While sports betting as a whole has long been a lucrative market, interest in Formula 1 has rapidly grown over the last few years, with sportsbooks now vying to take a slice of the pie.
Due to a number of factors, including a popular Netflix behind-the-scenes series, the sport has become one of the fastest-growing spectator sports.
With it no longer being as niche as it once was, the interest in this global phenomenon has been boosted as it continues to draw crowds both in front of the TV and at the track.
Not only is this proving to be a lucrative and welcomed change by those in the industry, but the sportsbooks will be benefiting from the boost in interest, too.
The sport is growing quicker than ever
A study by Nielsen Sports shows that F1 is the most popular yearly sporting series, reaching a total audience of 750 million. And it’s in the last three years that attention has started to significantly soar, with the addition of approximately 50 million new fans since 2021.
The growth is spread around the world, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia seeing rising interest along with a greater female fan demographic than ever before. According to the study, women now comprise 41% of the total fan base for Formula 1.
Historically, betting on Formula 1 hasn’t been greatly advertised due to it not being as popular as other sports. The times are changing though, with many operators now offering more diverse betting markets. Bettors can now gamble on aspects like the fastest lap, qualifying winner, fastest pit stop, and more.
Further statistics, from YouGov, suggest that nearly half of American sports bettors (47%) are interested in Formula 1.
Even some legends within the sport are getting in on the action, as both Kimi Räikkönen and Daniel Ricciardo have shared news about some form of gaming-related deal in the last year.
The Finnish world champion Räikkönen, nicknamed ‘The Iceman,’ signed a multi-year partnership with gaming company Paf earlier this year. The agreement has been conditional on the company obtaining a license in Finland, with the deal to take effect once the country’s gambling market is opened to competition and the current system transitions to a licensing model.
The former Formula 1 driver, Daniel Ricciardo, is another who has entered the gaming/gambling space as he took to his X account in June to share an advertisement with the sports betting company Dabble.
“I’ve given retirement a crack, but it’s not for me. So, I’ve teamed up with the legends at Dabble to start a Tailgate business…,” he said in the social media post.
The deal didn’t go down well with everyone though, as there was an overwhelming number of negative comments left under the post. One user said: “Yikes! Considering Aussies gamblers have the highest losses per capita in the world and a high rate of teenagers on gambling sites, this isn’t it DR.”
If gambling-related companies are aiming to sign more athletes in the future, a different approach may need to be taken if this response is anything to go by – especially with this being a relatively new industry for these athletes to sign.
Gambling companies and sportsbooks are sponsoring teams
As the audience size of the sport continues to grow, it’s no surprise that companies are interested in sponsoring teams.
While these sponsorships used to be mostly from the automotive industry, consumer electronics, or technology products, the advertising landscape in Formula 1 has begun to change.
The online casino and sports betting company Stake became a prominent sponsor of the team now known as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber. This comes after the company announced the partnership with Alfa Romeo F1 in 2023 and it is now the exclusive title partner for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
“We’re determined to continue providing the Stake Sportsbook community with an exceptional Formula 1 betting and viewing experience, and assist you in the process with helpful F1 betting guides and resources,” the company said online.
Others are entering the industry too, including Super Group Limited which was announced in a multi-year partnership with Atlassian Williams Racing back in February.
Plans to launch a data-driven betting product
The sport itself could soon beat sportsbooks to the punch, as Formula One’s director of commercial partnerships recently said the sport is focusing on building an interactive betting experience.
Johnny Haworth has said the idea is to give fans more ways to place bets and get involved while watching the races. According to SportsPro.com, Haworth stated: “We’re sort of on a journey in the betting space at the moment.
“I think we make up 0.4 per cent of the overall global betting handle, which is pretty crazy for a sport the size of Formula One and with a sport that has low latency data at a high volume which is what drives betting.
“When you put all those things together there’s something there and we’re working incredibly hard to figure out how we open up an engaging betting product that enables people not to just look at outcome betting, but enables people to use the data of the sport to be able to engage in various different in-play betting [options].”
Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram
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