BBC to end Formula 1 television contract early
- Thread starter philip2009
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Soldato
Yes but obviously the people paying the £ are eventually going to realise nobody's watching and then take their £ elsewhere, but I could be wrong, they could be paying out millions just for the hell of it.
Man of Honour
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Surprised it has taken this long tbh.
Soldato
Maybe, depends what happens in the other large markets.
Soldato
Seems quite significant to me, but anyway you haven't addressed the possibility of most of the other markets going the same way.
Do you think the UK is getting bored with f1 but the rest of the world still loves it?
In which case f1 will thrive and go from strength to strength.
Should be interesting.
The global market is going the same way. There about 25% down in viewers in recent years mainly due to a global shift to pay TV.
FOMs profits are up, the F1 prize pool is the largest its ever been at just under $800m at a time when the teams are crying out for more money, and sponsors are supporting the move towards a smaller yet more wealthy viewer base.
Whos more likely to buy a Tag Heuer watch, a casual viewer catching F1 highlights on their Freeview package, or someone who has the spare cash to splurge £400 a year on Sky to watch expensive cars drive around Monaco? Crude, but that's how marketing people work. In general, moving to pay TV elevates F1 to an overall more wealthy, or at least more disposable income equipped, audience. Just look at the type of people sponsoring F1 to see who they are marketing at.
FOMs profits are up, the F1 prize pool is the largest its ever been at just under $800m at a time when the teams are crying out for more money, and sponsors are supporting the move towards a smaller yet more wealthy viewer base.
Whos more likely to buy a Tag Heuer watch, a casual viewer catching F1 highlights on their Freeview package, or someone who has the spare cash to splurge £400 a year on Sky to watch expensive cars drive around Monaco? Crude, but that's how marketing people work. In general, moving to pay TV elevates F1 to an overall more wealthy, or at least more disposable income equipped, audience. Just look at the type of people sponsoring F1 to see who they are marketing at.
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Soldato
10 million viewers on a free to air contract paying £10 million a year to Bernie, or 1 million viewers a year on a pay TV contract paying £50 million a year to Bernie. Which do you think he'll choose with the support of the teams?
Of course that is only part of the story. Once a region has been monetised in this way then it needs to grow, and that's where F1 is really missing out at the moment in comparison to other global sports such as football. At the moment it is being propped up somewhat by entering new markets but at some point you need to grow those monetised subscription markets. That's how the broadcast rights holders will make their money, and that's where they start to influence and have a say in the sport itself. Look at Sky and BT's influence over football - they can dictate the times and fixture list to some extent. Look how much darts has been transformed in terms of the structure of the competitions.
F1 will need to be the same, or else the TV money will start to dry up.
There's already more than enough money in F1 to make it a great sustainable sport. It just isn't distributed fairly or well enough.
Of course that is only part of the story. Once a region has been monetised in this way then it needs to grow, and that's where F1 is really missing out at the moment in comparison to other global sports such as football. At the moment it is being propped up somewhat by entering new markets but at some point you need to grow those monetised subscription markets. That's how the broadcast rights holders will make their money, and that's where they start to influence and have a say in the sport itself. Look at Sky and BT's influence over football - they can dictate the times and fixture list to some extent. Look how much darts has been transformed in terms of the structure of the competitions.
F1 will need to be the same, or else the TV money will start to dry up.
There's already more than enough money in F1 to make it a great sustainable sport. It just isn't distributed fairly or well enough.
Indeed, and if you can't see this for the short term, rent seeking, extractive practice that it is there's no hope for you!
Makes no difference until the Concorde agreement comes into parity however, surely?
I dont know for sure, but imo I would say that the more you force anyone to pay for something ( whatever it happens to be) the less likely they will pay for tickets / merchandising any other time ( and the real time track attendance os a tiny fraction of the tv audience)
Soldato
Let's face it, the days in which you could hope that a smaller team wins were gone decades ago. Only a team like RB with deep pockets can manage it. Basically, spend a few hundred million and you will do OK. Anyone else good luck.
F1 is a closed shop, unless you have a lot of cash and/or a very famous name. Even with both you can fail.
F1 is a closed shop, unless you have a lot of cash and/or a very famous name. Even with both you can fail.
Track side viewers are insignificant. The major earners for FOM are hosting fees and TV rights, and the largest hosting fees are all the government backed tracks that nobody watches at. Just look at Bahrain, China, Russia, etc. Most of the track isn't even open to spectators.
Exactly my point - when FOM force people to pay to watch, the less disposable income they will have for merchandising (IF they do watch) and less likely they will spend on a sport they aren't watching (if they don't watch)
Or in other words, cutting their nose off to spite their face (in the long term)
IE the same amount of money is either going direct to the teams or into FOM's pockets to be distributed between all - I think I can guess which the teams prefer..... (and it may even drop from the sheer lack of "entertainment value" combined with....."well I'm not paying McLaren / Ferrari/ who ever else, I may not bother at all"
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Track side viewers are very relevant, they keep the races sustainable because we all know the government money runs out and the track collapses. just look at Texas being the most recent example. Germany is another example where the silly race fee has killed a race.
There will not be any more countries to go to soon that are willing to pony up the cash.
Soldato
The crowd is a huge component of the show.
Ever watched one of those footy games they had to play in an empty stadium.
Ever watched one of those footy games they had to play in an empty stadium.
Races are unsustainable on ticket sales regardless. No track that pays a fee and doesn't have financial help makes any money from hosting F1.
Unfortunately, there are countless countries lining up at Bernie's door with big cheques wanting to host a race. Even if we lose USA there will be 20 races next year. F1 id not short of tracks willing to pay huge fees to host races, they just aren't the tracks that we want hosting races.
F1 going in a direction you don't like doesn't mean its going to die, it just means you don't like it.
Pay TV and high hosting fees are keeping half the grid afloat. Removing them will not save F1, it will kill it.
Soldato
I really don't know where you are getting your info from, money from wealthy pay drivers keeps teams afloat for a while.
The prize money is paid out one year in arrears, so the 2013 money would have been paid at the end of 2014 and formed part of the teams 2015 budgets.
http://www.tsmplug.com/f1/formula-1-prize-money/
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/221835/1/f1-2015-team-budgets-published-but-which-team-spends-most.html
People like Force India, Sauber, Toro Rosso and Lotus are heavily geared towards reliance on prize money, and almost half that prize money comes from TV rights.
Code:
2013 FORMULA 1 PRIZE MONEY FUND BREAKDOWN
Red Bull $98m
Mercedes $88m
Ferrari $96m
Lotus $71m
McLaren $68m
Force India $64m
Sauber $58m
Toro Rosso $54m
Williams $51m
Marussia $13m
Caterham $34m
Code:
2015 Teams Budgets
Red Bull $516m
Mercedes $513m
Ferrari $459m
Lotus $152m
Mclaren $511m
Force India $141m
Sauber $113m
Toro Rosso $150m
Williams $204m
Marrusia $89m
Caterham $-http://www.tsmplug.com/f1/formula-1-prize-money/
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/221835/1/f1-2015-team-budgets-published-but-which-team-spends-most.html
People like Force India, Sauber, Toro Rosso and Lotus are heavily geared towards reliance on prize money, and almost half that prize money comes from TV rights.
Soldato
If Bernie and the FIA had a cap on the money spent or done away with aero\new hybrids it would cost a team a lot less.
And if Ferrari\merc\rb started moaning then I would let them leave.
A cheaper F1 would see the like of Porsche\Lamborghini etc..
It's just very greedy people only looking out for themselves and not the sport.
I will go the British Moto 2\3\GP as it's only £99. Same track less action =£300
But what I'm hoping for is that Channel 4 does a great job and buys in for a full season when they can.