A behind-the-scenes look at how two motorsports streaming service providers are improving the viewing experience.

The only thing "faster" than your favorite driver is undoubtedly the speed at which streaming services have changed the landscape of content and how it's consumed. A new era is on the horizon for motorsports streaming services, and those platforms seemingly have one major aspect at the forefront of their minds: the audience. 

Global sports and entertainment company Endeavor Group Holdings released a recent study stating, "There are now more than 113 million households in the US accessing at least one streaming service (87%), while the number of traditional pay-TV subscribers has fallen from just under 100 million in 2016 to 68.5 million in 2022." 

Within the media landscape, rapid changes in consumer demands have spread like wildfire, and motorsports streaming services are becoming more accessible and more affordable across myriad devices. 

World Racing Group (WRG) in Concord, North Carolina, found it necessary to bolster its streaming platform, DIRTVision, to air its dirt races for its fans. WRG is host to several series, including the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and World of Outlaws Late Models. 

Given the historic nature that World of Outlaws embodies, it's imperative that the DIRTVision team upholds that legacy as "stewards of the sport," said Charlie Mellilo.

While there are plenty of ways that motorsports streaming services can be successful, the foundation seems to be simple: Provide a premium service built upon the celebration of motorsports and foster an experience for audiences and enthusiasts alike. 

Resonating deeply in the hearts and minds of enthusiasts, celebrating motorsports can only come to fruition if the streaming platform can develop a service that brings the audience (or subscriber) closer to their favorite race series, team, or driver. 

When a streaming platform can go above and beyond the tangible aspects of service, an intangible service is delivered to the audience. The breadcrumbs of an intangible service go beyond the reaches of monetary value and arrive as an experience.

Racing stokes emotions. Emotions create memories. Fans are born.

"We find that having a direct-to-consumer (DTC) [streaming] offering enables us to have that one-to-one relationship with the fan far better than just about any other way," said Mellilo, "the exception being when they buy a ticket and come sit at the race track."

DIRTVision determines engagement with its platform through metrics that illustrate fan participation with the streaming service. Reactive fan engagement surfaces in the days following the races, when buzz is generated across social media channels. However, it doesn't stop there. Mellilo alluded to an interactive sense of engagement seen from the various services offered to the subscriber. 

"We're seeing people come in at the start of a race and they're staying for the entire race, and we're seeing viewers come in and spend hours and hours watching our content.

"And it's not just the live content," Mellilo clarified. "We also see strong viewership among our race highlights and our recaps that might be available shortly after a race. Then we will also see very strong engagement with our archive library, because in addition to the live races, we do have a library, a story that dates back many years."

According to sources at DIRTVision, its platform has 45-plus years of race archives that include more than 2,500 races in the vault, totaling to greater than 8,500 hours of video. The impressive archive of racing history speaks to the heritage of dirt track's humble beginnings. It also speaks to the caliber of what motorsports streaming services provide, constantly finding ways to further increase a services/value proposition with the consumer. 

Creating new avenues for consumers to engage with its platform is key to the success of a DTC streaming platform. Creating reasons for that engagement is to create relevance and familiarity with the brand with its consumers.

Beyond affordability, motorsports streaming platforms look to provide over-the-top (OTT) services that provoke an elevated experience for their users. These services are secondary to the mainstream offerings of the platform and can further increase brand equity for the company. 

As if dirt racing wasn't exhilarating enough, with DIRTVision's latest OTT feature, fans can now raise the stakes of engagement. "We have our new sports betting relationship and the ability to offer opportunities for our fans to engage with our content in a whole new way—placing wagers on their favorite drivers," Mellilo reported. 
"I recognize that the idea of sports betting is not for everybody, and we certainly respect that," he continued. "But there is a significant percentage of our fan base that is on DIRTVision who are engaging with us in other means, and have an appetite to place a sports bet or two, and a desire to do so responsibly." Mellilo's statements express how WRG is upping the ante when it comes to defining the fan experience on its platform. 

Lowering the Barrier of Entry 

While streaming indicates a strong projection of how motorsports content is consumed, it is important to recognize that streaming networks on devices like Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Android TV, etc. are alive and performing well...

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Photo courtesy of DIRTVision