Sprint Race: Formula 1 continues to innovate at pace to engage fans. |
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Recently, Murray Barnett and I sat down to chat about data with Matt Roberts, Director of Research and Analytics at Formula 1, for the first episode of our podcast: Sports Pundit Explains (To Be Released on Thursday!)
Today's article takes a snippet of this conversation and applies it to a recent announcement from within the sport. I hope you enjoy!
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T he proposal by Formula 1 to introduce sprint races as a new qualifying format at selected Grand Prix has apparently been received negatively by some fans.
However, the move is likely to go through. “All teams recognised the major importance of engaging fans in new and innovative ways to ensure an even more exciting weekend format,” said Formula 1 in a statement.
Matt Roberts, Director of Research and Analytics at Formula 1, in an exclusive interview for the NEW Sports Pundit Podcast, explains that, “Research and data helps to inform decisions, it doesn’t make decisions.”
“There have been times fans haven’t been massively positive about something. For example, the fastest lap point we did at F1, it wasn’t overwhelmingly supported by fans when we put research out there and asked people, yet now, in polls and surveys, it’s really favoured massively,” he continued.
“So, I think you can’t always rely on fans telling you what to do next, sometimes you do need to take that gamble,” Roberts concluded. This could potentially be one such moment. That is because Pierre Gasly’s win at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza was voted as fan’s favourite race of the season - by a landslide. The two standing starts and surprise front runners were what reignited the debate about using sprint race formats in F1 in the first place. This poses an interesting question about when sports rights holders should listen to their fans, and when they need to over-ride fan sentiment for the good of innovation and progress in their sport. And Formula 1 are yet again proving an excellent example of this.
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Sergey Portnov, the CEO of PariMatch, recently said in an interview with Gambling Insider that, “While sports betting will find other way to advertise–policymakers should be cautious not to destroy many businesses that contribute not only to the economy but to people’s sense of joy, unity, pride and identity.”👇 He clearly has his motives for saying this (as a sponsor of Leicester City and Everton), but does he have a point? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter.
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From 'Big Tech' taking on Joe Wicks, to Post Malone performing a digital concert in Pokémon, here's a few of the best articles I've read from across the industry...
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- Betting sponsorship: sport’s next financial crisis. - The Week.
- In no-spectators era, digital platforms are turning sports sponsorship on its head - The Drum.
- England Cricket Board unveils new Principal partnership with Cinch - Inside Sport.
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Photo Source:Official Pokémon |
- As sport’s models change, shared benefits will be key to future growth - SportsPro.
- Universal Teams With Big Hit and YG Entertainment to Invest in Global Live-Streaming Platform - MusicBusiness
- Pokémon Rings in Its 25th Anniversary With a Post Malone Concert - Hypebeast.
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- Big Tech and Joe Wicks go head-to-head as digital fitness bulks up - Wired.
- Apple Fitness + Is Just The Start Of The Next Wave To Disrupt The Fitness Industry - Forbes.
- Cricket turns to technology to inspire the next generation - Microsoft.
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- Glazers’ sporting success shows the benefits of writing big cheques - Financial Times.
- A year of hell: Mel Morris reveals how a Covid battle and major health problems forced him to sell Derby, at a personal cost of £200 - Mail Online.
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Loughborough University contributes to research on transmission risk of COVID-19 from sports equipment |
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A team led by LSTM’s Dr Emily Adams, have investigated the transmission risk of COVID-19 from sports equipment, finding that the risk is likely to be low, and probably lower than from player interaction before, during and after sporting activity.
The project called upon the expertise of Loughborough University’s Professor Andy Harland, with initial results published as an un peer reviewed preprint on the Metrix server.
Public health interventions to control the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK have resulted in restrictions in social mixing, with both amateur and professional sports either prohibited, or allowed with considerable infection control measures in place.
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