The new owners of F1, Liberty Media, have struck a deal with Singapore to host the Grand Prix for four more years to the end of 2021, it was announced today.
The deal extends beyond the December 2020 cut off date for the bilateral agreements binding in most of the F1 teams and is another high profile renewal from the new management team, which has secured extensions to races in Russia and Canada already this season.
The deal, which is a joint venture between the Singapore government via the tourist office and the entrepreneur BS Ong, was announced on Friday in the Singapore paddock.
The model for this works because the government and Ong share the financial risk and share the upside. The race costs £75m per year to stage, but that is offset by an average annual return in tourism receipts of £78m.
The government takes 60% of the risk, that makes it viable for Ong’s company which is a major concert and events promoter in the region. It is a model which is much envied around the world with promoters in many European countries wishing that something similar were possible in their own nation.
For Singapore it makes sense as the strategy is to turn the state into a destination, rather than a stop-over on route from Europe to Australia.
A significant percentage of the visitors to the F1 race at Singapore come from the UK, USA, Germany, Holland and Australia. The government estimates that over 450,000 visitors have been brought to Singapore by the Grand Prix.
Sales of tickets this year are up by over 15%, repeating a trend seen in a number of the leading European venues like Spa, Silverstone and Monza.
The 2017 Singapore Grand Prix marks the anniversary of F1 CEO Chase Carey first walking into the F1 paddock after Liberty Media bought their initial stake. He was closely shepherded by CVC’s Donald Mackenzie and F1’s then CEO Bernie Ecclestone. Four months later Liberty completed the buy out from CVC, Ecclestone was ousted and the new management team took over.
Source :https://www.jamesallenonf1.com
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