The Australian Formula One Grand Prix is preparing for a time after Netflix.
Speaking at a QUT Business Leaders’ Forum this week, Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO Travis Auld said interest in the Melbourne event had been buoyed by the streaming service’s Drive to Survive docu-series, which follows the F1 competition around the globe.
“The reality is that the halo of Drive to Survive has to taper off, or at least it’s healthy to think that,” Mr Auld said.
“Our job is to build an event underneath that so that when that halo drops off, the strength of the event withstands that and every promoter around the world is going to get judged as to the work that’s been done beneath the halo that’s been created, to build a strong, sustainable event.”
A seasoned sports administrator, Mr Auld said Australia could be home to the biggest Grand Prix event on the international circuit.
He said one in three people who attended the Grand Prix in Melbourne this year were coming for the first time and 43 percent of the motorsport audience in Australia was now female, a demographic shift that will inform the look of future Grand Prix events.
“We want to be the biggest Grand Prix in the world but not at the expense of the experience,” Mr Auld said.
“We had 452,000 at (the Melbourne Grand Prix) this year, that was another record. Crowds in Melbourne have grown 50 percent since pre-Covid.”
He said he could have sold more tickets to the March event but with a contract to host the Grand Prix in Australia until 2037, he was playing the long game to secure the future of motorsport in this country.
Mr Auld has had a close to 30-year career at the helm of some of Australia’s largest sporting institutions, including roles as Chief Operating Officer of Essendon Football Club, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Coast Suns and Chief Financial Officer of AFL Australia.
Appointed head of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation in July last year, Mr Auld now leads the organisation responsible for hosting the two most prestigious international motorsport events in Australia – Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.
“I went into that role not knowing a lot about motorsport, certainly not knowing a lot about the inner sanctum of motorsport,” he said.
“But what’s become clear is the principles of running a large sporting organisation are transferable. You have to understand your product and commercialise that. They are the same.”
