What Formula 1 Can Learn from the NFL About Fan Engagement

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: November 1, 2014

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AUSTIN, Texas — Success in the United States is like the Holy Grail for Formula One—not only because of the value but also because finding either entails a seemingly never-ending quest.

If you are looking for one league that has the American market figured out, though, it is the National Football League. According to Forbes' Mike Ozanian, the NFL is not only the most successful professional sports league in the U.S., but it's also the most valuable league in the world.



The Circuit of the Americas (COTA), host of the only American F1 race (for the near future, anyway), has taken a page from the NFL's playbook and last year promoted Jason Dial—a former chief marketing officer for the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers—to the position of CEO.

I spoke with Dial on Friday at the track, and it struck me that many of his ideas are just what F1 fans are clamouring for and what the sport needs to engage a new generation of fans—both in America and around the world.

F1 is already an incredibly successful sport itself, but there are improvements to be made. F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone is in Austin this weekend. Hopefully he is listening.

"The fans in America love access," Dial says. "They want to understand the backstory of the athletes, as well as feeling like they have access to them. In the NFL, we call it 'taking off the helmet.' We wanted the community to have a relationship with the athletes and feel like they have a vested interest in their success."

That is a bit more difficult in F1, where the drivers fly in for a weekend, rather than living in the community year-round, but Dial is doing what he can to bring F1 to the people. There have been events all weekend designed to bring the drivers closer to their fans.



Dial says he wants to offer, "more of a festival-type of atmosphere," and that is how this race weekend seems, with concer...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Formula 1

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