Fandom Unpacked

The Secret to Building and Engaging a Global Fanbase with F1

• Situation • Season 1 • Episode 3

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Jonathan Linden, Co-president of Round Room Live, takes listeners behind the scenes of the Formula 1 Exhibition – a groundbreaking immersive experience bringing the high-octane world of F1 racing to fans worldwide.

What happens when one of the world's most exclusive sports creates an exhibition accessible to everyone? Linden reveals how his company recognized a crucial gap in the F1 fan experience. With Grand Prix events scattered across the globe and only 24 race weekends per year, millions of passionate fans have limited opportunities to engage directly with the sport they love.

The F1 Exhibition solves this challenge through meticulous attention to detail, showcasing actual F1 cars, interactive elements, and recently added race simulators that give visitors a taste of just how challenging these vehicles are to drive. "They sort of think it's going to be like a video game and it's extremely challenging," Linden explains, highlighting how the exhibition balances educational content with immersive experiences that capture the essence of being trackside.

Netflix's "Drive to Survive" series emerges as a key inflection point in F1's growth story, particularly in North America. The documentary humanized the sport by introducing viewers to the personalities behind the helmets, transforming what many saw as just cars racing around tracks into compelling human drama.

Most exciting is the upcoming Las Vegas installation opening in spring 2025, which will be housed in the Grand Prix Plaza paddock building where the actual race takes place – creating an unprecedented connection between exhibition and competition venue. Don't miss this fascinating exploration of how modern fandom is evolving through immersive experiences that bring exclusive worlds within reach of every fan.

Recorded Tuesday, November 26th, 2024
Host: Damian Bazadona, CEO & Founder, Situation
Guest:  Jonathan Linden, Co-President, Round Room Live, Producer of F1 The Exhibition
Producer: Peter Yagecic, Innovation Advisor, Situation

Peter Yagecic:

You're listening to Fandom Unpacked the podcast, an audio version of our regular livestream series where we unpack modern fandom with some of the brightest minds in sports and entertainment. I'm producer Peter Yagisic and in today's episode we'll hear a conversation between our host, damian Bazadana, ceo and founder of Situation Group, and Jonathan Linden, co-president of Round Room Live producer of F1, the Exhibition. Buckle up race fans. Here's Damian and Jonathan.

Damian Bazadona:

Jonathan, thank you as always. Jonathan and I go many years back and so it's awesome we get a chance to connect. Talk to me, jonathan, you don't mind kicking us off. Talk to me about Round Room Live, just to give everyone a little context of who you guys are, your relationship with F1. I think that's a kind of important distinction. You're here as Round Room Live, who has a relationship, a license or agreement with F1, which is awesome, and the incredible Formula One exhibition that you produced that I happened to go see in Madrid, which I thought was incredible. Just give a little focus about the company and about the exhibition to be awesome, please for sure, good to be here.

Jonathan Linden:

thanks for having me. And so round room live is a live entertainment company where, uh, as peter said, I'm the co-president, my partner steven shaw and I we uh spent time both at a company called cpi and then live nation, where, which is obviously the biggest promoter in the world, and we saw the vision of some of these other live entertainment projects and where they exist in the landscape and we sort of wanted to concentrate on that. So we rolled out of Live Nation and created Round Room Live, which features all kinds of touring live entertainment. We do a lot of kids and family shows, like Blippi Live and Sesame Street Live. We do a lot of touring exhibitions and experiences. As you mentioned, the F1 exhibition. We were the North American promoters for Jurassic World the exhibition. We do other arena tours, like Nitro Circus, and so we are a diversified live entertainment company focusing on family entertainment, sports entertainment, traveling, exhibitions and experiences.

Jonathan Linden:

And, as you mentioned, our biggest exhibition right now is F1, the exhibition and experience, and it's something that we were trying to put together for a number of years, and part of the thesis was this is a brand that has truly global appeal.

Jonathan Linden:

The grand prixs are held all around the world. Uh, it can be a challenge, if you're a big fan, to get to a race because they're not always, uh, near you. It's become very popular over the last number of years, and so that the tickets have become more expensive, and so how does an f1 fan engage with the brand and how do they, how do they experience it live if they can't get to a Grand Prix? And so we created the F1 Exhibition and Experience. It debuted in Madrid, spain, last March, and then it went to Vienna, austria, and it is now in London where it's performing exceptionally well. We created a second version of the show, which is in just finished a run in Toronto, and just last week we announced that we're working with Formula One and the Las Vegas Grand Prix to work with them in Las Vegas, which we're very excited about.

Damian Bazadona:

Talk to me. What is it like to be an F1 fan? I feel like you know, when I went to the exhibition, it was packed I mean, people from all over the world and you could see it and going through the different, obviously, the different parts of the exhibition, you have a kind of a front and rear seat of what people attract to, what they don't but like what is, whether it's at a race or an exhibition. Just, I feel like you can probably you're in a good position to embody what. How would you describe what it's like to be an F1 fan?

Jonathan Linden:

Well, I think F1 has been popular for many years. There's a lot of motorsport fans in the world. There's a lot of people that are fans of speed and fascinated with cars going fast. It brings that European tour of the F1 exhibition. We've seen fans that know the details and the history for many decades and hang around the exhibition for two hours plus, whereas in North America there's the more recent fan, and some of those fans came in through Drive to Survive, which became incredibly popular through the pandemic period and has sort of raised awareness in the United States. And so the US has gone from one Grand Prix in Austin to three with Austin, miami and now Las Vegas. And so I think a lot of the North American fans, as I describe them, are more recent fans. They don't know as much of the history. They're attracted to the sport being fast, sexy, dynamic, the place to be, the place to be seen. Uh and uh are getting more and more educated and it's it's building a fandom for f1 that is, is is global and growing.

Damian Bazadona:

Where can you actually just table set a little bit on how people can experience f1? Like, because we talked a little about the grand prix, there's like there's 23, am I right? There's 23. And so if you're 24, 24 so you're a fan. So let's just say, all of a sudden I become a fan of this. How do I stay connected? Where do I watch it?

Jonathan Linden:

like just to be helpful, just to table seven out a little bit well as somebody who's a producer and a promoter of a touring experience, where you want to find a brand that has global appeal and you can take it all around the world, uh, which f1 has proven to be and was part of our original thesis.

Jonathan Linden:

The challenge as a fan is, you know, the season starts in march in bahrain and it ends in december in abu dhabi, and races are everywhere from uh, china to can, china, to Canada, to everywhere in between Monaco, and the challenge is obviously, these races and the Grands Prix are in different time zones and it can be a challenge if you're in one spot.

Jonathan Linden:

Sometimes you're watching these in the middle of the night, and so, being a fan, that can be exciting. I'm sort of saying I've got to wake up in the middle of the night or I've got to wake up early. Obviously, the Las Vegas race was at 10 PM in Las Vegas, so it was 1 AM on the East coast and and 6 AM in London, and so, uh, there's something sort of interesting about you know, I have to keep strange hours to follow this amazing sport that I'm interested in, but it was one of the features of the exhibition and experience of how do fans get an opportunity to truly enjoy F1, if it's a little tricky, depending on where you are, to see all the Grands Prix on TV.

Damian Bazadona:

It's funny. I see the alignment, a lot of alignment, with sort of the European soccer explosion over here, um, and sort of the same thing as being more integrated into the states. What do you think? What is it about the netflix series? Obviously netflix, you know, putting a spotlight is going to bring a huge set of eyeballs, but there's a lot of stuff on netflix that doesn't necessarily stick for growth. What do you think it? Why do you think the north american growth and why did netflix series do that was something particular. Do you think it? Why do you think the North American growth and why did Netflix series do? That Was something particular. That you think people attracted people more to the sport, yeah, I mean it's.

Jonathan Linden:

It's an interesting question and it's sometimes hard to put your finger on it. I saw a list the other day of you know the top 10 things that were sort of game changers for individual sports, and on the list was a drive to breaking F1 into the North American market, and so it was fascinating that a docuseries could make a list of the top 10 events for major sports over the last number of years. And I think the biggest thing it's obviously Netflix did a terrific job. It's a very well done series. It's compelling, it's dynamic. Netflix did a terrific job. It's a very well done series. It's compelling, it's dynamic and as a consumer you're sort of gripping content.

Jonathan Linden:

But I think a big thing was similar to some other sports people didn't really know the drivers or the characters, or I don't think people knew necessarily who Christian Horner was or his role at Red Bull.

Jonathan Linden:

Maybe they knew he was married to one of the Spice Girls, but the drivers you, you don't necessarily. There was a period of time where a lot of the times when you saw grand prix, the drivers were deep inside the car with a helmet on, and so you knew their personality a little bit as a driver, whether they were aggressive or passive or how they operated on the track, but through drive to survive. You had an opportunity to meet Carlos Sainz's entire family and his agent and his manager and what he does in his spare time and what kind of a golfer he is, and so I feel like it raised the profile of a lot of the drivers. And to your question earlier of what are people fans of? I think more than ever people are fans of the sport, individual teams, but also individual drivers, and I think Drive to Survive has contributed to a heightened awareness of who the drivers are.

Damian Bazadona:

Peter, do you have any questions?

Peter Yagecic:

Yeah, we do have some questions coming in Hold on one second. Let me pull that up. I was going to share a drive to survive testimonial from a fan who said that I was an F1 fan before, but after watching the series I'm an even bigger fan than ever before. So that's just a testament to what you guys were talking about. I do have a question from one of our attendees about going back to the exhibition, which, Jonathan, I know is very near and dear to you, asking how did the idea for the exhibition come about? Who approaches who for something like this and, kind of generally, how long did it take to come together?

Jonathan Linden:

if you can speak to any of those points, it's a great question and, having done a lot of different exhibitions, from the Rolling Stones to Nelson Mandela to Tupac Shakur I mean there's always a bit of a process of trying to determine, you know, is the brand interested in this type of entertainment? And then, on the other side, does the timing, do the commercial elements, does everything sort of come together and work out for a fit? And so in this case, you know, we had met some people who were affiliated and had worked with F1. They had seen the Rolling Stones exhibition and suggested that you know that there would be an interesting fit. There were some other people that were already into the conversation, and so we joined them in the discussion and it took quite a while, right, Because F1 had not done something like this before.

Jonathan Linden:

It's a major global brand, so they're very precious with who they work with and how would the brand be perceived? Does this extend the brand? Is it beneficial to them? And so it took quite a while. And then, inevitably, you know, we signed a license agreement in august of 2019 with the hope of opening in the fall of 2020, and nothing opened in the fall of 2020, and so it was sort of became a bit of a labor of love to get it open in 2023, but you know, our, our view, as I said before, is if you have a global brand that has some scarcity of product, you can't get to a lot of Grands Prix because of how geographically diverse they are. This is really, you know, it's an exciting mix to be able to enjoy the sport in this way.

Peter Yagecic:

Fandom Unpacked is brought to you by Situation, an award-winning marketing agency built for live entertainment that champions the power of unforgettable shared experiences around the world. We offer full marketing and creative services for experience-based brands in live entertainment, attractions, theater, sports, arts and culture, and more. Check us out at Situationinteractivecom. Now back to our Q&A.

Damian Bazadona:

Where does it go from here? So, like in terms of when you think about the growth of the exhibition, I saw, like you guys, Formula One approved the addition of a General Motors team in 2026. So it seems like there's more team growth. How does that, when you think about the exhibition, where do you go with it, Like in terms of what do you think in terms of growth and how, like, for example, when a new team comes on board, does that, how does that alter the experience itself, what you're building?

Jonathan Linden:

Well, I think it's sort of interesting because we've done exhibitions and experiences where at times, they are historical or they're in relation to something where the story has been told and it's a matter of how you reflect that, whereas F1, the story, to a degree, is being told every year and every Grand Prix and certain teams have come alive over the last little bit, certain teams have fallen off.

Jonathan Linden:

There's a new champion every year, as it turns out, max max verstappen's been the champion four years in a row, but it's, it's, you know they're, they're not gonna red bull's not gonna win the constructors this year, and so, uh, it's, it's an exciting part of it to be able to reflect, in each version of the exhibition, in each market, uh, a little bit different content, a little bit different elements, both because it's reflective of f1 and the story being told, and also it's it's from a commercial perspective, helpful because, uh, you know, the hope and expectation is a lot of f1 fans can go multiple times and you know, damian, you mentioned you went in madrid, if you were to go in london. Uh, you know, the cars are different. There's a lot of key elements that have changed, been updated. You know there's obviously drivers have moved around between the 23 season and the 24 season, and so the hope is that we can regularly have fresh content and new elements that compel people to always want to be seeing the show, whatever market it's in.

Peter Yagecic:

Last week you talked to us a little bit about the simulator that's part of the exhibition. Can you touch on that a little bit?

Jonathan Linden:

You know, there's a heightened expectation and fandom of a certain type of experience technologically-based, immersive, dynamic and so for an F1 fan, there's nothing really more immersive and experiential than a race simulator, and so we weren't able to introduce them until Toronto. They're in London and it's an amazing part of it because you get to go through the exhibition and experience and, if you choose to, you get into the simulator. The seating arrangement is similar to the way an F1 driver sits, and so you're almost lying down. The simulators are much more difficult than most people anticipate. They sort of think it's going to be like a video game and it's extremely challenging, and so we think that's a great fit of that combination of a really quality exhibition and experience where you're getting educated really quality exhibition and experience where you're getting educated, you're understanding a lot more about f1 at the same time, as you know immersive and experiential elements that, uh, keep you really excited yeah, it's, it's um.

Damian Bazadona:

I think you guys actually did a really good job in the exhibition, because I brought my family um, none of us really have real background with it and we felt like we left with a great experience. And I to me. For me, personally, it's kind of the speed, the idea of just the pure force of what's happening. It's incredible. And, by the way, I didn't realize I was going to ask you what one of the biggest misconceptions are, and I would imagine it's that most people, or a lot of people, think that they get behind the wheel and drive it, and you tipped me off at the point drive it.

Jonathan Linden:

Um, and and you tip me off of the point there's 20 driver. What is the number of drivers there are? There are 10 teams and 20 drivers, and so, uh, you know, obviously, damon, you and I have discussed that we're both north american sports fans, and so when you talk about how how rare a club it is to be a starting quarterback on a nfl team, or how rare it is to as somebody who grew up in Canada, how rare it is where everybody's playing hockey to make it to the NHL, but there's no more exclusive club in sports than F1 driver. There are 10 teams. Each of them have two drivers. So at any given moment in time, there are 20 human beings on earth who can say they're an F1 driver, which is a pretty rare club.

Damian Bazadona:

Do the teams? This is a broad question, I suppose. Do the teams get along In terms of the league so a new team is coming on board? I knew it took, it was not. I don't think it's easy to kind of get a new team added right. It seems like F1's got a really good thing going and I don't know just in terms of the dynamics of it between the kind of the governing body of it, the teams, the leagues, like is it a kumbaya environment, like we got something good going, or is it get? It seems a little.

Jonathan Linden:

I think they get along like Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft, right, they get along when they're in the same room and they probably get along. They just want to beat each other. They want their teams to be successful on the field of play, and so F1 is a little different in the capacity of. You know, the NFL, for example, manages all of their teams and the teams fall under a lot of NFL rules where F1 is really a separate entity than all of the teams and obviously they have to operate within the F1 rules. But, uh, you know, they they all operate separately and so it's, it's a unique element to f1. That's a little bit different than the way traditional north american sports work. Um, but I, I think it's, it's like any sport. There's, uh, there's a mutual respect and it's it's a it's as we said, it's a pretty select and exclusive club, but they all want to win.

Jonathan Linden:

We've gained the benefit of that where, as we started to get contributions from different teams, and different teams decided to contribute and participate in the exhibition experience in different ways. Some of the other teams sort of woke up of all right, if their car is in there, why isn't ours in there? If there's content from that team, well, we want car is in there, why isn't ours in there? And if there's content from that team, well, we want to be in there too, and so to that degree, we've gained the benefit. Of this sort of competitive spirit goes all the way into who's being properly reflected in the exhibition.

Damian Bazadona:

At its best. How would you describe being at an F1 race? Because obviously you modeled that off to the incredible exhibition you guys created and most people, a lot of people on this call will probably not have a chance to actually go to one of these races. You see it from a distance on television, but what is it like being there? How would you describe it?

Jonathan Linden:

I mean, I think there's a reason that it's become so popular. It's very exciting. It's sort of it can be overwhelming of just how loud it is and sort of, if you get close enough, sort of the smell of the tires and the crowds and how fanatically the different teams fans follow each different team. But it's, it's an amazing experience to see and be part of. But you know, as we've said, part of our thesis was there's only 24 Grand Prix's, that's, that's 24 weekends a year.

Jonathan Linden:

And you know, if you live in Atlanta or Cleveland, getting to Abu Dhabi or Bahrain for the Grand Prix isn't always easy. You can enjoy it on TV, but how do you, how do you experience it? And I think the other thing that we gain the benefit of with the exhibition is, even if you've been to a few grand prixs and even if you had great seats, the cars generally come flying by and, unless you have a paddock pass to sort of get closer, the opportunity to come into the exhibition and see all of the different elements and and be on a simulator. But for a lot of people being right up close to a modern day f1 car and and when you're next to it, it's, it's pretty awesome the, the detail and the the paint job and all of the specifics. When you're next to it you can't help but sort of linger and uh uh and look at all of the details of how intricate it is.

Damian Bazadona:

Peter, I see that we're at about a half hour in any questions.

Peter Yagecic:

One more attendee question that I would love to ask Jonathan. It says it's moving a little bit away from F1, but maybe that's appropriate given the time. What new surprising clients are coming to Roundroom live and asking, hey, turn us into an experience Probably under NDA with a lot of them? I can't say much, but is there anything I imagine, given the success of F1, you got a lot of them and can't say much. But is there anything I imagine, given the success of F1, you got a lot of people knocking on your door.

Jonathan Linden:

Yeah, we do and we're excited about it. It's, you know, we haven't announced the next one yet and so we have to keep it under our hat, but it's, it's. The challenge of working with the Rolling Stones or working with F1 is, you know, it's a major global brand which brings great brand awareness and appeal. It can be challenging to get to a license agreement and they're used to sort of negotiating in a certain way, but certainly it's been great for Roundroom as a company, for a brand like F1 that is very particular about who they work with and has such global appeal.

Jonathan Linden:

The hope is people are looking at us like this is a company that can really be trusted as a custodian of a first-class global brand. And the other hope is similar to what Damien said People have been very happy with the exhibition, they've enjoyed it, people have come back multiple times and so the feeling is with some brands and some of the people that have called have been you know. They sent people to go see the show and that's hopefully the greatest business card is. People going to see your product and wanting to see if there's a way they can collaborate is obviously very flatter.

Peter Yagecic:

And remind people the Las Vegas installation of the exhibition that's coming when.

Jonathan Linden:

That is coming in the spring of 2025. We haven't announced the exact opening date, but it'll be the spring of 2025. And that's particularly exciting because it's direct collaboration with Formula One and the Las Vegas Grand Prix and the activation is going to be in the permanent paddock building, the Grand Prix Plaza that they built in Las Vegas, and so it's going to be the first time where consumers can come see the exhibition and experience, but also be in the building where the race happens, which I think is going to be exciting for consumers and people that watch the race on TV. And, again, this year was an incredibly compelling and exciting race, and so to be able to experience F1 and enjoy it and embrace it, but also, as you're walking in, you can see all the elements right down to the track of where the Grand Prix took place in that market.

Peter Yagecic:

That's awesome. Well, congratulations, good luck with getting that on its feet. I can't wait to see it next summer when I'm in Vegas. Thank you very much.

Damian Bazadona:

I was going to say just congratulations, jonathan, on your growth, and not just for F1, but the entire company. You and Steve, I just think, watching you guys grow the company, I know you have high expectations of yourselves and the company and the experience.

Jonathan Linden:

I think that's what differentiates you guys and all the experiences. So congrats on the awesome growth at NF1. The good taste and timing there you go. We appreciate you having us and obviously I appreciate the compliments, and the compliment coming from Damien, who's a significant force in the live entertainment space. It means a lot.

Damian Bazadona:

Oh, we recorded that, so I have that now in my pocket.

Peter Yagecic:

I'm going to take that. Thank you, I'll get it to you on a loop, damien?

Damian Bazadona:

Yeah, peter, you want to take us out. Thank you.

Peter Yagecic:

That's going to do it for this episode of Fandom Unpacked the podcast. If you liked what you heard, please be sure to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. Find out how to join us live for an upcoming recording at SituationLivecom slash fan. We'll see you next time, True believers.