, partly due to how F1 works itself:

For a talented driver from a lower series to make it up to F1, he needs sponsorship backing.
American companies who sell to Americans know that F1 is not popular, so they won't spend money backing a US-born driver with sponsorship

The pent-up and demonstrated interest for advertisers needs to be there, and it isn't.
Click to expand...
Yeah......coldly honest there......:scared: One of the best posts I've ever seen on GT planet.

Indy Car would have to be the feeder series, but it doesn't translate enough because their not under the F1 style race procedure (all tight road courses, grid standing starts, etc.) Montoya was "hot" as soon as he started racing in America, & he continued that into F1. It couldn;t have been more than 2 years from his rookie champ car season to his 1st F1 season. They got him at his prime.

Sebastion Bordais (excuse my horrible spelling) performed well, he just was not worth the money for Red Bull in the long run. He wanted more, they wanted more.

There's no doubt in my mind Dario Franchitti could be competitive, so too others in Indy Car. Its just different in America with all the "4th down & inches" caution then green flag with 2 laps to go style racing. In F1 you have to drive the entire race nonstop.
 

Latest Posts

Back