[Umar A]

Hi All,

I was wondering if you could help me with something. Im building a Netflix style streaming service for F1 races. Initially it will only be older races (i.e. 2013 and earlier), but eventually could be more. Im also looking at adding other series to it(WEC, F3, rally, etc). The FOM are willing to give me a license to do this, Im just negotiating the fees, but the fees they are asking for are really high (not entirely surprising) and Im putting my own money up for this. Is this something you guys would be interested in or is it a waste of time? If so, any enhancements or features you’d like to see there?

Thanks,

[Iestyn Davies]

Wow, I’m amazed you could even negotiate this with FOM @umartajuddin. I’m sure there are plenty of Sky subscribers that would like to get rid of Sky and simply want F1 coverage. You could also air any footage not bound by FOM (i.e. pre-1981 F1), which gives you 67 onwards and highlights packages before that, mostly in black & white.

FIA F3 stream their races on their website – perhaps you could do a deal with them too? GP2/3 are on Sky backed by Bernie, but World Series by Renault is on BT Sport/ESPN – not sure if they would go for a deal or not with a rival streaming service? But they could do with the exposure, I think. A new series like MSA F4 could also be an interesting addition.

[Umar A]

Yeah @fastiesty I expected to get shot down, but they’re open to the idea.

Thanks, those are good ideas, I’ll reach out to them too. All I need is one domino to fall…..

[Adam Blocker]

I think this is a great idea and I am pleasantly surprised that the FOM are willing to do this.

I like going back and watching old races from non-F1 series in the winter especially, and I often wish I could go back and watch a memorable F1 with English commentary.

Another suggestion: Try to add MotoGP. Similarly to F1, they have basically no races up on YouTube and/or the really sketch sites.

[Umar A]

Thanks @blockwall2, but the question I have is would people be willing to pay for it? If I build it in the same model as Netflix and lets say charge the same, $8/mo, would that actually interest people?

[Adam Blocker]

@umartajuddin That is the main question. I think there is enough interest in general, but I am willing to bet that a good amount of people would hesitate to buy a monthly subscription. I would probably prefer a system where users can buy access to an individual race (for a small fee, maybe less than $1), or a season of races (like the 2010 F1 season, for example) for a larger (maybe about $8?) fee. This way customers aren’t turned off by having to commit to a monthly subscription that they may or may not use. Just an idea.

[Sri Harsha]

I agree with @blockwall2
Its better to have specific subscription pack than monthly one
Take a Mclaren fan for example he wants to see how mclaren did in a specific race or a list of races
Like in 2011 If he wants to see How Lewis or Button got their victories in Germany/ Hungary, if he can got the required race then he will be happy to pay $1 for that (or the Prescribed value you think)
I feel this kind would be good but its all your choice
1. Specific Race – $1-2
2. Specific Season – $5-9
3. Set of Races across Different Seasons – $8-12
4. Set of Seasons – $12-17
5. Monthly subscription for Accessing every thing – $8-15
6. Downloadable Content (if its not free)
I really hope FOM and you get the deal done and if you are going to develop website what kind of sessions it will have ?
will it consists Fp1- R or only Q+R?

[Iestyn Davies]

@umartajuddin If there’s a time to try, it’s since the last few races, when Bernie has suddenly opened up to Social Media. Time to #Join the conversation! In reality, he must have hired someone to work on this for FOM/the F1 twitter.

Access to specific races for $1 or £1 sounds like a good idea. Maybe seasons for $5-£10, Subscription $5-£7.50? Practices could be some sort of added extra, perhaps thrown in to subscriptions, as I think only hardcore users would watch practices, or maybe 50p extra with specific races. We could have the F1F ‘rate the race’ top races as a ‘best of’ list too.

@blockwall2 The MotoGP addition is a good shout, basically any racing series that doesn’t have an online presence (I thought Moto GP would) or much TV availability is prime content to give volume IMO. Maybe FOM could add GP2/GP3 to sweeten the deal.

WEC/Rally/other FIA championships (like WTCC) also add variety, and could perhaps be dealt with in one FIA negotiation. BTCC plays on ITV at times like 3am (same for Formula Ford), while MotorsTV has just moved free-to-air in the UK.

I imagine the key here is delivery/ease of use, and an attractive price point to get customers from Sky. Those paying for Sky and Sports/HD just for F1 could save a lot of money by moving just to a live/back story streaming service. Perhaps getting it on smart TVs would be key in initiating a switch. If no one else is out there doing it – lets do it/get it done!

[Umar A]

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback!

@harsha, those are great ideas. I’ll look into those. It would make access control and management a bit trickier though, but I’ll see how it works out.

@fastiesty, Ill have to play around with the pricing models to see what works.

At present, Im going to put up practice and qualifying sessions wherever available and include those in the whole package. In many cases its just the race that I have (for now, but Im still digging) and I only have as far back as ’85. My goal is to go as far back as the 50s (if footage even exists for those races) and basically have a massive archive of F1 races available to everyone. Its only streaming though, not downloadable, the FOM wont give me rights for that.

[Roald]

Won’t FOM give you the rights to the actual footage? Because if I’m going to pay for it I want the best quality available, not the versions you recorded or downloaded. Besides that, yes, would certainly subscribe.

[JamieFranklinF1]

I’ve said for a while that this would be a fantastic idea, and I think it’s great what you are doing :)

I think there is a definite market for this. You only need to look at WWE network to see how this can work.

I for one would love this, though I guess it’s an unknown as to how much I would use it. It would probably only end up being Non-F1 weekends anyway.

[Umar A]

@roald, right now Im trying to fight battles that I can win. If I can get this up with 2000-13 then itll be a start. From there I can build on the relationship and get more, there are multiple ways I can leverage this, but I have to be careful not to push too much. But that’s definitely the plan.

[Renegade.Ego]

intresting am interested to see how this pans out. Good Luck :-)

[Theo Parkinson]

Good luck. I’m sure many F1 fanatics would be happy to pay a price. If the project gets further into development, you should bring it up on the F1 reddit.

[Umar A]

Thanks for the feedback guys, but I doubt Ill be able to build this. The FOM want double digit million dollar licensing fees per year on top of a double digit share of the profits. I shouldve expected that really; the FOM will do pretty much anything if you throw enough money into the pot. Im going to look into VCs and crowd funding to see if maybe I can raise it, but the numbers theyre asking for are really high.

Anyway, I suppose I can build something that includes pre-1981 F1 content in the meantime. And I could look into adding other series as well.

Cheers.

[Author]

Posts