عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Entertainment

Booming Business of F1 Explored in Documentary Airing Ahead of Las Vegas Grand Prix 

Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen races during the 2023 United States Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 22, 2023. (AFP)
Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen races during the 2023 United States Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 22, 2023. (AFP)
TT
TT

Booming Business of F1 Explored in Documentary Airing Ahead of Las Vegas Grand Prix 

Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen races during the 2023 United States Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 22, 2023. (AFP)
Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen races during the 2023 United States Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 22, 2023. (AFP)

Formula One fanatics will get more behind-the-scenes access to the global motorsports series through a new CNBC documentary that explores the business aspects of the highest form of racing in the world.

The documentary "Inside Track: The Business of Formula 1" will debut Nov. 16 on CNBC ahead of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Las Vegas race is a third stop in the United States this season as F1 has expanded through North America behind a burst of popularity sparked by Netflix’s own docudrama on the series.

While the "Drive To Survive" series on Netflix focuses on the competitors and the drama of F1, the CNBC one-hour documentary will analyze the finances, revenue, and expansion of the series, as well as the role of sponsors.

CNBC anchor and documentary host Sara Eisen said the program is a "true passion project for me."

"I was initially drawn to F1 because my two young children love the sport, but once we started watching the races together, I realized there was something undeniably fascinating from a business perspective that demanded a full exploration of the sport as it reaches new heights in America," Eisen said.

She said the program will explore how the business of F1 "stands firmly at the intersection of sports, technology and culture."

Eisen will take a closer look at attendance, viewership, and market value, as well as next month’s Las Vegas race that is being promoted by F1. Eisen reports from four different F1 venues and had access to Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, who discusses the series’ growth since Liberty took over the commercial rights in 2017.

Eisen also interviewed F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, as well as team leaders from Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren and Haas, and drivers Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg. She delves into engineering, revenue sharing agreements and Red Bull’s recent domination and its effect on competition and viewership.

The program also examines the fan experience with a look at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which is expected to be the most expensive event for spectators on this year’s F1 schedule. Eisen also interviews F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff with a focus on female drivers.

Most Viewed

 
 
Entertainment

Demand for Japanese Content Booms Post 'Shogun'

The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption. Michael Tran / AFP/File
The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption. Michael Tran / AFP/File
TT
TT

Demand for Japanese Content Booms Post 'Shogun'

The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption. Michael Tran / AFP/File
The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption. Michael Tran / AFP/File

But "Shogun", based on the 1975 novel by Australian-British writer James Clavell, broke the mould when the period drama series -- mostly in Japanese and hailed for its authenticity -- won 18 Emmy awards in September.
Other recent Japanese works have also become worldwide hits.
Franco-US-Japanese show "Drops of God", based on a manga of the same name, won best drama series at the International Emmy Awards in November.
Netflix's 2023 adaptation of the manga superhit "One Piece" -- starring Mexican actor Inaki Godoy as the lead -- was hailed by viewers and critics alike and will return for a second season.
More adaptations of major manga and anime hits are in the works, including the superhero adventures of "My Hero Academia" and the ninja escapades of "Naruto".
"Demand from Western markets is clearly increasing," said Kaori Ikeda, managing director at TIFFCOM, the content trade fair affiliated with the Tokyo International Film Festival.
But Japanese companies lack "know-how" when it comes to things like negotiating rights, she told AFP.
So TIFFCOM has organized Tokyo Story Market, a space to facilitate networking and meetings between international producers and Japanese publishers.
'Whitewashing'
Foreign studios are also getting better at avoiding some of the pitfalls of the past, such as the 2017 film version of the manga "Ghost in the Shell" starring Scarlett Johansson.
Critics accused the movie, whose main actors except Takeshi Kitano were all non-Japanese, of "whitewashing".
Similarly, the 2017 supernatural thriller "Death Note" was panned for veering too far from the original manga.
"Manga authors are highly respected and fan communities are very vigilant," said Klaus Zimmermann, producer of "Drops of God".
His adaptation takes some liberties, such as starring a French actor as one of the main characters, but Zimmermann insists it was developed in collaboration with the authors of the original manga.
"It was about finding the spirit of the manga so as not to distort it," he told AFP.
Yuki Takamatsu, a rights negotiator at the manga's publishing house Kodansha, said the process of adapting "Drops of God" was "amazing".
"Everyone was open to tackling those challenges together... At every step, everyone was understanding about how we should do it," he said.
Past failures were in part down to publishers struggling to communicate their wishes to foreign producers, who in turn lacked a proper understanding of manga and anime, Takamatsu said.
"Back just 15, 20 years ago, most of the enquiries we received from those big studios were like, hey, I know 'Dragon Ball', do you have 'Dragon Ball' IP?" Takamatsu told AFP.
"But nowadays, especially since Covid, the producers in their 30s, 40s, they watch anime together with their kids on Netflix or Amazon" and then reach out, he said.
Japanese TV goes global
Japanese broadcasters have also become "better and better (at) presenting and marketing their content" abroad, said Makito Sugiyama, executive director at the Broadcast Program Export Association of Japan (BEAJ).
This includes their participation at global events such as MIPCOM in Cannes, an annual trade show for the television industry, Sugiyama said.
Japanese broadcasters have long had success selling show concepts abroad, like the one for "America's Funniest Home Videos", known in Britain as "You've Been Framed".
Now, some Japanese dramas are also finding a wider echo abroad.
Nippon TV's original drama "Mother" became a hit thanks in part to its Turkish remake, and has been broadcast in around 50 countries.
Western viewers have overcome their initial reluctance to watch series with Asian actors, believes Masaru Akiyama, chief executive of the BEAJ.
"They have got used to it, they don't care anymore. They want to see, they want to feel the stories."
"Shogun" was "a game changer for Japan," he added, and Ikeda agrees.
"That a samurai story with such attention to historical detail can become mainstream entertainment is proof of the potential" of Japanese content, she said.