Yahoo Finance’s Josh Schafer joins the Live show to check out Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” series showcasing Formula 1 racing coming to Miami, and American viewership of F1 racing.
Video Transcript
SEANA SMITH: There’s another sport that’s not quite as popular, not nearly as popular, I should say, as the NFL, as football right now. But it’s F1 racing. It has certainly gained a popularity because of a recent Netflix series. A big race coming up this weekend in Miami. Eye-popping numbers that we’re seeing in terms of how much people are spending on hotel rooms, how much they’re paying to go out to eat, bottle service at a club. What is going on?
– Yeah, so the F1 is in Miami for the first time. And people are excited, right? It might be bigger than the Super Bowl, some people are projecting, which is pretty big, right? So the prices that I saw, just looking at some different things online, you want a room in the Hard Rock Hotel on Friday or Saturday night, that’s probably about $1,100. If you want to go get a meal, Carbone, the famous Italian eatery, is doing a whole kind of setup on the beach, $3,200 to attend that.
And then the tickets themselves, cheapest tickets, somewhere in the grandstand, not a great seat, $750. You want to be at a corner, see a crash, see something exciting, $1,000. To be at the finish line, guys, $1,500.
Now, why? Seana, you kind of referenced this with Netflix’s “Drive To Survive.” So let’s take a look at those viewership numbers we just had up there. Netflix kind of had this big series with “Drive to Survive.” They’ve created stars, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricardo. These have become household names because people are watching the streaming service and watching that docuseries.
Now, we had 949,000 viewers last year. That’s up 41% from the numbers in 2019. This year, if you look at the first two races, it’s more than double the 2019 numbers. The numbers are absolutely taking off. Rachelle, have you been watching F1 racing? Or are you getting into the craze at all?
RACHELLE AKUFFO: I mean, I’m always a big fan. When you have something like Netflix with a special sort of introducing you to something that you don’t watch regularly, I like this pairing. I’ve only looked a little bit. I mean, Lewis Hamilton, I’ll watch. Everybody else, I’m like eh, if I don’t know you, I won’t watch.
But I think it’s interesting in Miami. It’s one of these places where it’s really cool to be seen. So obviously, this is a first for Miami. But how much longevity do you think this is going to have once the novelty wears off?
– It’s a good question, Rachelle. I think it’s going to last a while because– so this year, they’re in Miami. Next year, they’re in Las Vegas. When you have this touring model, the novelty stays as you go to different cities. And as you go to those different cities, it becomes, really, maybe a sustainable model and perhaps a model, like we’re seeing with the NFL, that maybe these other leagues are going to start to follow and travel a little bit more and kind of get out of the classic home market setup.
DAVE BRIGGS: And to back up your point, 300,000 people are expected in Miami for a race that only fits 80,000 people. And the economic impact they expect to be $400 million. It’s a spectacle. It’s not just a race. Josh Schafer, good stuff, my friend. Thank you.
