By Caleb Culpepper (Empowered by AI)
Formula 1 is no longer just a motorsport. It’s a cultural engine. Just ask Brad Pitt. Or, check out Lincoln-based Esses Media.
Over the last decade, accelerated by streaming, social media, and the global success of Drive to Survive and F1, the movie, the auto racing league has evolved into one of the fastest-growing entertainment platforms in the world. New audiences are younger, more digital, and more globally connected than ever before. But as the sport expanded, a gap emerged where fans wanted smarter coverage, deeper storytelling, and content that felt native to the internet, not traditional motorsports media.
Founded to build a modern, global F1 multimedia platform, Esses Media sits at the intersection of sport, culture, and digital storytelling. In just its first year, the company generated significant year one revenue, proving there is real appetite for its approach. More importantly, it demonstrated something harder to measure: community pull.
Esses Media doesn’t operate like legacy sports journalism. It was built for a generation that consumes content across YouTube, podcasts, social, newsletters, and live experiences. Rather than chasing race recaps alone, the company leans into personality, analysis, and cultural relevance treating F1 as both competition and entertainment property.
This strategy aligns with the broader shift happening inside Formula 1 itself. The sport is investing heavily in fan engagement, U.S. market expansion, and digital-native storytelling. As new races launch in Las Vegas and Miami and global viewership climbs, independent media brands that can authentically engage audiences are becoming increasingly valuable.
Esses Media’s early traction suggests it understands this shift. Revenue growth in year one signals advertiser confidence and audience loyalty. And as the platform scales, its leverage increases across sponsorship, branded content, events, and potentially premium subscription offerings.
What makes the opportunity compelling isn’t just the current numbers, it’s the macro tailwind. F1’s global fan base now exceeds hundreds of millions, and it continues to grow in key commercial markets. Yet compared to other major sports leagues, the independent digital media ecosystem around F1 is still relatively young. That leaves room for breakout brands.
Esses Media is positioning itself to be one of them. This has excited numerous local angels, and many local investment groups are checking out the company. Surprisingly, this is consistent with some existing Nebraska businesses – such as Speedway Motors. In addition, UNL’s Midwest Roadside Safety Facility is a nationally recognized crash-testing and barrier design center—best known publicly for helping develop the SAFER barrier used at NASCAR/IndyCar tracks, and for its ongoing work redesigning highway guardrails and roadside safety systems. Finally, startups, like RaceNote, recognized and capitalized on the growing autosports trend in this country.
Unlike those other groups, Esses Media is seeking to build a media empire. Esses Media’s ambition extends beyond content production. The long-term vision appears closer to a vertically integrated media and entertainment brand: original programming, live events, merchandise, partnerships, and global collaborations. In that sense, it’s less a “blog” and more a modern sports media company built from day one with multiple revenue paths in mind.
Early-stage media businesses are difficult to build, but when they work, they scale through audience loyalty and cultural relevance rather than capital intensity alone. Esses Media’s first-year performance suggests it has both the timing and the instincts to grow alongside Formula 1’s expanding footprint.
As the sport continues its transformation into a mainstream global entertainment property, the next wave of media brands won’t simply report on the action, they’ll shape how fans experience it.
Esses Media is building at exactly that intersection.
