Formula One is aiming to boost fan engagement by leveraging its extensive data to offer more betting opportunities, according to Jonny Haworth, the sport's director of commercial partnerships, who spoke Thursday.
Recent data from Nielsen Sports revealed that Formula One's global fanbase has grown to 826.5 million, a 12% increase from 2023.
Notably, China's fan following surged by 39% in the past year, fueled by the return of the Shanghai Grand Prix following the post-COVID-19 hiatus.
"We're on a journey in the betting space at the moment," Haworth told the BlackBook Motorsport Forum in London Thursday.
"I think we make up 0.4% 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 drives betting."
Formula One, whose cars are equipped with sensors delivering billions of data points, last month announced San Diego-based ALT Sports Data as its official betting data supplier.
ALT will develop betting-focused real-time predictive analytics for Formula One, along with proprietary data and priced odds for the betting industry.
"We're working incredibly hard to figure out how we open up an engaging betting product that enables people not only to look at outcome betting but also to use the data of the sport to engage in various types of in-play betting," said Haworth.
"We believe this will be a huge engagement tool ... There are many ways to engage in the sport other than sitting and watching a two-hour broadcast, and that is one way to drive a lot of engagement."
The 2025 season, featuring 24 races and no major rule changes before a new engine era in 2026, is expected to be one of the closest yet, after four teams and seven different drivers won races last year.
"This season is a great season to really focus on our betting because we're going to see so much jeopardy on the track, and who knows what will happen with the regulation changes next year?" said Haworth.
Betting on Formula One has been tricky for the sport, with team orders being a feature and gambling barred in the Islamic world, which hosts four races in the Middle East.
There are also concerns about gambling and young fans, a key demographic for a sport that has seen rapid growth, partly due to the popularity of the Netflix docu-series Drive to Survive.
