COTA Chairman: “The demand in the US could support many more Formula 1 races”

COTA Chairman: “The demand in the US could support many more Formula 1 races”

Formula 1

Formula 1’s popularity in the United States has been booming in the past few years, especially since Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ aired for the first time. The series brought many first-time viewers to the sport, a lot of whom were from the USA, a market that Formula 1 has been targeting for a while now.

As reported by GrandPrix247, there are now more than 100 official sponsor partners from the USA for Formula 1 in 2022. In the past, Formula 1 long had a euro-centric image and viewership and was unable to really crack the US market. But Drive to Survive, documenting behind-the-scenes footage and drama, helped it do exactly that.

From 2008 to 2011, there were in fact no races set in the United States, until the ‘Circuit of the Americas’ race was introduced in 2012. Next year, there will be three races in the US – Las Vegas, Miami, and the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. From suffering with declining attendance around a decade ago, US viewership doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.

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Also Read: “I don’t feel it’s forced”: Daniel Ricciardo talks about F1’s newfound popularity in the USA 

Bobby Epstein: “The numbers from last year could be surpassed”

Circuit of the Americas
Circuit of the Americas

Recently, COTA’s contract was extended by 5 years – and Formula 1 is set to race at it until at least 2026. The COTA’s chairman, Bobby Epstein, said to Autosport that the track’s attendance from last year could be surpassed this year, but reiterated that the organizers are focused on making the fan experience as good as it can be.

Epstein said: “We just got a new road out to the circuit, which we badly needed. As long as we feel like people can have a good experience and we can execute on that, those are the things we focus on. We don’t control the content on the track. We control the entertainment and your off-track experience. Our capacity could be a lot higher, and that’s one thing we’ll look to do over the next few years.”

Epstein thinks that Formula 1 is going to continue to boom in the US and that there could possibly be even more races in the country: “The demand in the US right now is incredible, and will absolutely support three races, and could support many more.” adding that every race in the US is different: and they want to make sure that COTA is ‘for the racing purist’.

“I think we’ll continue to be both a favourite for the racing purist, for the festival-goer, and I think also for the value buyer. We want to make sure that we don’t price people out. I think while we have very high-end stuff, we’re going to make sure we still remain accessible to the everyday fan who we certainly care about.”

He says that in contrast to COTA, Miami and Las Vegas are rather ‘unique’ events, and considering how vast the USA is, he thinks that it is appropriate to say that the USA has fans to accommodate every style of event.

Also Read: Lewis Hamilton ‘hails’ impact of Drive to Survive for growing popularity of F1 in the USA

Also Read: “NASCAR fans going backflips over these numbers is hilarious,” F1 Miami Grand Prix viewership reigns supreme in the USA

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