Liberty Media’s Document-Breaking 2024 with F1
Is it attainable to surpass this yr’s document numbers sooner or later? After celebrating a 2024 income exceeding $3 billion, Liberty Media is satisfied that the F1 product nonetheless has vital development potential. This perception stems not solely from the truth that the U.S. market has solely just lately embraced the GP paddock but in addition as a result of the American leisure multinational, which has held F1’s business rights since 2017, is exploring new partnerships to diversify income streams.
The Sponsorship Market
As reported by Michael Schmidt in *Auto Motor und Sport*, step one seems to contain the sponsorship market. The latest settlement with LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) is a big milestone for Components 1, with the French luxurious large signing a decade-long contract. Different long-standing paddock companions, corresponding to DHL and American Categorical, have additionally just lately renewed their expiring agreements.
Paddock Membership: The Las Vegas Mannequin
Talking of luxurious, one other rising income supply is the Paddock Membership, a premium hospitality service at GPs providing varied ranges of exclusivity relying on the quantity spent by rich followers or firms searching for to offer distinctive experiences for his or her shoppers inside the F1 context. On this regard, the Las Vegas race has paved the way in which for brand new prospects that could possibly be replicated at different circuits. That weekend, the Paddock Membership hosted 30,000 company, with ticket costs starting from $5,000 to $100,000.
Liberty Media Between Circuits, Calendar, and F1TV
Then there are the circuits: Liberty Media has just lately signed contracts with seven tracks. Suzuka has renewed its deal till 2029, Shanghai till 2030, with Monza and Monte Carlo prolonged till 2031, and Silverstone dedicated long-term till at the very least 2034. Madrid will host the GP paddock from 2026 to 2035. In distinction, Zandvoort has prolonged its contract till 2026 however has already introduced its exit from the F1 calendar upon the present settlement’s expiration. Moreover, international locations like South Africa, Rwanda, and Thailand have proven curiosity in organizing a GP within the coming years.
Nonetheless, the potential for development on this space is restricted: the Concorde Settlement specifies that there can’t be greater than 25 GPs per season. With 24 races already on the calendar and a possible give attention to growing the variety of Dash Races within the close to future (2025 will nonetheless function six, as in 2024), additional calendar enlargement appears inconceivable given complaints from employees concerning the extreme workload positioned on mechanics. As an alternative, whereas Stefano Domenicali has overtly mentioned introducing circuit rotations, *Auto Motor und Sport* suggests Liberty Media would possibly give attention to increasing its subscription-based F1TV channel (at the moment unavailable in Italy).