How To Make F1 More Accessible

 

$2300 average. It's what you'll pay to seat yourself for three days at the Miami Grand Prix circuit. Indycar tickets will run you $100, Nascar half that. F1's image as a global sport always came with an asterix. While 70% of the world makes less than $25,000 a year, ticket prices have risen. Nowhere more than at its newest circuits. As F1 reckons with its complicit place in sports-washing and its evidently white heritage, it must also eventually address its pricey cost to entry. 

In order to place this in an understandable context, let's compare F1 to a young Americans journey through sports during their lives. For most younger adults, sports are an accessible medium. In the United States, athletics are mandatory, and even without that, kids of all ages seek out after school programs to participate in their favorite sports. So much so that even beyond professional leagues there are three competitive sports levels in college, intra-collegiate scrimmaging teams, and of course recreational leagues as well. At their most impactful, sporting events are community-building gatherings. They serve as a means to creating that inclusive potential. 

If there's a racetrack anywhere near your home, you know this. Motorsports of all the sports I have tried has the most tightly wound community. At the end of the day, motorsports in the United States are a niche endeavor. If I had a dollar for every time I'd heard one of my friends ask me the difference between 'bumper cars' and go-karting I'd have enough dollars for a couple of rounds on a kart. Due to that heritage of only involving the most passionate individuals, it truly feels as if anyone at any given track could become a life-long friend. The location itself holds a fertile quality for those budding connections.

Often overlooked are the millions of potential fans of such a sport. IndyCar never makes it on TV over the NFL, NBA or otherwise. Nor does NASCAR, and until recently F1 wouldn't even suffice for the ABC network's main sports channels. Without now defunct mecca of American motorsports Speed TV broadcasting the eventful 2011 Singaporean Grand Prix, this blog would have never come about. It's a privilege to be conscious f motorsports from a young age. Yet, I imagine my middle school classmates whose eyes lit up at the idea that they could become drivers at just 12 or thirteen. There's an inescapable language of freedom associated with motorsports. Having total control over your trajectory. It's addicting. 

Nevertheless the barriers to actually attending one of these races persist. Screenshots circulating Reddit show a >$40 markup on earbuds at the race. Assuming you have your own, that ticket price will be enough of a barrier on its own. Overall its a sporting event most American families will only be able to reasonable afford once a year, and at the cost of their other hobbies. If it were me, I'd find it in the budget to go one ever four to five years, but no more. That's coming from someone who has been writing about the sport he loves for over a decade now. In countries with lower wages, ticket prices still remain unobtainable. Flashy photographs of Sheiks and models bring an appeal to the sport that only people interested in that lifestyle would be transfixed by. In other words, the FIA jingles its premier form of motorsport like a set of diamond earrings. See, but don't touch. 

Ultimately, the point of this article is to give you a sense of how sacred the act of motorsport is. If it were me I'd put a track near every town over 40,000 people. It's an activity I've enjoyed with my brother, girlfriends, father, and many more regardless of their age or experience levels. In order to see more fans come through the gate, make those gates turn just a little easier.