The Future is Fangirls
Read on to discover how Formula 1 and the NHL harnessed the power of the fangirl to massively grow their young, female audience.
TL:DR
Formula 1 massively increased their young, female fanbase by
Creating an on-ramp for new fans by leveraging media and formats they already enjoy - ie, reality tv,
Removing alienating elements, like grid girls,
Allowing drivers and teams to freely post on social media
This tapped into existing fangirl behaviour
When Liberty Media bought Formula 1 in 2017 they made three critical decisions that would change the fate of the sport forever.
First, they got rid of the traditional grid girls, signalling a move away from the sport’s often sexist past. A small move, but symbolically welcoming. Second, they removed restrictions on social media use, paving the way for drivers and teams to create content like never before, turning good-looking drivers into bonafide social media celebrities. And third - most famously - they signed a deal with Netflix to create ‘Drive to Survive.’ ‘Drive to Survive’ is only superficially a sports documentary; really, it’s a reality show, drawing on the familiar, beloved rhythms and vernaculars of shows like Real Housewives.
These three moves combined rebuked former owner Bernie Ecclestone’s strategy of appealing to wealthy over 70s, and led to a renaissance of interest in the sport. The 2022 F1 season demolished viewership records, with a 28% increase in audience, led largely by their growing young, female fanbase. By embracing social media and finding an accessible way for new fans to get an understanding of F1, they had unleashed the power of the fangirl.
I’m fangirl-ing so hard right now
The fangirl. Messy, passionate, and much maligned. The fangirl doesn’t take up space the way traditional sport fans do - dominating pubs, commandeering the TV, filling train stations with football chants. But the fangirl has driven culture for decades, and fandoms have deeply shaped digital and social practices and aesthetics. Dismissed, disparaged and demeaned, fan communities have enormous power to mobilise
Fanart of driver Charle LeClerc
There’s a reason fanfiction repository Ao3 was recently targeted by a DDOS attack. And kpop fans have deployed techniques developed to promote their beloved idols to tackle political goals, from influencing elections to taking down apps designed to surveil protesters.
And sport is discovering what the music industry has known for years: if you can crack the girls, gays and theys, you can create an unstoppable cultural juggernaut. And one well-received fancam of Lewis Hamilton looking cute can create a staggering amount of reach.
‘How did I get here?’
With the benefit of hindsight, F1 is primed for appealing to fangirl audiences. Drivers are young and good looking; the sport is comparatively easy to understand - no need to figure out what offside is. What Liberty Media have done is created an accessible way for new fans to encounter the sport and get sucked in - fall down an F1 k-hole, if you will. And the starting point is cute boys.
As anyone who was on the Internet during the One Direction or SuperWhoLock1 heyday can attest, fangirls have long found ways to create community over a mutual love of cute boys. A search on Wattpad reveals over 3.1k fics about Charles LeClerc alone; TikTok autocompletes Pierre Gasly with ‘tripod.’2
And F1 is more than willing to give their newfound audience material. Between 2018 and 2022 the official F1 Instagram account grew by a jaw-dropping 283%. Content leverages driver star power, featuring the kind of loose, playful antics that further cement a sense of intimacy with the fanbase.
But to reduce this new fandom to a love of cute boys is unwise. As many new F1 fans find themselves exclaiming, it might start with cute boys, but it ends with an obsessive interest in race tactics and porpoising. F1 fangirls are, in every way, very genuine fans, spending their time, money and energy on a beloved sport. They’ve just been brought into the paddock through a strategy that frames the sport using a radically different aesthetic and culture than most sport fans are used to.
‘What is Booktok and why do they like Wenny?’
F1 is not the only sport to benefit from female fandom. The NHL has experienced an increase of younger, female fans - but this rise has not necessarily translated to an increase in viewership for flagship events like the Stanley Cup final. Unlike F1, the NHL have not put in a concerted effort to court female fans, even though an increased interest in hockey romance provides a logical inroads for fans to discover the sport.
Yes, hockey romance, a massively popular offshoot of the popular sports romance genre. And the cultural juggernaut that is BookTok has only added fuel to the hockey romance fire.
Cover of Pucking Around, a hockey romance novel
For the uninitiated, BookTok is a loose community of book lovers reading, recommending and, well, fangirling over books on TikTok. Sci-fi, fantasy and, most importantly for our purposes, romance books feature heavily in BookTok. And if BookTokers love anything, it’s spice3. So, logically, many hockey romance titles became BookTok darlings, leading some readers to get curious about the source material.
And while the NHL has not officially acknowledged the But this hasn’t stopped individual teams from taking advantage when they find themselves on Booktok. In 2022 The Seattle Krakens posted a video of centre Alex Wennberg drinking water with the innocent caption “Who is Booktok and why do they like Wenny so much?”4
Needless to say, BookTok were more than happy to fill the Krakens in. Since then the relationship between this two year old team and their romance-loving fanbase has blossomed, with the Krakens social media team fully embracing BookTokers. They even gave noted BookToker Kierra Lewis her own personalised jersey.
What does this mean for your brand?
If there’s one takeaway to be had here, it’s that if you give fangirls enough shots of players walking into stadiums, goofing around in locker rooms, answering potentially risque questions, or generally being silly gooses, the fangirls will take care of the rest themselves. The fangirl community is passionate and loyal; they thrive on intimacy and authenticity. They’re a community that needs to be embraced, nurtured and, most importantly, goofed around with. It’s sport, so play on.
The takeaway
Leverage the power of personality.
Play with your fans.
Pay attention to existing fan behaviours and obsessions.