It’s no secret that the Spanish Grand Prix, held annually at Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto since 1989, is one of the largest motorsport events in Spain. Every year, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, huge crowds flock to the popular destination in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. In addition to this, there are multiple other factors to consider such as hotel occupancy levels, the catering sector, the intense flow of vehicles to and from the circuit and worldwide media coverage which go into making the weekend a success, both on and off the track.
This season has proven particularly successful, with the circuit’s organisers releasing figures which speak to a commercial hit, with a media return of €12.5 million from 2022’s event. When comparing the numbers to other international events, it looks very favourable and provides further evidence of the worldwide appeal of MotoGP™ in Jerez and Andalusia.
According to a Media Study commissioned by the circuit and carried out by the Analysis Department of JPMedia (now called Simbiu), a communications consultancy belonging to the international IFAT Group, the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez had a return of €12.592,141 million. The study detailed the space or duration of the news generated according to advertising rates of the media evaluated. Print media, online media, television and radio stations across Spain were the focus of the research.
The number of impacts – counts of news related to the event in the aforementioned media types – is estimated by JP Media to be 6,514, with 5,354 of those belonging to the digital environment, 836 to printed press, 175 to radio and 149 to television. These impacts translate into an estimated audience of 802,450,843 viewers referring to the accumulated number of readers, in the case of the written press (54,419,351), the accumulated number of listeners in the case of radio (81,309,000), the accumulated number of viewers in the case of each television item (86,970,468) and the accumulated number in the digital environment, which is the potential number of readers of each item, estimated at 652,930,124.
836 news items were reported in print media with an economic return of 2,472,441 euros, with the peak of maximum economic return and volume of information established on day two, the day after the Grand Prix was held. Almost all of the Spanish newspapers published reports and information on the events of the day before at the Jerez track. In the top 10 in terms of rating, we find the following newspapers: Marca, As, Diario de Cádiz, El Mundo, Mundo Deportivo, Diario de Jerez, La Voz de Cádiz, La Razón (Madrid), ABC and La Razón.
On the other hand, in the online media, 5,354 news items were counted with an economic return of 6,885,090 €, reflecting the day on which the races were held as the day with the highest amount of information and the highest point of economic return, according to this study, which points out that the high figures presented by both indicators reveal the media importance of this sporting event in Spain.
As for the television data, there are 149 references and an economic return of 2,562,100 euros, with both the peak of news volume and economic return being the days prior to the races, with the different channels dedicating many pieces to the start of the event, as well as the preparations, visitor forecasts and road trips.
Finally, this study indicates that, at radio level, 175 news items were generated in the days controlled with an economic return of 672,509€, pointing out that the physiognomy presented by this medium is quite similar to television, bringing together the most information and therefore return in the days prior to reporting the start of the GP along with other aspects related to tourism figures and final balances.