The third annual Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix is coming up this weekend, so we decided to take a look back at some of the spending patterns from last year's event to see what kinds of partnership opportunities may be available for brands with US F1 fans, with a focus on Miami in particular.
We noticed that the Miami Grand Prix doesn't have a hotel partner, so we got curious about what opportunities might be available there. We pulled spending data on the big 3 hotel chains of Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt amongst three groups: 2023 Miami GP attendees, general US F1 fans, and general Miami residents. We looked at the period from January 1, 2023 to about a week after the race weekend on May 15, 2023.
The chart is posted below, but here are some points that jumped out to me:
- Miami GP attendees are spending much more on hotels than either of the other two groups. This is expected, as F1 races are some of the priciest sporting events to attend, so these are wealthy fans.
- Both Miami residents and Miami GP attendees have a preference for Marriott, with the preference even more pronounced with the GP attendees. Our data indicate that around 55% of Miami GP attendees were from Florida, so some of the Miami GP preference could be a regional preference.
- Conversely, general F1 fans seem to prefer Hilton by a significant margin of nearly 20% over Marriott and nearly 30% over Hyatt.
If I worked at F1 or the Miami GP promoter, I would make a pitch to Hilton or Hyatt to come onboard as a partner for the 2025 Miami GP. The Miami region is showing a strong preference for Marriott, and affluent racing fans are even more tied to the Marriott brand. A Miami GP partnership would be a great opportunity to win some marketshare with both of these demographics. I would also consider pitching Marriott on partnering more generally across multiple races, because while they are doing really well in Miami they are lagging with general F1 fans. I haven't pulled data on last year's US GP in Austin or the Las Vegas GP yet, but that data could also present similar or maybe far different opportunities, and would also give us insight into if the Marriott preference we see here amongst the affluent attendees is just regional, or if it extends to other areas of the country.
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