F1 media rights under scrutiny
October 24, 2011
By Colin Mann
The association representing the majority of teams competing in Grand Prix motor racing – Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) – has hired Evolution Media Capital, a boutique investment bank, to assess the value of its media rights before it negotiates a new funding agreement with CVC, the private equity firm that owns the sport, reports the Financial Times.
FOTA, CVC, Bernie Ecclestone, the head of F1, and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile , the sport’s governing body, are supposed to negotiate a new ‘Concorde agreement’, which divides up F1 revenues.
It is understood that the team owners are anxious to secure a larger share and have hired EMC to advise them of their options.
“This sport is probably the second or third largest in the world and the teams who take all the teams’ financial risk receive a minority share of the revenues,” said a person familiar with the situation. “There is so much value that these guys are sitting on that they are not realising.”
Recent months have seen suggestions of bids for Formula One. News Corp. is understood to have considered a joint bid for the sport with Carlos Slim, the Mexican billionaire, but any formal offer to CVC has yet to materialise.