Why isn't F1 popular in the States

pearls before swine.

 

They want to watch Bob and Jim driving Fords and Chevys.


F1 has been pretty hard to get excited over for a long time. It has become a technology showcase. Every once in a while during an event someone races someone else.

 

NASCAR, sadly. I feel the same confusion as to why Moto GP isn't more popular here, considering we're the biggest consumer of sports bikes. I'm assuming that America is not the biggest consumer of companies that compete in F1?

 

Ferrari yes, the US is the biggest market.
Renault no, they sell no Renaults here, but their partner Nissan does.

The rest really not sure, but for companies like Toyota, Honda, and Mercedes I would think the US would represent a large portion of their sales.

For this reason, the manufacturers in F1 would like to see interest in America grow. Norbert Haug (Mercedes bigwig: head of motorsport I believe) has said several times that there must be a race here for that reason, and he would like to see another.

 

well, for starters I remember a race where only 6 of the cars actually decided to start the race... huge fiasco... pissed a lot of people off.

 

First, I agree that giant ovals make for a dull race.

Maybe Americans like watching events in which American cars dominate. Ricky Bobby and his Chevy, etc. We do have a lot of open space for huge ovals, and less need for hairpin turns (have you been to Charlotte?)

Whatever caused Europe to build agile, corner-gripping race cars and the U.S. to build torque monsters would figure into the equation. My history teacher would tell you it all comes down to geography, and the facts are that Italy doesn't look much like Georgia, NC, Alabama, etc.

I think soccer/football is an entirely different question. Frankly I can't even watch the NFL anymore - a bunch of spoiled mercenary druggies and a game built around TV ads. Zero soul. Pass. I actually found the World Cup more entertaining, but kind of like the Olympics - something to get excited about once in a while.

 

Reason #1: There were no Americans in F1 for ages. Even Champcar is not as popular as Nascar or IRL, the latter two fielding a lot of American drivers. Champcars have had very few American drivers and this has been hurting the series. Very few Americans watch sports from other countries - e.g. soccer, cricket whatever.

Reason #2: Very limited amount of overtaking in F1 compared to the oval races. I think the average American is not prepared to wait for an overtaking move to develop over 3-4 laps as the chasing driver goads the leader into a mistake or feints one way and passes the other. I think most folks here want instant gratification

Reason #3: Most of the events are at really odd hours - start at 6am on Sunday for the European rounds or at midnight for the Asian rounds. The US races are pretty much run at prime time

Reason #4: Not much promotion in the US - where are the roadshows. Also the drivers are pretty much aloof and non-controversial. Unlike in Nascar or the craftsman truck series where the drivers hit each other on the slightest provocation

Reason #5: Very few spectacular crashes in F1 - I have a feeling that this is one of attractions to a Nascar fan who watches in anticipation of a "big one" occuring.

Therefore it is a very small hardcore bunch in the US that are dedicated F1 fans

 

I think that F1 is too 'elitist' for motor sport fans in the USA.
They will get to see one GP a year anyway.
F1 is technology dominated, and doesn't provide the kind of spectacle American spectators are used to.
USA has also 2 high-power single-seat series that tour the country.
The PR from FIA, and F1 in general, sucks. Drivers make sure they stay out of reach of the fans and frankly seem to snub the public at time.

That's my opinion. It's slightly different here in Europe where if you really want to, you can travel and see 5 or 6 GPs a year (I know I used to).

 

Largely as F1 these days is little more than slot car racing. Too many computers, traction control, electronic trannies, etc, etc. Perhaps one race in ten is remotely interesting.

Whereas with Nascar, there's a lot more "action" per se, and the drivers tend to be a lot more personable. To say nothing of speaking english.

I used to love F1 and hate Nascar. Now I hate F1, tolerate Nascar, and watch IRL.

 

I remember a time when the US had TWO GRAND PRIX races a year. Back then you watched the big races on the Wide World of Sports, sometimes a week later. None of them we live, and no one cared. But, there was at least one competitive US driver in those 70's races, and he was popular as hell, as were many of the other drivers from the late 60's to the 70's when Watkins Glen held a race, and the bog was full of crazies.

Mario Andretti.

Plus many of the other guys were interesting. Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark, Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda, Jim Hunt, I could go on and on. They were characters who were interesting to listen too, and seemed approachable. The F1 guys today are as approachable as a porcupine.

And, much as I hate to say it, the racing was much more dangerous then. There was always the distinct possibility of major crashes, and the carnage that would follow. Ahh..... Those were the days. (Except for the carnage.)

Now, there's no feel for the US market in F1. If it ain't going roundy-round for two-three hours, with lots of twisted metal along the way, we ain't interested.

CART and Indy are having the same troubles. NO US DRIVERS, and the ones they do have are JERKS.

Hey, ALMOST ALL the F1 Drivers are JERKS. Maybe that has something to do with it. No down home feel. No friendly "Rubbin' is Racin'" feel to F1.

And, look at Bernie. What average American can identify with that ******?

There's just nothing in it to make Formula 1 work better in the US. 300 million people here. How many outside of Fchat even watch the races? I wonder what the ratings are on Speed Channel.

Until F1 can figure out what makes the US market tick, then they're gonna have trouble breaking out of their die hard fan base here. BUT, maybe that's enough for them, who knows?

DM

 

Magor generalization.....F1 is not very "fan friendly"

American fans want value for their $. Go to IRL, CART, ALMS, NASCAR, NHRA, Etc... the teams, drivers and cars are fairly easy to get next to and be involved with.

F1 puts on their show "at arms length" and while it's an interesting deal at first, as go by time it (the show) gets old. Sure you can get a pit pass and access to the F1 teams of you have $3-$5 to throw away on a race weekend...no thanks.

I watch F1 and will continue to do so, but I probably wont spend $ to attened anymore.

I personally don't think it really has anything to do with class/$/economic stauts, etc. It simply comes down to a being able to relate to either the cars, the drivers or the overall feel of the event...and F1 lacks that.

my $.02

 

I am a big time fan of F1, but it has IMHO lost its edge, most if not all passing is done in the pits. Drivers are, or give the impression of, being elitist and aloof with no "connection" to the fans.

This all adds up to make F1 as boring as watching paint dry.

 

I think formula one is very similar to soccer:

Only a few (or even zero) overtaking / score in the whole game.
When there is one, it is very exciting.
Rest of the game could be very boring.

And I think it is different from the fast food culture of US. Everything has to be fast and action packed - like basketball, football, NASCAR.

US: Hamburger, Fries, Fast food, Microwave food, junk food.
Rest of the world: Real food.

You can also compare Hollywood films with films from the rest of the world.

 

I think I know. Even back in 2004, Formula One averaged 340 million viewers per race across the season. That's over 6 billion viewings per year, so although the US market is not insignificant, the 300 million potential viewers just aren't that important to the FOM, particularly with the market pressures & barriers to entry, (i.e. other televised sports which hold greater local pull) which define the insular US sports market.

Bernie's reasons for going to the US are purely commercial these days - it's for the benefit of sponsors and local market brand building activity, and to amortise costs of the fly-away in Canada (which also has a stronger following for F1 than the US). The fans are a pretty low-order priority these days, as their contribution is financially less significant.

Simple economics - Bernie - like him or loathe him - knows how best to sweat assets. And with some success - F1 remains the world's richest sport for that reason...

Ben.

 

Cause only 2.15% of the American popluation is aware that there is a world outside their borders, let alone watching sports which are derived from other countries!

 

It sounds like you have never been to a superspeedwqay event. They are anything but dull. A race at Daytona makes any F1 race seem dull and boring. The direction of the corner is not important, the side by side action is.

Reasons why F1 is not popular in the US?

1) F1 is just not as exciting to watch as NASCAR or even IRL, you have to appreciate the the technical aspect of the sport to appreciate F1. NASCAR and IRL are side by side wheel banging competition.

2) F1 drivers are not approachable, nor can you see them up close. Frankly, most F1 drivers show up in a country, drive the car, and could not care less about the local population. Seems like Michael is the only one that drove across our beautiful country, on a motorcylce no less. But then, Michael Schumacher is the only non-American driver in a long time that had a personality.

3)There is only one race in the USA. That is not going to keep anyone's attention except the hard core race fan.

4)When you have a president as we do that made a big deal about French fries when that country would not support our mistake in Iraq, the average non-independent thinking American will think that anything foreign is wrong.

5)There have only been two American world champions in how many years? One other driver (Cheever) that did OK. Not much with which to identify.

6)More people drive Chevrolets, Dodges, and Fords, than drive Ferraris, Mercedes, BMW's, etc.

7)NASCAR commercials are just funny. Now that Schumacher did his funny Shell commercial, maybe other no-personality F1 drivers will join in.

8)F1 drivers do not care about the American public.

 

The vast majority is aware of "a world outside their borders", most simply don't care about it. Americans can get every type of living experience (big city, small town, mountain, desert, seaside, etc) they could ever want without worrying about a passport.

re: F1 in particular -- frankly, it's a relatively boring form of motorsport populated by a bunch of arrogant snobs. I'll still watch it because that's where Ferrari is, but if the Fcars weren't there even fewer in the States would bother with F1.

And in regards to the "highest level of motorsports" -- as long as Super Aguri is in F1, that claim is complete nonsense. F1 these days is primarily a spec series with unlimited budgets, and only 3 or 4 competitive teams.

 

Well, I'll throw in my $.02.

Here you can not get any coverage of the races. Nothing in the news papers and nothing on TV except for Speed. Not everyone gets Speed. I for one would like to be able to read all these stories that European papers print about the drivers and teams. Atleast I have heard that they cover it over the pond. I was there in the off season and didn't really see anything in the papers.

Secondly is the fact that there is only one race here. Not much to be done about that I don't think. Couple that with having only one American Driver (and a not very good one at that *) in the line up.

Oh well, I guess I'll have to come here to talk about it.

* Not that I could ever in my dreams do as well as Scott does. He is just lacking style IMHO. He comes across as a goofy California Surfer kid.

 

Chill mate, it was just a joke , no harm intended.

 

F1 could be wildly popular if they did the following:

* Large US presence. Races at the major speedways. Indy, Road America, the Glen, Laguna, etc, etc.

* No electronic transmissions, traction control, or other sissy crap. You'd see a lot more driver personality without this junk.

* Turbochargers. (Okay, that's not really needed, but a return of the turbo days would certainly make ME watch)

* Major media relations work with the three-letter US networks.

The first and last would bring in a lot of domestic advertising dollars, and as a result, more domestic teams, and hence more public interest.

 

Really?

Recent drivers: Zanardi? Liuzzi? Montoya? Villeneuve? Irvine? Berger? Alesi? (and admitted to a lesser extent) Raikkonnen? Not a personality among them? Ok, how about...

Senna? Piquet? Mansell? Prost? Patrese?

Or Moss, Stewart, Clarke? James Hunt - the original racer-playboy.

C'mon - I'm all for debate and difference of opinion, but even the most mirth-averse among us must find something redeeming in these non-American flawed characters!

Though I did meet Phil Hill at Goodwood a couple of years ago - what a gent!

 

nice ideas, but as I explained, Bernie's not all-together fussed about a US fanbase.

In order of your suggestions:

1) simply won't happen. For one thing Bernie's sure as hell not going to run F1 over courses that other formulae use, in case 'the pinnacle of motorsport' mystique is shattered

2) F1 is more committed than ever to technology like this, as it's seen to have a filter-down effect to road-going cars, therefore it has a commercial (R&D & marketing) benefit to sponsors.

3) I liked the turbo cars too, but Max has his safety hat on, and the days of 1200bhp F1 cars are not likely to return

4) Bernie's not going to negotiate with the major networks because they won't pay his fees, and he's not going to convince them because of home-grown sports dependency. Chicken & egg...

F1 is now a business first, and a sport second. The reason it lacks popularity is due to this factor - it's not an instant-gratification sport, it's politics, technology, personnel and equipment are as integral as the guy in the cockpit. You need an interest in, and understanding of this as the 'big pucture' at the very least to sit your way through a race weekend, and to be frank, most people don't have the patience!

 

I think Americans could like F1, given their natural social drives to have/be/control "the best" of anything (I mean this in a positive way... I moved here because of it!).

I think there is little interest because of:

1) No distinctly American team.

2) No competitive American Driver. Speed is a great start but he has a long way to go up the ranks still.

3) Only 1 race here. Frankly, if I were F1 I would seriously push for the Vegas street race like Monaco's, right on the Strip. Vegas can handle a incomparable number of tourists, and is close enough to California, the most populous state (and prime marketing target for BMW, MB, Ferrari, etc.). It is hard to compare to NASCAR with weekly races or any league with much more regular events.

To those who said lack of coverage, that is the result of the lack of interest, not the cause of it.