Levelling up – how Formula 1’s global audience is opening the door to new partnerships

In mid-December, FIFA announced the 2030 World Cup would take place in six countries, spanning three continents. Meanwhile, most American sports have been heading to Europe in recent years looking to expand their appeal.

These events sell out, usually in record-setting times, but do not come close to matching the worldwide spectacle that comes from hosting 24 grands prix, across five continents and 21 countries, with viewing figures that continue to rise.

In that regard, Formula 1 is unique among sporting contests seeking sponsorship revenue and partnership participation.

It is why Emily Prazer, F1’s chief commercial officer, feels the series is only growing its portfolio of partners.

“We talk about it all the time; the appeal of the global brand is something that we can’t really take for granted,” she told Autosport Business.

“I think obviously we’re up against NFL, NBA in the US and the Premier League in the UK. But I think people are starting to really understand the global reach we have for 24 races in most continents.

“I think we’ve also done a really good job of being a little bit more trusted by brands, seeing the strategy come to life with some of the global partnerships that we’ve had for a very long time, it has meant that we’ve been able to stand behind the data, which is really helpful.”

Across 2024, F1’s longest-ever season, the championship welcomed new deals, the biggest of which was the one struck with LVMH to bring a number of their ‘maisons’ on board as the 10-year global agreement will result in the brands of Louis Vuitton, Moet and TAG Heuer on display.

Stefano Domenicali, President & CEO of Formula 1, Greg Maffei, President & CEO of Liberty Media, Bernard Arnault, Chairman & CEO of LVMH Group and Frédéric Arnault, CEO of LVMH Watches

Photo by: Liberty Media

Add to that Santander and Globant joining, Crypto.com extending its deal and Lenovo elevating into the highest tier of global partners and it has been a fruitful year for Prazer and her team.

“I think LVMH are just exactly the type of partner that we want to be working with, just on the activation side alone,” she added.

“I think you’ll see some really fun stuff that they’re working with us on for next year around each of the three brands, which again, is just levelling up, I think against some of the other sports.

“We are probably one of the nimbler rights holders as it relates to partnerships. We don’t really have a rule book of ‘you have to do this, and you have to do that’.

“We get very creative when answering brand’s objectives and I think that’s been really good in separating ourselves from the rest.

“I think we’re quite deliberate around what we do with our brands. Obviously, some of it is relatively progressive. Again, if you look at the AWS, the Salesforce, Tata, those types of brands, they very much support the wider business, which is super helpful, when you’re talking and being able to tell a story.

“Not everybody gets the opportunity to really weave technology into partnerships, and we’re very fortunate in that regard, in addition to the fact that we want it to be the top brands in the world.

“So we are very thoughtful about who we partner with, because it’s based on what value they provide to our fans, not necessarily just a cash injection into the sport. Obviously, we love money! I think every sport does but, from our perspective, it’s very much about how they show up.”

The appeal of F1 has arguably never been higher

Photo by: JEP

With so many new partners joining at different tiers or as part of licensing agreements, does Prazer worry that there could be a time when there are too many brands vying for space in the F1 sphere?

“We definitely have category exclusivity, so you’d never see us have two partners in the same category,” she said.

“I don’t think you’ll see us ever over-saturate ourselves. What I think you’ll see is deal values becoming more significant, because we do have a scarcity issue, that we will never go above a certain number of partners, and we’re very thorough in our due diligence around what value they’re providing.”

Despite the number of races already on the calendar, there are still areas of the world currently not serviced by an F1 grand prix.

Rwanda is keen to bring the series back to Africa, while Argentina has been touted as potentially making a return to add a second race to the huge continent of South America, with those sorts of locations offering new partnership opportunities should they materialise.

“When the race promotion team start talking about the calendar, we obviously work with them quite significantly on where we think the opportunities are, because we want to make sure we’re aligned in the value of that race market,” said Prazer.

“Particularly in Asia, we’ve got a ton of commercial opportunity that if we had a few more races there, I think would come to fruition quite quickly.

“And I think what we’ve done really well in that regard with our promoters is create identities across each of our grands prix.”