Formula One (F1) has announced that this weekend’s Mexico Grand Prix will be broadcast on the Twitch streaming platform.
The one-race agreement, which is not global, will allow the Amazon-owned streaming service to provide fans from Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden the ability to watch every session of the race weekend live and for free on Twitch platforms.
F1’s director of digital and licensing, Frank Arthofer, commented on the announcement: “Twitch has incredible reach, a unique creative spin on sports media coverage and an engaged digital audience; they are a perfect partner for us to be working with on this project.”
In addition to providing live coverage of the Grand Prix weekend, the stream will also integrate several interactive and gaming elements such as the inclusion of a data extension which will allow viewers to predict the performance of individual drivers over ten-minute segments of the race, with the prediction results then being ranked and displayed.
Furthermore, in order to appeal to the specific regions each session is set to be ‘co-streamed’ by a select group of prominent in-market personalities.
German gaming influencer PietSmiet, whose commentary will be available in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg, stated: “As Formula 1 fans, the co-stream is something very special for Team PietSmiet. We are looking forward to experiencing the race weekend live with the community.”
F1 now becomes the latest sport to trial Twitch’s co-streaming feature which has already seen action in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL). The streaming service also provides coverage for Major League Soccer (MLS) after a one-year broadcasting partnership was announced earlier in the year.
Farhan Ahmed, strategic partnerships manager at Twitch, added: “Millions of people tune in to Twitch every day to watch live content and form communities around their shared interests. We’re thrilled to partner with Formula One to bring exciting motor racing content to our community in a way that’s unique, shared, and interactive.”
The Mexican Grand Prix takes place on 27 October and Twitch users could potentially witness the culmination of the 2019 F1 drivers’ championship battle, as current championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who has previously secured his last two titles at the Mexican Grand Prix in 2017 and 2018, needing to beat his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas by a mere 14 points to repeat the feat and clinch his sixth drivers’ championship.
A statement released by F1 concluded: “The one-race deal shows once again that Formula 1 continues to innovate with its broadcast offering, leveraging Twitch’s unique technology, fan engagement tools, and community to reach and engage with new fans in new places as well as the traditional television audience.”
Insider Insight: The deal could see F1 attract a higher viewership as it coincides with Lewis Hamliton vying for his third consecutive drivers championship.
Due to this, existing users who would may not usually watch the sport could be tempted to tune in, along with a possible host of new users thanks to the integration of interactive content and the inclusion of influencers such as PietSmiet.
