How Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” Transformed Sports Media
The streaming service Netflix has boomed in popularity in recent years, redefining the at-home movie experience. In addition to amassing a large variety of movies for its viewers, Netflix has also begun to create its own television series. You have probably already heard of some of them, such as the award-winning shows Stranger Things and Squid Game. What you may not have heard of is a series it created called Formula 1: Drive to Survive (DTS). DTS has been groundbreaking in its field, paving the way for many similar series and forever altering the course of the sports industry.
DTS bursted onto the scene in 2019 and changed the sporting world. Rather than providing an overview of the sport as a whole, the show focused more on the athletes and people behind it—listening in on meetings, showing family moments, tuning in to training sessions, and other events that traditional sports media typically overlooked. This new form of sports content led to an explosion in Formula 1’s popularity, particularly by fans in the United States.
According to a 2022 poll by Morning Consult of nearly 1,900 self-identified adult U.S. F1 fans, 53%credited “Drive to Survive” as a reason they became F1 fans (Shea). This trend makes sense considering that the United States has one of the largest populations of sports fans in the world. Before the show, only 14.6% of U.S. sports fans reported that they followed motorsport(Richter). The combination of a relatively untapped market and the engaging, behind-the-scenes format of DTS created the perfect opportunity for growth.
This unprecedented success of DTS did not go unnoticed by the rest of the sporting world. Only a few years after the spike in F1’s popularity, multiple other sports leagues launched similar shows. The PGA created Full Swing, the NFL released Quarterback and Receiver, building further on their preexisting series Hard Knocks on HBO, and the world of tennis debuted its show Break Point to name a few (Richards).
This new form of media, which depicts the personal lives of the athletes as opposed to the superficial, media-trained version viewers were accustomed to, created a a deeper connection with audiences. It created a stronger sense of connection between fans and athletes, making viewers feel as though they personally knew the players. As a result, fans rooted for them harder and became more engaged in the sport.
The impact of this shift is evident when considering Netflix’s reach—84 million Americans had a subscription in 2024 (Iqbal). The combination of sports fandom and Netflix binge culture was bound to drive success for these series.
Let's take a look at what that impact was exactly, and showcase the statistics from other story-driven sports series
Full Swing (Golf)
63% of viewers tuned into a PGA event within two months after debut, including 11% who had not watched golf in the six months prior (Myers).
Noticeable uptick in social media interaction and consumption of golf-related media (Myers).
Break Point (Tennis)
Every player featured saw an increase in social media following after the show’s debut, the largest of which was 15.3% (Piper).
Full Speed (NASCAR)
88% of first-week viewers did not watch the championship race, indicating a vast potential fan base for NASCAR among Netflix viewers (Gluck).
Many other series show similar trends, demonstrating the significant impact DTS and its successors have had on the sports they cover. Any sport that has yet to develop a behind-the-scenes documentary should seriously consider the potential benefits.
Sports and television have always had a symbiotic relationship—sports getting the publicity, and television networks gain viewership. This new take on how television and media could cover sports is fascinating, and it will be interesting to see how series like these evolve and shape their respective sports in the future.
Sources
Gluck, Jeff. “Is NASCAR Feeling the ‘Netflix Effect’? Early Signs Positive after Strong Start.” The New York Times, The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/athletic/5356704/2024/03/21/nascar-netflix-effect-cup-series-full-speed/. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
Iqbal, Mansoor. “Netflix Revenue and Usage Statistics (2025).” Business of Apps, 21 Feb. 2025, www.businessofapps.com/data/netflix-statistics/.
Myers, Alex. “Netflix’s ‘Full Swing’ Is Already Having a Huge Impact on PGA Tour TV Numbers.” GolfDigest.Com, GolfDigest, 6 Sept. 2023, www.golfdigest.com/story/netflix-full-swing-huge-impact-pga-tour-tv-numbers.
Piper, Abby. “The Break Point Boost: Netflix’s New Documentary’s Effect on Social.” Zoomph, 28 Feb. 2023, zoomph.com/blog/the-break-point-boost-netflixs-new-documentarys-effect-on-social/.
Richards, Amanda, and Derek Lawrence. “19 Sports Documentaries That’ll Get Your Head in the Game.” Netflix Tudum, Netflix, 12 Dec. 2024, www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/sports-documentaries-on-netflix.
Richter, Felix. “Infographic: Which Sports Do Americans Follow?” Statista, 29 Aug. 2022, www.statista.com/chart/28107/sports-followed-by-americans/.
Shea, Bill. “F1’s ‘Drive to Survive’ Effect: Inside the Show’s Ratings and Its Impact on Race Viewership.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Apr. 2023, www.nytimes.com/athletic/4402239/2023/04/13/f1-formula-one-drive-to-survive-ratings/