From accelerated advertising to Fanboost: mediatized motorsport

Almost from the sport's inception, the media has played a central role in motorsport's development, affecting not just how the fans engage with the teams and drivers but in some cases, the way the sport itself is conducted. Using the concept of mediatization as a framework, this article explores the complex interaction between the sport of motor-racing and its audience, focusing on the way different forms of media have been utilized to facilitate increasingly deep levels of fan engagement. Starting with the way traditional sponsorship affected the development of the sport, the paper moves on to look at how more recent media technologies like games and social networking have been employed to engage existing fans and capture new ones. The article concludes with a discussion of the use of Fanboost in Formula E racing, a development which has to potential to fundamentally alter the relationship between sport and its audience.