What F1 still doesn't understand about its 'new' fans
Fan Power at the Autosport Business Exchange and the biggest media day in the USA
Thank you for being here. You’re receiving this email because you subscribed to Idée Fixe, the newsletter for curious minds. I’m Toni Cowan-Brown, a tech and sports commentator. I’ve spent the past five years on the floor of many F1, FE, and WEC team garages. I use F1 as my excuse to talk about tech, politics and the business of sports. I hope you’ll stick around.
A new era for Autosport
After my Rolex press trip to Daytona, I went straight to London for two events: the Autosport Business Exchange and the Autosport Awards. Some highlights included listening to the incredible Hannah Schmitz (Principal Strategy Engineer at Oracle Red Bull Racing), learning more about A2RL hours after being told that autonomous racing will never happen, listening to Zak Brown talk about the business of F1 and spending the evening at the awards with fellow friends and people I look up to in this industry.
For context, in June 2023, GMF Capital, led by founder and principal Gary Fegel, acquired a controlling majority stake in Motorsport Network Media LLC, a prominent global digital media platform specializing in motorsport and automotive content. This acquisition includes the Autosport brand, its website, and associated publications. I had a great dinner two years ago at the Austin GP with Fegel, and I think he’s bringing the right level of punch and vision to a media outlet that has been around since 1950 - first published as a weekly motorsport magazine in the UK.
Autosport has struggled to adapt to shifting digital consumption habits and it’s safe to say that Autosport now not only wants to do things differently but needs to, as the market has changed considerably. The motorsport media landscape is evolving, with increased competition from independent creators, YouTube, streaming, and social-first content.
The intention to revitalize Autosport as a premium motorsports media outlet was certainly on display at these events. Both were good, and the Business Exchange was incredibly well-curated with just the right amount of panels and a broad enough range of topics covered. I was asked to be on a panel about fan power alongside people far smarter than me - namely Dean Paulse, Head of Global Licensing at Fanatics, and Donna Birkett Baida, Director of Marketing at F1 - moderated by the wonderfully talented Jon Wilde, Editor-in-Chief, Motorsport.
The panel got me spiralling (shock horror) on all things fandom, and here are my thoughts about F1, fan power, and why F1 seems to struggle to understand and cater to its newer fans.
Visual Diary | Autosport Awards
It’s Not About Men vs. Women
I’m surprised that the conversation still frames fans in a duality of men vs. women, as if our preferences are completely separate. While there are cases where gendered preferences exist, this binary view is outdated. Kevin Leonel is a perfect example of someone creating sports merchandise from upcycled pieces that blend traditionally ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ styles, yet his customer base is diverse. I myself created Sunday Fangirls as a way to reclaim a word too often used as an insult to ridicule young female fans, using fun merchandise to spark deeper conversations about fandoms. Interestingly, more than half of my buyers are men - seeking out fun, colourful merchandise.
The motorsport industry has historically marketed to men, but that’s rapidly changing. Formula E’s audience is nearly 50% female, Formula 1’s audience is now 40% female and brands like Nike and Adidas have shifted away from rigid men’s and women’s collections in sportswear. The reality? Fans want to engage with motorsport in ways that aren’t dictated by outdated gender norms. This old-school duality is archaic at best and damaging at worst. It’s time we leave it in the past.
The Way Younger Fans Consume Sports Is Completely Different
There’s a misconception that younger sports fans need help staying engaged beyond race day. In reality, newer fans are likely consuming more F1 content during the week than traditional viewers. The idea that they need to be “kept engaged” feels misguided.
This new generation of sports fans isn’t a linear TV audience; they are social- and digital-first consumers. They’re multi-screening races, engaging in discussions on social media, and diving into F1’s vast ecosystem of content throughout the week. Consider these stats:
Gen Z spends 59% of their sports-viewing time on digital platforms, compared to 40% for Millennials and just 20% for Boomers (Nielsen).
66% of Gen Z sports fans prefer highlights and social media clips over full live broadcasts (Morning Consult).
F1’s social media audience grew 23% year-over-year in 2022, the highest of any global sport (Formula 1 Global Fan Report).
The high price point of entry is another factor to take into account. Attending a Grand Prix is often prohibitively expensive, and some fans simply can’t afford to watch live races via paid broadcasts. Instead, they turn to social media and fan-generated content to stay connected to the sport. Ironically, some leagues and teams are unintentionally pushing fans away from live events by making them inaccessible, while fan-driven content fills the gap.
It’s Not About New vs. Old Fans
One of the most frustrating narratives in F1 is the supposed divide between “new” and “old” fans which often comes rooted in bias towards young female fans who don’t know any better. The common refrain from teams, media, and even F1 itself is, “How do we help these younger fans understand the sport?” This sentiment, while likely well-intended, often comes across as condescending.
Knowledge of F1 isn’t correlated to age. Some of the newer F1 fans have infinitely more free time and better access to information today than those who have been watching for decades. Case in point: my father has watched F1 religiously for over 50 years, but a 20-year-old with a deep passion and internet access can often outpace his knowledge.
The sport’s success doesn’t lie in catering to just one type of fan - it’s about embracing the diversity of knowledge levels, interests, and ways of engaging with the sport. Actually, the cross-generational opportunities in F1 is one of the aspects I love the most about this sport.
Let Fans Self-Organize
Fandom is one of the most powerful forms of community. During our panel, we were asked: “What are some ways F1 can create spaces to engage fans and build communities?” My immediate answer: this is the wrong way to think about fandom.
Let fans self-organize. Support them, but don’t try to commercialize every aspect of fan culture. Fandom is organic - it’s not a product to be controlled or monetized at every turn. That’s not to say F1 isn’t creating great fan-first products; F1 TV, the F1 Exhibition, and the F1 Arcade are all fantastic. But these should complement, not replace, grassroots fan efforts.
You Can’t Buy Your Way Into Relevance
Finally, and maybe most importantly: you can’t buy your way into cultural relevance. The fleeting sense of legitimacy a brand gets from associating with something popular will not last. Cultural relevance isn’t achieved through sponsorship dollars or glossy campaigns - it comes from understanding, participating in, and respecting the culture you want to be part of. This feels like a whole other conversation for another day.
That was my parting thought on the panel, and it remains my biggest takeaway. If F1 truly wants to evolve and connect with its fans, it has to listen - really listen - to how fandom works today.
Beyond the Headlines
🔗 Kendrick Lamar and Timothée Chalamet’s exclusive interview | YouTube
Speaking of cultural relevancy, this duo pairing ahead of the Super Bowl was pure magic. Both are generational icons who have redefined their respective fields -Chalamet as a leading man embodying a new kind of Hollywood star that blends indie credibility with blockbuster appeal, and Lamar as a Pulitzer Prize-winning artist whose lyricism and storytelling have shaped contemporary hip-hop and social discourse. They share a deep connection to themes of identity, artistry, and the evolving landscape of fame, making them ideal conversational partners in an era where entertainment, culture, and sports are more intertwined than ever. Some creators also had some fascinating speculations as to why Timothée was chosen. But this was nothing compared to the masterclass that was served to us during the halftime show. I’m looking forward to reading all the essays breaking down this performance in every detail.
🔗 Football’s Hidden Fanbase: How the NFL is Winning Over Women | Culture of Sport
Record-breaking female viewership figures are reshaping the NFL, challenging long-held assumptions about who football’s true fans are. In recent years, the league has undergone a subtle yet significant transformation, with women emerging not just as spectators but as passionate participants in the cultural dialogue around the sport. Read here.
🔗 The biggest media day in America; Super Bowl commercials | Sportsball
Incredible breakdown of the economics behind Super Bowl commercials. As Lucas Shaw, at Bloomberg, puts it “While the viewership of everything else on traditional TV has plummeted, the NFL has somehow gotten bigger”
🔗 Netflix considering bid for Formula 1’s U.S. TV rights | The Atlantic
In one of my previous newsletters, I shared some of my bold F1 predictions for 2025 and clearly, they weren’t bold enough because a few have already happened or are happening. I had predicted that “Netflix will secure exclusive live broadcasting rights to a select number of F1 races.” This wasn’t a bold prediction really as Netflix has slowly but surely been making moves in the sports space and has proven it can pull off live events, and more importantly it can attract a whole new audience and understands the value of integrating entertainment and sports which is precisely what F1 needs and wants right now. Also, they haven’t been able to convert the DTS fans into paying F1TV subscribers. Read here.