What can Formula One learn from the NFL?
In January, Liberty Media bought a controlling stake in Formula One and Chase Carey replaced Bernie Ecclestone as CEO. Carey recently commented that he wants the F1 season to have “21 Super Bowls”. But with F1 testing due to start in just over a week, what can Formula One actually learn from the NFL?
Introduce a GamePass style streaming service
Currently, Formula One does not have its own streaming service, unlike the NFL. One of F1’s major weaknesses under Ecclestone was failing to keep up to date with social media trends and not catering to how fans consume sports. With Liberty’s background, expect that to change. One of the five priorities that Liberty listed shortly after taking over was to “enhance distribution of content, especially in digital”. NFL GamePass allows subscribers to watch all 256 regular season games, plus the playoffs and other content like NFL films, on demand. Something similar for Formula One would be a welcome change.
Introduce a development spending cap
Formula One is expensive, and all but two or three teams are usually in debt every season. Unsurprisingly, this isn’t a great way of running a business; we’ve already seen Manor fold this year. Carey “wants owning a team to be good business”. The first step? Introduce a development spending cap, similar to the salary cap system used by the NFL. This proposal was rejected by F1’s Strategy Group in 2014, but could be more likely under Liberty’s ownership. A development cap would level the playing field, making F1 more exciting for fans and putting the emphasis for success on true engineering talent rather than how deep a team’s pockets are. The development cap, like the NFL salary cap, would increase each year as the sport generates more revenue, giving teams good returns on their investment and making F1 more attractive to potential new teams and manufacturers.
Use the principle of the NFL Draft
In the NFL, the team with the worst record in the league gets first choice of the best eligible college players. In terms of F1, this principle could work in tandem with the development cap proposal above. The team who finishes last in the Constructors standings at the end of the year could be permitted a larger development budget the following season. Each team apart from the Constructors Champions would receive a development bonus; the lower a team finishes, the bigger bonus it gets. This would help to create parity, which would give fans a better spectacle and F1 a better product. This wouldn’t necessarily stop a single team from dominating for several years, but it does give the other teams a better chance of making it a close fight.
More equitable distribution of prize money
In the NFL, all 32 teams receive an equal share of the profits from television and media deals. In 2014, per figures released by the Green Bay Packers, each team received $226.4 million, totalling $7.2 billion across the league from television coverage alone. In Formula One, teams are paid according to the amount of television exposure they get. This is unfair, as the richer, more competitive teams usually receive more because we see them battling for wins. Distributing the collected TV revenue equally is fair and would encourage more competition, as well as being attractive for potential new teams.
Let every team have a say
Decisions regarding F1’s future are currently decided by the Strategy Group; a committee comprised of the FIA and six teams. Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and Williams all hold permanent seats on the Group. The final seat belongs to whichever of the remaining teams finished highest in the Constructors standings. This leaves four teams without a reasonable chance of having their say. In the NFL, decisions are made when the league’s 32 owners meet and discuss issues facing the sport. Each owner has a vote, with a two-thirds majority required for proposed changes to be passed. F1 should be do the same, allowing each of the nine teams a vote. In the event of a tie, Chase Carey or one of his team could have the deciding vote. This would make F1 fairer, instead of effectively being run by the bigger teams. It would also make F1 more attractive to new manufacturers.
