Kicking The Habit: Severing Tobacco Ties Could Boost F1

F1 Moving Closer To Ending Relationship With Tobacco Companies

While some “feared a financing crisis” as Formula One ends its long-term relationship with tobacco companies, analysts say that the sport’s sponsorship market “looks surprisingly healthy,” according to Eric Pfanner of the N.Y. TIMES. The departure of the tobacco brands “may actually have helped to attract a new kind of marketer,” including recent primary team sponsorship agreements with ING and AT&T, “positions that in the past were typically held by tobacco brands.” Renault spokesperson Jean-Francois Caubet “acknowledged that the deal with ING was slightly less lucrative than the Mild Seven sponsorship, though he declined to provide numbers.” But he said that the ING deal would be “more valuable for Renault, adding that the French carmaker planned to step up its promotional spending for the Formula One team.” Caubet: “The problem we had with a tobacco company is that it was difficult to build a global communications strategy around it” (N.Y. TIMES. 11/27).