Netflix's F1 series seen as boost to sport

“Almost every comment you get out of someone out of the U.S., they reference ‘Drive to Survive.’”Ian Holmes, director of media rights and content creation for Formula 1, said the Netflix series — when combined with ESPN's broadcasts — have changed perceptions of the sport in the U.S."Netflix has enabled us to showcase the sport in a whole different light, making the drivers and team principals overnight celebrities to a new audience," he said in an email. Data from Google Trends shows search interest has peaked in recent weeks, hitting levels almost double the top search interest in 2017.Dan Singer, a partner at the consulting firm McKinsey & Company in the media and entertainment practice, said that sports documentaries aren't a particularly new form of entertainment but can take on a new power when paired with Netflix's total audience — now about 74 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada.And while he was hesitant to attribute all of Formula 1's recent success to Netflix, he did say other leagues have taken notice."I can say that other leagues are building groups to pursue nonfiction program development because they see that effect that it’s had in Formula One and also the effect that it's had in basketball and football," Singer said.ESPN is also hesitant to directly link Formula One and Netflix."There is not a way to quantify if the Netflix series has contributed to the audience increases, but it certainly hasn’t hurt," John Suchenski, ESPN's director of programming and acquisitions, said in an email.