Liberty Media and F1 buy in

[Derek Smith]

Anyone got any info on what this means for F1?

[Eric Mc]

Who are Liberty Media?

Where are they based and what do they already run or own?

[Smollet]

Google bought up this link
http://www.libertymedia.com/

[Derek Smith]

It's a who. John Malone. Owns various sports and TV companies. I was wondering if he acts alone or whether Sky, which he has been seen with before, or RB might be involved. I've got no idea of what this means.

[sirtyro]

Means Bernie is gone and that F1 might open up more of it's content to Social Media and other revenue sources to encourage younger people to watch and get involved. Apparently they plan on lowering the hosting fee with a view of having around 25 races a year to cover that lost revenue. The idea being more people will come as tickets will be cheaper and it gives the tracks more margin to make improvements.

It could be a good thing, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

[Crafty_]

sirtyro said:

Means Bernie is gone and that F1 might open up more of it's content to Social Media and other revenue sources to encourage younger people to watch and get involved. Apparently they plan on lowering the hosting fee with a view of having around 25 races a year to cover that lost revenue. The idea being more people will come as tickets will be cheaper and it gives the tracks more margin to make improvements.

It could be a good thing, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

That was just hearsay and was certainly not announced officially.

At this point we really don't know what will happen. We don't know what the structure they will put in place is, if Bernie will have a role in that or not and if not who will replace him ? Do they know anything about motorsport ? F1 ? racing ? are they going to float in on the stock market ? what will be the structure/governance ? what are their aims ? what are the financial targets, both short and long term ?

I've no doubt various people are currently dancing a jig at the thought of Bernie being out but it could easily get worse if they replace him with some flash know it all lawyer. We know that if the teams get uppity they will start waving pitchforks and are as much to blame for the financial situation of F1 as any other group.

Lets wait and see what happens.

[cgt2]

Hasn't it been reported multiple times over the years that F1 will have a new owner within six months.

Let's see some concrete proof, up to that point it's all smoke and mirrors.

[Eric Mc]

We all know what happened the last time F1 had a flash know-it-all lawyer at the helm.

[Derek Smith]

sirtyro said:

It could be a good thing, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

This is it regardless of who they are or their intentions.

They won't be starting with a clean sheet so there are limitations. Further, the teams have been after a bigger slice of the revenue and, if have more races, the costs will increase.

The current contract/concord runs out in 2020 so there's 3 seasons before something can be changed significantly.

Interesting times.

[Gary C]

Question will be,

Are Liberty interested in maximising income and therefore follow the trend of chasing rich countries and their governments to fund races and sod the old European tracks, or will they want to sell the history of the old tracks too.

[greygoose]

It would be nice if F1 got a bit friendlier to the fans and less aloof, not sure it will happen. Brief reading of google links to the owner doesn't reveal much beyond he owns lots of land in America and lots of media stuff. Hopefully he won't follow Bernie's lead in threatening to take the race away from every track he visits.

[amgmcqueen]

sirtyro said:

Means Bernie is gone and that F1 might open up more of it's content to Social Media and other revenue sources to encourage younger people to watch and get involved. Apparently they plan on lowering the hosting fee with a view of having around 25 races a year to cover that lost revenue. The idea being more people will come as tickets will be cheaper and it gives the tracks more margin to make improvements.

It could be a good thing, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

Sounds absolutely terrible! We need less races not more.

[Derek Smith]

amgmcqueen said:

Sounds absolutely terrible! We need less races not more.

Whilst I agree with your sentiment, the business case for fewer races might be a difficult one.

[markcoznottz]

amgmcqueen said:

sirtyro said:

Means Bernie is gone and that F1 might open up more of it's content to Social Media and other revenue sources to encourage younger people to watch and get involved. Apparently they plan on lowering the hosting fee with a view of having around 25 races a year to cover that lost revenue. The idea being more people will come as tickets will be cheaper and it gives the tracks more margin to make improvements.

It could be a good thing, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

Sounds absolutely terrible! We need less races not more.

Shareholders don't give a monkeys, they must see a healthy ROI, if they start getting in people who don't 'get' Motorsport to make decisions that's when strange things might happen.

[thegreenhell]

If the teams don't like it after 2020 they can go off and create a new 'Grand Prix Racing League', except the teams have never been able to collectively agree on anything, which is how Bernie managed to get where he is today.

[MitchT]

Bunch of suits looking to make a short term profit at the expense of the teams, the circuits and the fans, I suspect. Be nice to be proved wrong.

[NM62]

Martin Brundle did a bit of a piece on Sky yesterday - only bit of note was a 25 race calendar stated in the business plan.

[HustleRussell]

25 race calendar is mental, As the number of races have edged ever closer to 20 per season I've been thinking it's getting a little silly- the logistical challenge and the strain on the team members must be huge.

That said, if it keeps more of the classic circuits on the calendar and lowers the costs I'm all for it.

[Derek Smith]

HustleRussell said:

25 race calendar is mental, As the number of races have edged ever closer to 20 per season I've been thinking it's getting a little silly- the logistical challenge and the strain on the team members must be huge.

That said, if it keeps more of the classic circuits on the calendar and lowers the costs I'm all for it.

I suppose more is better. I wonder where they stand on fire to air broadcasts. If they intend to lower prices then I'm sure they'll need a different business plan all round.

But I prefer 12- 16 races as I can arrange my life around the races. Even 16 can be a struggle. I can see their logic.

Perhaps three races in the USA, one in Canada. Perhaps even in European countries that have been the location of trials of Ecclestone.

We don't know. It'll all be down to which returns the most.

[EddyP]

If this does go ahead I think there might be a change to the sky deal, bear in mind that Liberty own Virgin media. I doubt it'll come back to free to air, why would a company that owns a cable TV company want to do that.