SOUNDS like a strange things to say, doesn’t it – but a recent study provided by the governing body of the sport backs up the fact that motorsport isn’t just a big deal, it’s positively enormous. We set Liam Webster-McCallister the job of analysing the colossal numbers generated by the motor sporting world.

From the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix to a children’s karting championship, the motorsport industry effects millions worldwide.

And to people who are not interested in motorsport they may not realise just how big an industry the sport has become.

Earlier this year we looked into the $2.9 billion Australian motorsport industry, but a recent study has analysed the motorsport industry on a global scale.

The study found that the sport had an annual global input of nearly $251 billion in 2019.

Therefore, if motorsport were a country, and its total output ranked among the national Gross Domestic Product of countries around the globe it would have the 53^rd largest economy in the world.

It also found that 1.5 million paid jobs were supported by motorsport.

However, what we will discover is that there are massive benefits for other industries because of the sport.

The 2019 study was conducted by the governing body of motorsport worldwide, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), and measured the economic and social impact of the motorsport industry.

The FIA provided the opportunity for all its 145 member countries to provide country level data for the study. As a result, over 20,000 surveys were completed.

The study which is the first of its kind globally had some interesting findings which reveal the magnitude of the sport.

$251 billion input to the global economy

This number was brought up earlier, but it is worth considering what contributes to this mammoth figure.

The study splits the economic output of the industry into two separate sections, the direct and indirect.

The direct input the sport provides to the global economy is $94.23 billion while the indirect accounts for $156.63 billion.

The direct input comes from things linked exclusively to the sport. So, this is the market value of the goods and services produced by the industry. Things includes the economic activity generated by motorsport participants, its governing bodies, local clubs and more.

The indirect input comes from other sectors and industries which benefit from motorsport. So, for instance, if an event attendee has dinner at a restaurant, they are helping to pay the wages of a waiter who is part of the hospitality industry. Then this person is free to spend their money elsewhere.

So, the indirect input comes from the money circulating throughout a broader section of the economy.

“Our sport efficiently contributes to the rebound of the economy in Covid-19 times.” – Jean Todt, FIA President

1.5 million total paid jobs

There are quite a few salaries motorsport is helping to pay.

We can again consider direct and indirect as a separator as for who makes up this 1.5 million people.

576,000 people are direct paying jobs from motorsport. So, these are the people who generate the $94.23 billion directly that the industry provides.

This can include professional athletes in the sport, people working at facilities, to professional team employees and so many more.

And the 924,000 indirect paying jobs would include people working in other industries who benefit from motorsport.

Like we already brought up earlier this can include a variety of industries like hospitality or even tourism. Again, using the event attendees’ example – if I went to see a MotoGP Grand Prix in Portugal, I would need a place to stay such as a hotel. Therefore, my interest in motorsport is helping pay people in that industry.

To emphasize how large 1.5 million jobs is, the largest employing company in the world (Walmart) at the time of this study had 2.2 million employees.

If we consider even just the direct paying jobs of motorsport (576,000) that would be the 10^th highest employing company in the world in 2019.

The 1.5 million jobs would also jump to over 1.8 million if we included unpaid workers, which includes the likes of volunteers, officials, and marshals.

Growth of the sport

Motorsport since 2007 has made a resounding leap in its economic contribution, made possible by the sports 2.7 million participants across over 60,000 events.

For perspective, the 2021 Supercars Championship has only 13 events currently planned.

Clearly there are a few other people around the globe organising their own motorsport events and therefore generating income.

The $94.23 million direct input it provided in 2019 is a 90% increase on its numbers in 2007 ($49 billion).

Such economic growth means the sport has more economic input then the world’s 25 smallest nations combined: These countries together had a gross input to the global economy of $61.6 billion.

The increasing economic input generated by the sport matches the tangible grown, too, with an example can be seen in the viewership numbers for this year’s Formula One calendar.

After the first six races of the season, cable broadcaster in the United States, ESPN, revealed an average viewership of 911,000 viewers. This is a 50% increase on the 2020 season and 36% increase on 2019.

More eyeballs equals more revenue and more growth, and the circle continues to grow.

Post COVID?

As this study focused on the 2019 calendar year it is worth noting it does not analyse the impact of the coronavirus on the motorsport industry.

But there are signs that motorsport is finding its feet again, and perhaps it may even of helped the sport reach a wider audience.

Formula One again is a prime example. Although the competition earlier this year reported a $386 million loss for 2020, that can largely be attributed to the coronavirus.

Prior to the pandemic in 2019, Formula One recorded a $17 million profit and that number is only likely to increase if a recent prediction is anything to go by.

Sports industry analytic company Nielson Sports believes Formula One will reach one billion fans by April next year.

The projection claimed that “F1’s pool of interest increased by 73 million people (+20%) last year in 10 key territories.”

The largest growth in the competitions fanbase came from the 16–35-year-old age group. In January 2020 that age group accounted for 40% of all F1 fans however in 2021 that number jumped to 46%.

Nielson Sports attributed this to the Netflix series ‘Drive to Survive,’ and Formula One’s involvement in Esports events.

Young fans are “embracing peripheral programming and over the top (OTT) content such as Netflix’s hugely popular ‘Drive to Survive,’” and F1’s “young, social media-savvy grid of drivers are helping attract new audiences via platforms such as YouTube and Twitch” for Esports activities.

If motorsport can continue to attract people to the sport, there is no reason why this incredibly huge industry can not continue to grow even larger.

Sources:

Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/264671/top-50-companies-based-on-number-of-employees/

Liberty Media Annual Reports (2020): https://ir.libertymedia.com/financial-information/annual-reports

ESPN Formula One Viewership: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/netflix-f1-espn-boost-tv-ratings-espn-rcna1237