Silver Arrows Ace Lewis Hamilton Leapfrogs NBA Star LeBron James to Become 3rd Most Marketable Athlete, Max Verstappen Nowhere Near

What is better for brand recall or retention than a 7-time world champion and a sportsman with one of the largest fan followings? Lewis Hamilton, F1 driver extraordinaire, philanthropist, and fan favorite has been voted amongst the most marketable sportspeople in the world.

Lewis Hamilton made a thunderous start to F1. He started his first season with McLaren and almost won the world title. In the end, he lost by 1 point to Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari. But that didn’t stop him. He kept challenging for titles in the following years as well.

He finally broke the sport when he began his magical run of 7 world titles in 2014. Till 2020, the Briton was the absolute best. No matter which tracks or what weather conditions, he would find his way to the chequered flag first.

This period of domination also brought him a large fan following. He currently has 30.2 million followers on Instagram and 7.7 million followers on Twitter. To add to that, he also maintains an Instagram account for his dog Roscoe which has a hefty following too.

In a recent report by sportspromedia, Lewis has been placed at number 3 on the 50 Most Marketable Athletes List. The driver scored 64.58 (on 100) on the marketability score – he scored the full 20/20 for brand strength. To provide context, he has been ranked higher than stars like LeBron James, Lionel Messi, Tom Brady, and Stephen Curry. These are no small names – it only goes on to show how famous the name Lewis Hamilton can be for a brand.

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Hamilton’s reach as a brand shows how much F1 has grown over the years. His gradual demise might be a worry for the sport, and a competitive Lewis would be everyone’s hope now.

What makes Lewis Hamilton and other drivers of F1 so marketable?

This year’s report lists 5 names among the top 50 names – Lewis, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, George Russell, and Sergio Perez. It is the highest number of F1 drivers ever in the top 50.

F1 has largely been considered a niche sport, but it still has Hamilton on 3rd on the list. One of the major reasons behind it has to be the impact of Netflix’s documentary on the sport, ‘Drive to Survive’. The documentary gave never-seen-before access to people and helped the sport reach corners of the world that never had gotten a chance to experience the thrill of F1.

Also, the fact that Lewis is the only athlete on the whole list to receive the perfect score of 20/20 for brand strength shows the returns his endorsing brands receive. He is endorsed by market leaders like Tommy Hilfiger, Qualcomm, Monster Energy, and IWC.

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The analysis makes for an interesting read. With the methodology having been expanded and made more comprehensive, the listing of 5 F1 drivers on the list demonstrates the rise of F1 on the global stage.