The world’s top motorsports competition is going through some tough economic times as team sponsorship is down by a quarter over the past three seasons, Group CEO of CSM Sport & Entertainment Zak Brown said. He added the racing series’ commercial appeal is “pretty poor” at the moment. “Team sponsorship has gone from close to a $1 billion and is down by 25 percent over three years,” he said. “The world is not a good place right now economically. Formula 1 has some short-term challenges. I think long term the sport is very healthy, but it's got some short-term issues that it needs to work through. The combination of all that makes it a tough environment.” McLaren’s ongoing search for a new title sponsor since Vodafone’s departure at the end of the ’13 season gives an indication of the current commercial state. Brown pointed to F1’s current structure and falling TV audience numbers as challenges the series is faced with over the next few years. “The current agreements within the industry, specifically the teams, has proved to not be a good set up for governance and competitiveness," he said. "I think everybody recognizes that. Unfortunately, the way it’s structured no one can do much about until the contracts are up in 2020. So in the short-term we’ve got some issues around how much it costs to race, etc.” F1’s move away from free-to-air and toward pay-TV has resulted in a reduced audience size. With the move toward pay-TV expected to continue, Brown said, F1 recognizes that it has to step up its social media activities.
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Zak Brown
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BRIGHT FUTURE: Despite those imminent challenges facing the series, Brown is bullish about F1's future. He said no other motorsports series comes even close to its size and scale. “[F1] is so much bigger than everything else,” Brown said. “The only thing that competes with F1 in true size is European football.” An emerging series that is getting stronger and stronger, Brown said, is Formula E. The electric racing series is currently in its second season. He said, “It’s doing great but I would not say it’s a challenger to F1.”
