The fan view: why has MotoGP lost its British audience?

While MotoGP recorded its best ever season in terms of grand prix attendance, the British audience for the championship has fallen considerably in the last few years. Attendances at Silverstone, the home of British motorcycle racing, have struggled to reach the heights of pre-covid crowd figures and there have been many discussions as to what has caused the British audience decline. 

As we look at the landscape of British motorcycle racing, here are some of the fan opinions as to what has caused the dwindling interaction between the UK and MotoGP.

The lack of British riders

In a fan survey, 38% of the correspondents agreed that the lack of a British rider has been to blame for the lack of attendance in recent years at the British Grand Prix. 

There hasn’t been a British rider in the Premier Class full-time since 2020, and no appearance at a home GP since 2021. While there are some attempts to fix this issue with riders progressing through the junior ranks, it could still be some time until British fans can see one of their own line up on the grid again.

Marketing strategies

Marketing is a necessity when it comes to creating and maintaining an audience, and the marketing strategy of MotoGP has been strongly criticised by fans and media for many different reasons. 

Whereas its F1 counterparts have its Netflix series and short videos for fans to watch on YouTube, MotoGP still lags behind on this front. There was an attempt to create a Drive to Survive spin off on AmazonPrime with the show ‘MotoGP Unlimited’, but the initial launch saw no dubbing or subtitles available for international viewers, while there are also few video outlets where the riders can showcase their personalities unlike F1 drivers. 

Similarly, the marketing strategy relies heavily on an already strong audience instead of reaching out to other fans. Many people in the UK may not even be aware that there is a race in the country since the outreach is limited to local outlets in Northamptonshire as opposed to on a national scale that is seen by promotors in Spain and Italy. This is why marketing deficiencies were frequently given as a response to the question 'what has caused MotoGP audiences to decline in the UK'.

The 'Rossi effect'

The retirement of Valentino Rossi, arguably the greatest motorcycle racer of all time, has also been cited as a reason for an overall decline in popularity of MotoGP worldwide. This, combined with the decline in form from Marc Marquez after some turbulent final years with Honda, has meant that the big names from previous eras are no longer fighting out front, which has also meant a general decline with casual viewers of the sport.

Racing behind a paywall 

Currently in the UK there is no free option to watch MotoGP except from a few select rounds where TNT Sports (the UK broadcaster) shares free-to-air races with ITV. 

The subscription to TNT costs anywhere between £20 and £40 a month, and during a period where the population is still attempting to recover from the cost of living crisis, people are less willing, or simply unable, to pay out for coverage of motorcycle racing, especially if it is the only thing fans would be paying the subscription for. 

However, it has been announced that from next year, the Sprint races will be available free-to-air on TNT’s freeview channel Quest, which means half of the racing will be open to non-subscribers.

Ducati dominance

2024 saw an unseen level of dominance from Ducati, with only four riders realistically in contention for wins every weekend. While the GP24 is potentially the best grand prix motorcycle in history, created by the mastermind Gigi Dall’igna, according to MotoGP fans the overall product on offer has diminished. 

The sole non-Ducati winner of the 2024 season was Maverick Vinales in Austin, the third race of the campaign. The lack of variety, combined with a lack of on-track battles between championship protagonists Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin, saw an overall decline in viewership and a further lack of interaction on social media after it became clear who was going to win the races.