F1 News: Revenue Doubles In Q1 Compared To 2021 As The Sport Grows Massively
It’s been confirmed that F1 saw an increase of 100% of its Q1 revenue compared to the year prior with an intake of $360 million according to owner Liberty Media. Operating income increased to $34 million compared to a loss of $33 million in 2021, with revenue growth across the board including race promotion, media rights, and sponsorship.
It’s said that this increase has come from the addition of a race in Q1, as well as the affect of COVID-19 on ticket sales during 2021 and the fact that the Paddock Club VIP hospitality offering was closed throughout the first half of the year. Fortunately, 2022 won’t have the same limitations, but the attendance to races from fans is still being watched by local government authorities on a race-by-race basis.
Subscription revenue has also explored as the F1 TV streaming service as been incredibly successful as well as a number of third party broadcasters such as Australia’s Foxtel and Singapore’s StarHub. Partnerships with MSC Cruises, Lenovo and Tata Communications also added to the bottom line.
“We’ve had a phenomenal start to the 2022 Formula One season, building on our momentum from a successful 2021,” said F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali.
“The new cars and regulations are delivering as we had hoped, enabling closer racing, more overtaking, battles through the field and thrilling results.
“Our events are attracting growing audiences both in person and across all our platforms.”
Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, shed some light on viewing figures during an earnings call, noting that the sprint race of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix had increase by 28% compared to the year before where the sprint took place at Imola.
“We also see record demand in the US early in the season,” he told investors. “On ESPN, viewers for the Sunday race in both Saudi [Arabia] and Bahrain were up 56 per cent.”
Alongside this incredible news, Maffei confirmed that Liberty Media had purchased 39 acres of land in the East strip of Las Vegas. This will be used “to lock in circuit design and create capacity for the pit and paddock”. This will come to fruition during Q2 of this year, costing a total of $240 million.