Liberty Media refines its F1 development plan

Liberty Media begins its gentle introduction to Formula 1. Chase Carey, the man chosen to be the new iconic figure of the sport by the American group, the new owner, has already been seen extensively at the Singapore Grand Prix, dropping a few words here and there, while remaining quite vague.

The executive director of Liberty, Greg Maffei, delved a little deeper into the upcoming development of Formula 1. He justifies the choice of Carey to lead the operations: « There are quite a few opportunities to grow the business. Starting with revenue related to television broadcasting, which is the largest source of income. Chase Carey is quite experienced in this area, and it’s hard to think of someone else when he has had the opportunity to manage sports and media entities, and at the intersection of both. »

The media coverage and sponsorship management will therefore be at the heart of Carey’s action in the coming months: « I believe there is an opportunity to grow the distribution. A large part has shifted from free TV to paid services, as was the case in Great Britain when Sky bought the rights », Maffei notes.

“There are 17 sponsors and only 3 people working on it in Formula 1,” continues Maffei. “In contrast, with Major League Baseball, a sector we know well, there are 75 sponsors in the United States alone. I believe there is an opportunity to go further, to invest in sponsorship management, and to increase the number of sponsors.”

The eternal debate about the number of races per season is unlikely to close. And an increase in Grand Prix on the calendar in the future seems inevitable: « For the moment, we have 21 events. I think there is an opportunity to increase that over time, particularly by maximizing some of these races with higher entry fees at the same time. I believe there is a chance to increase the number of venues that are potentially more attractive in the long term in terms of broadcast revenues and sponsorship. The goal would be to go a bit further in Asia, and to a lesser extent in Latin America and North America, where we are underexposed, undermonetized, and undervalued. »

The future also lies in digital, and Liberty Media is an expert in the field: « What is surprising is that less than 1% of the revenues come from digital, they really haven’t implemented a digital effort despite the massive flow of videos and data from the races, which we absolutely don’t use for fans, or for opportunities like online betting. There are different ways in which digital can contribute to this field. It will undoubtedly become a significant part of future profits. But of course, this won’t happen in a week. It’s a long-term job. » assures Maffei.