F1 - where has all the money gone?

[steveaki13]

Bring back Tobacco advertising. I don't smoke or want to smoke, So why the hell should I care.

Because it's not just about you. Anything that can be done to stop people from taking up smoking is fine by me.

I was joshing man, I despise smoking and fully agree with you.

Although I dont drink either and think similarly about that. I bet not many would agree with that though.

[webberf1]

Is it possible that F1 teams are losing revenue/sponsors because the sport has focussed way too much on entering emerging markets (who often don't even appreciate the sport that much) rather than staying true to its core markets? E.g. Europe losing most of its races...

[call_me_andrew]

Racing is a lot more expensive than it used to be. Name another open-wheel racing series that allows teams to build their own chassis.

Technically the sponsors are part of the F1 team names, too - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, Scuderria Ferrari Marlboro etc. but it would be too cumbersome to always say the full team name in the commentary, or we'd end up with NASCAR-esque hillarity

It used to be much more the case that commentators referred to sponsors' names. Watch a GP from the '70s and one often hears of the 'UOP Shadow', 'Olympus Hesketh', 'Elf Tyrrell' and so forth, to say nothing, of course, of JPS. The names were less long-winded than they often are today, I suppose, and tripped off the tongue that bit better.

I've heard of some networks that will not aknowledge sponsors unless the sponsors pay them.

[zako85]

Is it possible that F1 teams are losing revenue/sponsors because the sport has focussed way too much on entering emerging markets (who often don't even appreciate the sport that much) rather than staying true to its core markets? E.g. Europe losing most of its races...

Europe hasn't lost most of its races yet. Compared to the early 90s, French, San Marino, and Portuguese GPs are missing. All other European GPs are still active. The sport wouldn't have expanded into emerging markets if this didn't generate additional revenue. The teams get approximately half of TV rights revenue. Yes, the distribution is more skewed towards the top teams. Bernie's organization picks up the tab for some of the transportation costs (e.g. each team supposedly has several containers available). Certainly, teams like HRT and Marussia could probably be more strained because of the long calendar. I personally suspect that Lotus and Sauber may also be in trouble because up to 2009-2010 they were well funded works teams. It could be that their spending and ambitions remained high even after losing the manufacturer umbrellas.


BTW, this is an interesting discussion. I wonder what the "insiders" would have said about this topic. I watched the 4-part "Patrick Dempsey: Racing Le Mans" mini-series on Velocity. And really like half of it was about how hard it's to find money for racing and how much it sucks to be broke.

[steveaki13]

It must be hugely costly, I mean money is flooding into Football so there is money around, but just not enough money to fund F1 adventures anymore.

There used to be a few eccentric rich guys having a go at F1. No more though.

[henners88]

It must be hugely costly, I mean money is flooding into Football so there is money around, but just not enough money to fund F1 adventures anymore.

There used to be a few eccentric rich guys having a go at F1. No more though.

The teams get more money now from TV rights as they are being sold for a higher profit since the switch in many countries to pay TV. The downside is less viewers are tuning in. In Britain they've seen an overall decline of around 3 million since the end of 2011 and that must be something sponsors are thinking about. Why invest in a team if the exposure you once had is diminishing? I think it will take a while for it to really affect the sport, but I feel with F1 they need as many people watching as they can. Its not like football when that went off terrestrial, as F1 is a little more complex and harder for kids to relate to in the playground. The interest is harder to maintain for the younger generations if they don't have exposure to it IMO. F1 is already suffering in terms of smaller teams not being able to attract money and when you have teams relying more and more on pay drivers, I feel it limits the quality in the field. We've always had pay drivers, but even some of the bigger established teams are using this route simply for more funding. Its interesting to watch it all change.

[webberf1]

It surprises me that oil companies are taking a backseat with sponsorship. Companies like Shell, Mobil, Petronas for example used to be much more heavily involved in the sponsorship of teams.

[Malbec]

It surprises me that oil companies are taking a backseat with sponsorship. Companies like Shell, Mobil, Petronas for example used to be much more heavily involved in the sponsorship of teams.

Shell/Ferrari, Petronas/Mercedes, Mobil/McLaren, Total/RBR/Lotus/Caterham, CEPSA/STR and $50 million a year from PDVSA to Williams. Don't think they could get more involved do you think?

[AndyL]

To an extent the cigarette companies have been replaced by gambling companies in sports sponsorship generally. But they are not very evident in F1. I guess one problem is they tend to be national/regional brands rather than global ones so they're less interested in globe-trotting sports like F1.