The world’s biggest motorsport category, Formula 1 (F1), has revealed that it has plans to expand its presence within the sports betting market. According to Jonny Haworth, commercial director of partnerships, the category intends to create new opportunities within bookmakers to increase engagement with fans.
According to a report released by Nielsen Sports, F1 closed 2024 with a fan base of 826.5 million around the world. This represents an increase of 12% compared to 2023.
However, growth was driven by China, which hosted a race again last year after a hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, interest in Formula 1 grew by 39% in the same period.
Formula 1 occupies little space among sports betting
Although motorsport is popular and around 10% of the world’s population follows F1, the category only accounts for 0.4% of the sports betting market. A cultural issue in the sport may be one of the answers to this movement.
Since, unlike football, basketball, volleyball, tennis and other sports, the championship does not offer the possibility of making bets during the events, closing bets before each training session, classification or race.
With this in mind, Haworth stated that F1 will work on live betting possibilities, with the aim of increasing fan engagement with the category. To this end, the category has been working with ALT Sports Data, a company based in San Diego, United States, since February to find solutions in this regard.
The F1 director spoke about the process. “We are on a journey to seek more space in the betting market at the moment. We move 0.4% of the sector, which is a bit crazy considering the size of Formula 1 and because it is a sport with low latency data in high volume, which is what drives betting”, said Haworth, at the BlackBook Motorsport Forum, held last week in London.
“We are working hard to have an engaging betting product that allows people to not just predict the final results, but use the data to be able to bet in-play,” Haworth continued.
Category seeks new experiences for fans
He also explained that betting can provide F1 fans with a new experience beyond “sitting and watching” the GP. Therefore, the proposed interactivity goes beyond indicating the variation in the category’s results and the unpredictability of the order of forces.
The proposal is that from 2026, when a new regulation comes into force, it would be the perfect time for Formula 1 to work with an eye on the sports market.
“It’s a great engagement tool. I think there are many different ways to engage in the sport than just sitting and watching a two-hour broadcast. This is one way that generates a lot of engagement,” said the F1 executive.
“This is a great season to focus on betting, as there is a lot of unpredictability on the track and no one knows what will happen with the next regulations, which come into effect next year,” he concluded.
Formula 1 machines return this weekend, from April 4th to 6th in Suzuka, the venue for the Japanese GP, the third stage of the 2025 season.
