Liberty Media took control of Formula One in 2017 with the intention to open up the sport to fans, improve the spectacle of the show and improve its commercial performance. The $4,6 billion deal finally brought an end to the rule of Bernie Ecclestone as the mysterious boss of one of the world’s most-watched sports.

This huge sum was funded by a combination of loans, a share offering, other debt and $301 million of Liberty Media’s own cash. The deal spanned five months, with purchases of Formula One’s parent company Delta Topco being purchased in several phases. 

Reaching New Audiences

A big part of Liberty Media’s plans for Formula One was to expand its audiences, particularly to younger demographics. For the most part, it has had a fan base that was older than other sports. This is reflected in many of the sponsors involved in Formula One, including Rolex, Tag Heuer, Mercedes AMG, Ferrari and Gieves & Hawkes. All of these brands generally have older, more wealthy customers and are involved in Formula One as it is a great way to advertise to them. 

In order to reach these new audiences, Liberty Media has launched an esports league, begun making use of social media and released a Netflix show called Formula 1: Drive to Survive to show behind the scenes of the sport to audiences that may have not previously seen the human side of the races.

Short highlight videos of each race have also been published on YouTube, as well as historic races and interviews with teams and drivers, to provide additional content for existing fans and to reach new ones. These initiatives have helped to increase the sport’s global viewing figures by 10% in 2018. 

Less Success in the Betting Market

Whilst global viewing figures have been increasing, Formula One continues to have lower levels of wagering on races when compared to sports like horse racing and soccer. Whilst sports betting brands like Fox Bet run promotions to encourage new customers, Formula One fans generally remain uninterested in betting on their favourite drivers and teams.

Fan-First Experience

Liberty Media said that it would always put fans first, and even conducted research in the form of an unprecedented online survey called F1 Fan Voice to ask for their opinion. Almost 35 000 people submitted their views, with 86% of fans saying they had attended less than five Grands Prix in the last 10 years, with the biggest reason for not attending being that it is too expensive.

As a result of this, some ticket prices have been reduced with the British Grand Prix being one of the first to do so. Better on-screen graphics was another request by fans, and in 2019 a swathe of new data was added to the TV feed for fans. 

Not All Sunshine and Rainbows

Not all of the changes have been well received, with the Formula One Promoters Association (the group of organisations that manage the individual races) in January 2019 saying that it was unhappy with the introduction of new races in place of the existing venues. It also stated it did not believe that the move of TV rights from free-to-air broadcasters to paid alternatives would have a positive effect on the sport in the long term.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner also criticised the introduction of new front wing regulations in 2019, claiming that they had not been well thought out and that they would not improve overtaking as had been intended. 

The methodology of Bernie Ecclestone was very much a short term, deal by deal approach that he managed to continue with for nearly 30 years. Liberty Media has taken a much longer-term approach, and in many areas is still tied to deals and contracts signed by Ecclestone. Therefore, the changes they’ve introduced so far are smaller than some fans would like, but the results do seem to be positive. TV viewing figures are up and the opinions of fans are being listened to. Only time will tell whether this purchase will truly benefit all involved.