Sports content marketing in brief: it is stories built around a championship, a team or a driver, from documentary series to films, products and partnerships, that carry the brand where the live broadcast does not reach. In motorsport the numbers show it: in the United States more than 360,000 viewers who were not watching F1 at the end of 2021 followed the 2022 races after watching Drive to Survive, and in 2025 F1 The Movie became the highest-grossing film in Apple’s history.

Updated in October 2026.

If you look only at sponsorship, a brand in F1 is a logo seen for a couple of hours on Sunday. If you look at how the championship is moving its contracts, you find the value has gone elsewhere. In October 2024 F1 announced a ten-year deal with LVMH, from 2025 to 2034, bringing Louis Vuitton, Moët Hennessy and TAG Heuer into the championship and sending out Rolex, official timekeeper for twelve years. You no longer buy only a space: you buy a place in the story.

Content for brands in sport: the short answer

• What it is: stories produced around a championship, a team or a driver, not ads.
• Formats that work in motorsport: documentary series, films, licensed products and partnerships with content written into the contract.
• The reference figure: more than 360,000 US viewers new to F1 after Drive to Survive, 2.3% of the 16 million viewers measured (Nielsen, 2022).
• The limit: the brand enters the property’s story, it does not produce it alone.

Why content weighs more in motorsport than elsewhere

The circuit is a production set, not a stage. A Grand Prix lasts a weekend; a driver’s story lasts a season and is built off the track. Nielsen measured the effect directly: the premiere of Drive to Survive’s fourth season drew 60% more viewers than the third, and 41% of those who watched the series then also watched the first three weeks of the 2022 championship (Nielsen, 2022).

Whoever appears inside that story is not buying the camera shot, but the context in which a fan decides to become attached to a driver. That is a reading, not a data point: the numbers measure the series, not the individual brands that appear in it.

1. The documentary series: Drive to Survive and MotoGP Unlimited

Drive to Survive has been on Netflix since 2019, has eight seasons and a confirmed ninth. According to Nielsen, more than 360,000 viewers who had not watched F1 in late 2021 watched the 2022 races after seeing the series, 2.3% of the roughly 16 million viewers measured. The flip side: according to What’s on Netflix, viewing has fallen gradually in recent seasons and the production is weighing new formats. A series is not permanent content, it has to be fed.

MotoGP answered with MotoGP Unlimited: from 14 March 2022 on Prime Video, eight 50-minute episodes on the 2021 season, produced by Mediapro with Dorna, with Fabio Quartararo’s title, Valentino Rossi’s last season and Marc Márquez’s return from injury.

2. The film: F1 The Movie and TV rights

F1 The Movie, starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, was released on 27 June 2025 and became the highest-grossing film in Apple’s history, passing Napoleon ($221 million), according to NBC News. On 17 October 2025 Apple obtained exclusive F1 rights in the United States for five years from 2026, in a deal that Driven says follows the film’s success. A company that enters F1 with a film takes the opposite route to a brand that enters with a logo.

3. The product as content: Puma

Puma is the commercial version: the kit the driver wears on track is the one the fan buys. Puma has been an official F1 supplier since 2024 and in 2026 dresses Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin; our analysis of Puma and F1 traces the teams it has dressed and those it has left.

4. The contract as content: LVMH and Rolex

Rolex was F1’s official timekeeper for twelve years, from 2013. Under the ten-year deal announced in October 2024, from 2025 TAG Heuer takes that role and Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy join the championship alongside it. Twelve years of presence did not guarantee renewal: for a brand, the length of a contract is a data point, not a guarantee. On how to assess the choice between renewing and changing there is the guide on renewing or changing a motorsport sponsorship.

The classic mistakes

I see three repeat. The first is measuring only visibility: counting seconds of logo and ignoring how many new fans the story brings. The second is believing you can produce alone: the series and films cited are born with the access of the championship or the team, and the brand enters that story, it does not build it outside. The third is treating content like a campaign: Drive to Survive has eight seasons and already shows that even the most successful format has to be renewed.

The method in three steps

First: choose the property for the story it tells, not only for the logo it offers. Second: negotiate the content inside the contract, meaning access, formats and reuse rights, before signing. Third: measure how many new fans reach the brand, not only how often it appears. The starting point for F1 is the page on Formula 1 sponsorship; for MotoGP, the one on MotoGP sponsorship.

A logo lets people see a brand. A story makes them choose it.

Sources: Nielsen, Drive to Survive and new F1 fans (2022); What’s on Netflix, Drive to Survive renewed for a ninth season; WebBikeWorld, MotoGP Unlimited on Prime Video; NBC News, F1 The Movie, Apple’s highest-grossing film; Driven, Apple and F1 rights in the United States; Formula1.com, Puma becomes official F1 supplier; Speedcafe, 2026 apparel suppliers; Formula1.com, F1 and LVMH, ten-year partnership; Forbes Australia, F1 and LVMH, TAG Heuer replaces Rolex.