Much like any property, motorsports is always looking for that next big thing. It is hoping to attract and expand its market share in the ever-evolving segment of sports and entertainment.
Over the past few years, motorsports, across all disciplines, has done a great job in integrating new sports campaigns to grow motorsports and reach a new audience.
F1 has taken its product to new locations with F1 Live. INDYCAR has introduced multiple ways to view its product through the visor and nose cameras. NASCAR took a huge step, introducing its product to the millennial audience by partnering with Monster Energy.
All of these have made a positive impact on motorsports and helped grow each property, but what else is out there? What are we seeing in traditional “stick and ball” sports that could translate to motorsport?
Borrow From Basketball
The NBA has recently introduced the opportunity for fans to purchase the 4thquarter of any out-of-market game on NBA League Pass for $1.99. Since a typical race can take upwards of three hours and the final laps can be the most thrilling, there may be the opportunity to offer the final ten or so laps of single events on streaming devices or on individual apps through the property. What would you pay to watch the final 10 laps of the Indianapolis 500, Monaco Grand Prix or Daytona 500?
Mimic The Match
Ever since Fernando Alonso came over to the United States to run the Indianapolis 500 and capture which was at that time his second leg of the motorsports triple crown (Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and 24 Hours of Le Mans), there has been a lot more talk about cross-promoting drivers across different disciplines. Most recently, 7-time NASCAR champion, Jimmy Johnson did a seat swap with Alonso in Bahrain.
So, what if we take a little Tiger vs. Phil from The Match and add a motorsports twist to it? Let’s say the champions from every pinnacle-level series come together at the end of the year for “seat swap” where the fastest across all disciplines is the World Champion. Not saying it’s realistic. Just saying it would be cool, right?
Follow Football’s Footsteps
Finally, we live in an era where the line between live sports and reality TV continues to get more and more blurred. Popular programs Hard Knocksand Last Chance Uboth show the behind-the-scenes life of football.
With the long offseason in motorsports, there is a lot of downtime of on-track content, but there is plenty of drama to capture. Sponsorship deals are made and lost, drivers are signed and released, and engineers prepare for testing. Add all of those elements together across all the teams in a single discipline. There would be some great stories to tell.
What else is out there? What would you take from traditional sports and add to motorsports? Also, what could traditional sports learn from motorsports?
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