CGTN Europe interviewed David Bailey, a Professor of Business Economics at Birmingham Business School.
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00:00Well David Bailey is a Petrolhead and Professor of Business Economics at Birmingham Business School.
00:06So I think partly this is due to the ownership of Liberty Media who have really opened up Formula
00:11One through things like Netflix, Drive to Survive. They've also opened it up to eSport,
00:18so electronic sports which has appealed to a younger audience and I think that has really
00:24expanded Formula One globally in terms of the market and I think that has worked particularly
00:29well in China where there's been a lot of interest in Formula One for a long time but
00:34it's really broadened the audience base for Formula One in China and I think the other
00:39thing that has happened is having a Chinese driver in Zhu on the grid and the fact that
00:43he has also kind of really engaged with the audience and pushed it along further.
00:49We've seen a 10% fan base growth in the USA but a 39% fan growth in China. It's astonishing.
00:57We're also seeing a lot more interest from women. Why do you think that is?
01:02I think that's largely thanks to Liberty. So this whole Drive to Survive Netflix series
01:09has been very very popular and it's for the very first time in the history of the sport I think
01:16really awakened a sort of a passionate interest amongst women and younger women in the drivers.
01:21You know many of whom let's face it are very good looking and very interesting and it's really
01:25broadened things out so that's I think been hugely important. The other interesting thing I
01:30think about the China market as well is that unlike here in the UK or many other countries
01:35Formula One is free to view still so many people can watch it without paying and that has really
01:42broadened the audience base as well. Is it possible to put a price on how much that fan growth
01:48in China is actually worth? Billions frankly. So in kind of really expanding the Formula One
01:56franchise and brand it's really opened up that market. I think as well that the people involved
02:04in Formula One in China have been very clever so the location of the Shanghai International Circuit
02:11just outside of Shanghai that's been developed into a kind of the real centre for Formula One
02:17in China as well so it's become almost a tourist destination. So I think the value of this does
02:23run into billions and I think this has been very cleverly done by both Formula One internationally
02:29but also Formula One in China. How big do you think Formula One can become in China particularly if
02:36we compare it to interest in other sports? So we've seen a huge success for other sports like
02:41basketball and soccer in China they're set to grow I think. I think they've had the advantage of
02:46having particularly in basketball some very successful Chinese players who have participated
02:54internationally. China hasn't had that so I think whilst there's potential for great growth I think
02:59some of the things that might constrain the development is not having a top flight driver
03:06and also not having a Chinese team. What's interesting is that Chinese automotive firms
03:12are rightly much more interested in electric cars and maybe Formula E so I can't really see
03:18them breaking into Formula One as such although we might see much more in the way of Chinese
03:25companies branding and maybe co-ownership of teams.