Media rights deals are only helping Formula E turn the corner. In the U.S., Formula E initially struck a broadcast deal with CBS in 2020 to air races on CBSSportsNetwork, CBSSports.com, and PlutoTV. Last year, it entered an extension of that deal to extend races to Paramount+ and introduce Roku as a streaming partner for events, highlights, interviews, its behind-the-scenes show Formula E Unplugged, and its women-in-racing initiative Girls on Track.
Formula E credits expanded media presence and marketing for 23% growth in fans worldwide in 2024—from 304 million to 386 million. Meanwhile, Formula E saw a 35% growth in its global TV audience last year to 491 million. That exceeded the average annual viewership growth of roughly 20% that Norman said Formula E saw during each of its first nine years.
This season, Formula E claims a total of 10.5 million viewers watched the Formula E race in Mexico City across all its platforms—which would give it total viewership over multiple U.S. broadcasts of Formula 1. As Formula E prepares for its sole U.S. race of the season on April 12 in Miami, and its first race in the city since 2015, it sees a distinct finish line on the horizon.
“You’ve got Formula 1, who’s now 75 years old this season, and NASCAR and IndyCar have a heritage [nearly] 100 years old, so we are just before our teenage years,” Norman said. “When you consider the age of our sport, media plays a key role in thinking about what the access points are to audiences…and building the social and digital presence through streamers is important to continue to take Formula E to as many people as possible.”
Friends in the pits
In 2024, Formula E’s social media following grew 20% from the year before, while views of video content on its social media channels, website, and app increased 147%.
To maintain that acceleration, Formula E put together its EVO Sessions in Miami and paired 11 social media personalities with each of its 11 race teams for driver training for a few laps. Entrepreneur Brooklyn Peltz Beckham caught a ride with Jaguar; retired Argentine, Athletico Madrid, and Manchester City footballer Sergio Aguero drove for Porsche, and actor Tom Felton—known to an entire generation as Harry Potter irritant Draco Malfoy—took a run with Envision Racing.
“We have so much agility and opportunity, and the world is changing at such a rapid pace, but often the partnership models of old…It’s harder to undo in legacy businesses when perhaps things have been carved out in a certain way for [multiple] cycles,” Norman said. “We have the benefit of being so young that we can create, be agile in creating opportunities, and move at a pace that other sports are prohibited from doing.”