Citing Growth Opportunity, Formula One Drives From NBC Sports To ESPN In 2018
By Barry Janoff
October 4, 2017: Calling it a "very important growth opportunity" and a "significant step forward in broadening the sport’s appeal," the Formula One racing circuit has signed a multi-year linear and digital partnership with ESPN, beginning with the 2018 season.
Formula One had aired exclusively in the U.S. on NBC Sports since 2013.
Financial terms of the alliance were not shared.
ESPN and ABC will televise all 21 races in the FIA Formula One World Championship.
The 2018 Formula One season begins with the Australian Grand Prix March 25 (ESPN2) and runs through the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Nov. 25 (ESPN2).
The first Formula 1 race to be broadcast in the U.S. was on ABC in 1962.
”This linear and digital partnership with ESPN represents a significant step forward in achieving Formula One’s aim of broadening the sport’s appeal,” Sean Bratches, managing director, commercial operations for Formula One, said in a statement.
“The U.S. market is very important growth opportunity for Formula One and we are looking forward to working with ESPN to ignite the growing fan interest.”
In signing off on its deal with Formula One, NBC Sports said, "Although we take great pride in having grown Formula One’s visibility and viewership since we became its exclusive U.S. media rights holder in 2013, this will be our last season with the series.
"In this case, we chose not to enter into a new agreement in which the rights holder itself competes with us and our distribution partners. We wish the new owners of F1 well."
Liberty Media acquired Formula One for $4.6 billion this past January.
Formula One sponsors last season included Heineken, Red Bull, financial firm UBS, Rolex, Pirelli, Puma and Tata Communications. Formula 1 said more than 200 companies are involved with its races.
Energy drink company Red Bull spent 26.1 times more on the motorsports series than the average of all F1 sponsors, according to the 2017 Motorsports Sponsorship Report from ESP Properties (formerly IEG), Chicago.
Marlboro was the second most active sponsor (17.9), followed by Pirelli (17.4), Ferrari (16.3), Honda (13), UBS (8), Petronas (7.5), Santander (6.8), Emirates Air (6.5), Heineken (6.5), Shell (5.9), Infiniti (5.1), Mobil 1 (4.9), SAP (4.9) and DHL (spent 4.9 times more on the motorsports series than the average of all F1 sponsors).
Beginning with the season-opening Formula One Australian Grand Prix on March 25, and ending with the Nov. 25 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, all of the races will air live in the U.S. on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC.
“The U.S. market is very important growth opportunity for Formula One and we are looking forward to working with ESPN to ignite the growing fan interest.”
In all, more than 125 hours of Formula 1 programming, including all practice sessions, qualifying and races, will air live and in replay across ESPN platforms in 2018, according to ESPN.
“ESPN has had a long commitment to motorsports, and Formula One is a crown jewel in the sport,” Burke Magnus, ESPN evp-programming and scheduling, said in a statement. “There are many passionate Formula One fans in the U.S. and we look forward to bringing the pageantry, spectacle and excitement of F1 to viewers across the ESPN platform.”
Global spending on motorsports sanctioning bodies, teams and tracks is expected to total $5.75 billion in 2017, up 3.1% from $5.58 billion in 2016, but behind the projected 4.5% increase in overall global sponsorship spending, according to ESP Properties.
"Motorsports has proven to be a highly effective marketing platform," according to William Chipps, senior editor for the 2017 ESP Properties Motorsports Sponsorship Report. "But concerns over the shifting political and economic climate globally could weigh on big-ticket sponsorship expenditures."
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