Exclusive Naming Rights in Formula 1: Inside the Deals – Speedway Digest

Traditionally when we think of top-level sports like F1, our minds immediately leap to the action and the rivalries. What many don’t realise though, is that football, basketball and F1 are not just sports, they are also multi-billion dollar industries in their own right.

F1 in particular, is a sport experiencing a phenomenal rise in growth with revenues growing 14% year-on-year in 2024, to a staggering $3.65 billion. That’s the fourth year running that revenues have grown by double digits for the sport.

Whilst subscription services, licensing rights and ticket sales all contribute to the sport’s overall revenue streams advertising – in particular sponsorship – accounts for a large chunk of Formula 1’s total income.

In this article we shine a light on some of the most lucrative and impactful sponsorship deals that F1 has signed in recent years. Read on to find out about Sauber’s gambling deal, Ferrari’s printing partnership and the slow creep of crypto onto the circuit…

Stake and Sauber: A Gamble That Paid Off

In 2023 Sauber announced that they had signed an exclusive naming rights deal with global betting company Stake for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The deal saw the team rebranded as ‘Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber’, putting the company front and centre of all discussions regarding Sauber Motorsport.

The deal was worth a reported $80 million, but it is Stake that has gotten the most value from this partnership thus far. Not only has it massively increased the company’s brand exposure, but it has also opened them up to previously untapped global markets.

In a bid to retain the influx of new customers that this deal has brought about, Stake are offering a lucrative bonus for new users. The Stake CORGBONUS promo code has been implemented to increase retention levels and really take advantage of the increased traffic that the Sauber deal has brought to their site.

(Stake’s sponsorship deal gave them maximum visibility with Sauber, not just on the track but on YouTube videos as well!)

Ferrari and HP: Technology Rebrand

If you were to ask one hundred people to share their thoughts about the brand ‘HP’, a large proportion of them would feel a sharp and sudden bubbling of rage forming inside their stomachs and racing to their outer extremities.

That’s because HP are best known for their printers and everyone on the planet has at least one horrendous memory of trying to make a printer do its main job of printing and failing miserably. Which is why HP’s $100 million a year title deal with Ferrari was and continues to be so important to the brand.

Ferrari are one of the biggest names in F1, which is a sport renowned for being at the very cutting edge of technology and innovation. HP, who do in fairness, produce way more than just printers, are looking to rebuild their brand reputation by purposely aligning themselves with a brand know for technological savvy.

Whether the deal is enough to overcome the general public’s generally poor view of printers and the companies behind them remains to be seen…

(HP have the tough task of trying to change the public image of printers.)

Aston Martin’s Crypto Publicity Stunt

In years gone by cigarettes and booze companies were the go-to brands for not just F1 teams but professional sports teams in general. Nowadays that position has been firmly taken by crypto currencies.

There were no shortage of specific crypto sponsorship examples in F1 to choose from, but one did stand out above all others: Aston Martin’s deal with Coinbase. This deal stood out because it became the first ever F1 sponsorship deal to be structured entirely in crypto.

The multi-year deal was paid for by Coinbase in USDC, a so-called stable coin that is pegged to the U.S. dollar. Considering recent developments in the United States and the projected devaluation of the U.S. dollar, Aston Martin might be feeling a little differently about this sponsorship deal than they did on the day they signed it…

In Summary

The Drive to Survive series that was featured on Netflix has done a phenomenal job at reviving the fortunes of F1 globally. Since its premiere on the streaming service back in 2019, global viewing figures for the sport have been rising sharply.

This of course has brought about more and more sponsorship opportunities for the sport in general and individual teams and drivers. As such a glut of money has flooded into F1, which fans will be hoping results in greater technological investments and, as a result, a far better product to enjoy on the track.