DECEMBER 13, 2004

Not that Formula 1 would ever think of it

Formula 1 likes to pride itself on being the best in many areas of motorsport but one area where the sport has been very weak in recent years has been in its marketing of itself. The races take place but little effort is made to increase the viewing figures, a job which is left up to the circuits and the TV companies involved. There was a half-hearted attempt some years ago to make a film with Sylvester Stallone but the far-reaching demands of Hollywood and the restrictive nature of Formula One did not meld well and in the end Stallone went off and made a movie about CART.

Now it seems the Indy Racing League is going for a major boost with plans to create a prime time TV drama series which would use the IRL circus as a backdrop. This would air every week and would be similar is concept to high-rating shows like Beverly Hills 90210. The project is under discussion with veteran TV producer Aaron Spelling, who has a list of credits going back into the 1950s which includes Starsky and Hutch, Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Friends, Hart to Hart, Dynasty, Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210.

The glamour of racing is something that Spelling has yet to exploit and it looks as though IRL could be the series to benefit from the exposure.