Beckham, Aguero, Formula E and celebrity influence on sport

BBC News

30-01-2025

Formula E is pitting 11 influencers against each other in 200mph cars that have a quicker acceleration rate than F1 in an effort to raise the sport's profile.The likes of former Manchester City striker turned content creator Sergio Aguero, and Brooklyn Beckham will be racing in the electric-powered vehicles, which can go from 0-60mph in 1.82 seconds - 30% faster than a current F1 car.Aguero has amassed 30m followers on social media platform Instagram, while Beckham has 16m."Using their reach, their profiles and their fan base to help elevate ours feels like a really good combination," says Formula E chief executive Jeff Dodds.Each influencer will be paired with a professional FE team and driver, and then undergo six weeks of intensive training before getting behind the wheel of this season's cars and racing at a circuit in Miami on 5-6 March.It is the latest example of a sport trying to harness the popularity of celebrities to generate content and reach younger audiences.But will it work? And does it risk devaluing the real action on track?"I'm really excited," says Beckham. "Like my dad, I've always been obsessed with driving."
Brooklyn is the eldest son of former England football captain David and ex-Spice Girl Victoria Beckham.He has earned millions of pounds from brand endorsement deals and is being paid an undisclosed amount for this partnership which will see him post footage of the training to his social media followers."It's getting more people to experience Formula E," Beckham tells BBC Sport from his home in Los Angeles.He drove a safety car at the Mexico E-Prix in 2020 and has attended several races, although admits he has not yet told his wife Nicola Peltz of his plan."We'll see what she says," he laughs."I was blown away, and the more people who do [see it], the more people will understand."Adding that he finds it "unbelievable how quiet and how fast" FE cars are, Beckham claims that while "Formula One has been going on for a lot longer, the world is changing, so I think [FE] definitely has a chance to come close to it."I love this chance to meet the Formula E team and learn more about how the cars work."
'Not a gimmick'
What about concerns that such collaborations risk diminishing the skill and effort required to reach this level of the sport?Beckham is known for his previous attempts to break into modelling, photography and cookery. He also tried to follow in his father's footsteps, but was released by Arsenal's academy aged 15."When this comes out, people are going to think that I'm going to try and become an F1 driver," he says."They think I'm going to change careers again. But people will understand and realise how mentally tough this sport is."These guys in these cars are just so talented. I'm just really excited to meet them and be a part of this."A decade on from its debut, Dodds defends using such personalities."They are masterful at creating compelling video content," he says. "Collectively they have around 300m followers on social media, so bringing this product to that audience has to be a good thing for the sport."It's not a gimmick because it's the real car on a Grade 1 racing track."The influencers will be behind the wheels of the fastest accelerating single-seater race car in the world."They'll be on the track individually, which is a much safer environment," says Dodds who wants to introduce this as a standalone promotional event in the race calendar."But it also gives them the opportunity to push the boundaries as far as they're comfortable. This will be a case of how brave are they? How far are they prepared to push the car?"The amateur drivers will be put through their paces in a driving simulator before being guided by the professionals in dedicated physical and driver training sessions."The main ambition is to show the difference between someone learning to drive these cars and the gap between them and elite drivers," adds Dodds. "If anything, it's going to showcase just how highly-skilled these drivers are."
As well as having to contend with the disruption of Covid, Formula E has had various broadcast partners in the UK, hampering efforts to grow its audience here.While its finances are improving, an annual loss of $45m (£36m) was posted last year.But Dodds is upbeat, predicting that by 2030, Formula E can overtake MotoGP in terms of popularity in motorsport, and be second only to Formula 1."We have around 400m fans around the world - about half the size of F1 in just 10 years," he says."So I'd argue that's a really successful first period, and we have a broadcast reach of about half a billion around the world that's growing between 20 and 30% every year. "I don't look at F1 and say 'we have to beat them', because it's a very different product and audience."
What other sports are doing this?
This will not be the first time sport has latched on to the power of celebrity as a marketing stunt, of course.Last year Ivan Buhajeruk, known as Spreen, who has millions of YouTube followers, was controversially allowed to play for Deportivo Riestra - one of Argentina's top football teams - in a league match.He was substituted after just one minute having not touched the ball, but the publicity antic sparked a major backlash.Meanwhile, YouTubers taking part in boxing started out as a novelty in 2018.To the dismay of traditionalists, so-called 'crossover fights' have since become a feature of the sport, raising concerns over integrity and safety but also generating huge interest from younger fans."I'm a massive boxing fan and I choose not to watch a lot of those bouts," says Dodds."Some would argue that Jake Paul v Mike Tyson is not amazing for the sport, although a lot of people watched it. We're not doing that."I'm not pitting [current champion] Pascal Wehrlein against Brooklyn Beckham. I'm simply using the sport as a vehicle to raise the profile of the championship in an environment that doesn't diminish the sport."In order for sports to grow and be successful they also need to be entertainment platforms."