F1 Fans Feel Liberty Media is ‘Out of Touch’ After CEO’s Remark on Fan Consumption

Liberty Media CEO’s comments about how F1 fans are and behave have sparked some social media commentary.

In a show organised by The Race and Axios Media, Liberty Media CEO’s Chang spoke about the changing mindset of F1 fans and how they are handling and adopting that change. He feels the idea is to tap a wider audience rather than limit itself.

For a long time, they banked on the core fans, who would watch every session during the F1 race weekends and have knowledge not just about the top half of the grid, but also the midfield and bottom half – basically an encyclopedia of the sport.

However, things have changed now. With Drive to Survive and even the F1 Movie, the fan interaction and viewing have changed massively. It shows how OTT has been embraced with the launch of F1 TV and the deal with Apple TV.

Liberty Media knows that the current fan will not watch everything, but they will still engage and consume the F1 content on a regular basis by other means, whether it is via social media or purchasing merchandise.

Liberty Media Boss Reckons One Can be F1 Fan Without Watching All Races

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“You no longer think about F1 as something that you’ve got to go to every race or watch every race on television to be a fan, right?,” said Chang. “Now, we would love every person associated with F1 to follow F1 24 hours a day, go to every race or watch every race on TV, but we know that’s not going to happen, right?

“But one of the important stats is that we have hundreds of millions of fans out there [and] 60% of those fans engage with F1 on a daily basis. Obviously, we don’t race every day. So, this is content that is… whether it’s highlights, whether it’s previews of upcoming races, whether it’s lifestyle things, right?

“Stuff like that that people want to engage with on a daily basis, and that brings them into the sport, makes them feel like they’re part of the sport, and it’s front of mind for those people,” summed up Chang, whose remarks created a bit of a stir on social media, as a lot of them thought otherwise and did not align.

F1 Fans Reckons Chang is Out of Touch

Some of them think F1 needs a reality check, and the bubble may burst when the core fans are more valuable to have. “All the quotes from the top about F1’s audience & fans this season have been either insane or insanely out of touch,” said one.

Another said: “Formula 1 deserves to have its bubble burst once and for all; treating fans this way is simply unacceptable. How can you be a fan of a sport WITHOUT WATCHING THE SPORT?”

One felt F1 shouldn’t bother with races, just create a Big Brother show with drivers and earn good money. “Sick that’s a really great way to think about your sport. The less people have to watch the better. Soon we aren’t even gonna do the races we’re just gonna have the drivers in the Big Brother house save us all a shit load of money.”

Another blamed it all on Liberty Media. “Liberty Media has been a shameful owner. They’re destroying F1. What a disaster. Entirely the wrong people.” With one more stating: “I don’t think telling fans it’s okay to not watch every race isn’t the best way to retain and gain new fans. Just saying.”

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Move to Apple TV Has Moved F1 Fans Away

There are plenty who feel the sport is out of touch and that Apple TV has stopped them from watching F1, even though Chang feels the deal with the American giants has only helped the sport to reach a wider audience and even capture it.

In fact, they intend to extend the deal from the current five years to more. “AppleTV is probably the worst mainstream streaming service out there with a terrible UI and no big shows to its name, and now F1 is exclusively tied to it like being shackled to a corpse. Best thing that could have ever happened for IndyCar and NASCAR tbh,” said one.

Another said: “Haven’t watched F1 since they went to Apple. F1 screwed the American market when they left ESPN. I will watch the race recaps on YouTube soon after the race is over..for free.” While one hasn’t watched a single race, “since apple tv I’ve moved on”.

Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.