eRacing Magazine Vol 2. Issue 4 | Page 62

DR: “I actually have a question with for Danielle: I was wondering why we don't see many American brands in F1? Does it have anything to do with the crazy times F1 airs live in the US?”

DC: “That's a big issue. Our coverage of F1 is painfully limited and a lot of times, we have to resort to watch-parties or waking up at 2:30 in the morning or staying awake. Not sure if it has something to do with that but also the gap of having no F1 in the USA for about 9 years before Indy - investors don't want to bet on something like that happening.

It took Circuit of the Americas a while for them to start showing their colours with a few changes in the middle management, it has improved greatly. I know they’ve brought on some very professional people to assist with acquiring sponsors and dealing with advertising and marketing etc

so it might be a slow increase. With Mexico Grand Prix coming on this year a week after Austin, I'm not exactly sure how that's going to play out in the next couple of years”

RZ: “Danielle, do you also think do you think it's partly because it's because the sports base in the US is heavily saturated with NBA, MLB and NFL and everything else?”

DC: “Absolutely - we are used to sports like NBA and NFL being on TV all the time, and College football is huge here. You can watch these multiple times a week and their stars might have gone to the same high school as you or I, so it’s a lot easier to relate. A lot of us play these sports in high school so it’s easier to sell. Whereas for F1 we are just now realising that if your kid wants to go into F1 you have to get your kid into karting.

Here, karting is just considered as a hobby rather than something to be considered seriously”

Any advice for those aspiring to get into “this” side of the sport or set up a business in this very competitive (and sometimes counterintuitive) industry?

DC: “It depends on your angle - if you're going to scholarly route and know that you are going to be good at sports marketing then yes, get a good degree and be involved in as many races as possible. Personally I've got a lot of business connections from Twitter which is why I'm here (on the panel) and that’s a really good way to start. Or you can approach it the way I did; I arrived at this because of my interest in the sport and my desire to help educate people about F1 so that it would be easier to manage expectations when it finally arrived (in Austin).

For me it was just educating myself on all aspects of the sport - the marketing, the technology, the teams and the people involved and then just showing up. Being there: at races of course, and any social events and business events. I am also interested in Formula E so I want to be there and experience it because the networking within the motorsport industry is fantastic. It's such a close-knit community and I’m sure all of us have some contacts in common that we don't yet know about so for me, I would say the number one thing is Show Up!”

Moderator: Not to take anything away from what you’ve achieved but it seems it is more competitive to build a new business in the UK. Most find it hard to find a niche which no-one else is doing. Rebecca, you seem to be agreeing with me….

RZ: “It's definitely a different ball game in the UK than US, certainly to get started in motorsport even though on the outside there appears to be less motorsport in the US because they have NASCAR and everybody else is playing second-fiddle to NASCAR. That being said, because motorsport like F1 is kind of new in US, there's still room to create a profitable business.

I arrived in the UK not long ago and tried to get a job in motorsport; and given my experience and the fact that I am quite a good networker, I had never had anyone say No to me in a job interview before. I was quite shocked to get rejections so it is very, very competitive”

DR: “I've been trying to do this for a while now; for me the first challenge is that I'm an Indian citizen and finding work in motorsport or any sector in the US is a challenge in itself. So finding a job where someone is willing to sponsor your work visa is huge challenge. That being said, I'm beginning to see a lot more traction in motorsport back home in India.

We're having many more local series running there and the initial talk about a FormulaE round in the near future. We have a strong local sports scene and although it hasn’t got to international level, everyone is looking to invest in India as a market so I’m starting to see a lot more traction there than in the US”

BS: “….Because I live in the back-end of nowhere (Zimbabwe), it is extraordinarily difficult for me to break in. But I'd really like to open up entrepreneurial activities related to starting up an internet-based TV channel.

The idea is you can subscribe to Sky Sports and not have to watch a pirate stream. You will be able to customize your viewing experience and have good coverage even if you are from a country that doesn't have a great viewing experience as the default.

The world feed of F1 is really bland – none of the driver interviews and special features that Sky and BBC do are broadcast on the world feed. This is more like a 10 year plan idea that I have; it is not meant to be up and running next year. But for it to work, the regulations need to be loosened a little bit. In the near term, I'll be making some motor-themed pottery though don’t think my kiln is good enough for F1 ceramic brakes!”

eRacing would like to thankRebecca Zeitlin, Deepali Ramaiah, Bridget Schuil, Danielle and moderator Bunmi Ade for their input with this round table discussion.

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