No, it’s not April Fools, but it does seem that motorsports in general is evolving into the 21st century. No sooner did A&R run an article about umbrella girls in the MotoGP Championship, then did the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) announce that it would do away with scantily clad girls at all its events, including at the historic 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It’s an interesting move by a major series in the four-wheeled world — the effects of which will undoubtedly be tracked by every major racing series around the world.
Will WEC see a drop in male attendance? An increase in female attendance? An influx of new advertisers? Younger viewers? These are all valid and interesting questions.
The likelihood is that we will see no immediate change, one way or another. As many commenters to my original article pointed out: they come for the racing, everything else is sort of window dressing.
However, my biggest interest is to see how this affects younger fans, or better yet, younger would-be fans. Motorsports, especially motorcycle racing, needs to do more to appeal to younger enthusiasts — get them while they’re young, just like in the tobacco industry.
Clearly fans already in the sport are unlikely to have an issue with “brolly girls” — polling the already indoctrinated masses is therefore a fruitless endeavor. Instead, I think about the fans that aren’t motorsports enthusiasts, but could be.
You can plot views on gender equality very neatly on an axis that accounts for age, with younger denizens and younger generations skewing to be more socially liberal than the overall population.
Race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender issues not only rank highly with the Millenial and Gen-X fans, but they list those causes as core to their value system.
Appealing to those sensitivities could do wonders bringing in fresh blood to motorsports, and motorcycles in particular.
Converting non-riders into motorcycle enthusiasts is a hot topic in the industry right now, I only have to look at the last few press launches I’ve attended, and see the rise in the number of non-endemic media attending, to understand where the motorcycle industry is starting to allocate its resources.
Adjusting the paddock atmosphere seems just like a prudent extension of such an effort.
Simply put: do want younger fans? If so, try building an ecosystem that resonates with them, instead of perpetuating one that only speaks to their fathers.
Source: Reuters
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