Formula 1 is entering an era of betting and gambling sponsorship including deals with companies that promote anything from betting on your favourite sport and playing poker online to slot machines and everything in between.
With huge budgets at hand as online gambling booms, and given high visibility by association with major global sports at the highest level, including Formula 1.
The pinnacle of motorsport has had different eras of sponsorship. First, the big sponsors emerged from the traditional auto trade and related industries. Tyres, sparkplugs, fuel, brakes and the like were first to take advantage of branding and sponsorship in all forms of motorsport, with Formula 1 top of the pile.
But by the late sixties and early seventies, tobacco sponsorship financed Formula 1's commercial boom triggering an era of huge money invested to push brands such as Marlboro, Camel, Rothmans, JPS, Gitanes etc etc.
This period remained until someone realised cigarettes were unhealthy and killed many people. But only after decades in which governments milked trillions in taxes from tobacco houses globally.
The tobacco-era of Formula 1 lasted until the beginning of this century and still has its tentacles in the top flight with sly projects like Philip Morris International’s MissionWinnow and McLaren’s deal with British American Tobacco, as well as a host of vaping product sponsors that permeate the paddock.
Then came the banks, the tele-mobile companies, and more recently crypto with cameo eras of their own, attracted to Formula 1 to give them exposure which few global sporting platforms can offer.
Formula 1 gambling/betting era sponsorship is here
Gambling/betting companies are listed with other blue chip backers on the official Formula 1 website, while F1 teams have attracted backing from branding on cars at a price and even title sponsorship of a team.
Of Formula 1’s dabblings, in 2018, the Financial Times reported: “Formula 1 has completed one of the biggest commercial moves in its history, with a deal for more than $100-million to sell sponsorships to betting companies, signalling a radical shift for the sport under its new ownership.
2023 Formula 1 World Champions Red Bull have a poker online operator as on their broad portfolio of sponsors, with chest branding on the race suits worn by their drivers triple F1 World Champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez as well as team kit. With stickers on the car as well.
Red Bull: Reach audiences who share similar passions
Of their association with PokerStars, Red Bull reported in 2022 when the partnership began: "The new relationship enables both Red Bull Racing and PokerStars to reach audiences who share similar passions and interests, while rewarding and engaging existing fans and players in new and unique ways with F1-fuelled entertainment.
"As well as epic experiences, promotions, competitions, and content. The partnership will come to life across PokerStars’ full offering of PokerStars Casino, PokerStars and PokerStars Sports products," adds the statement on the Red Bull website.
Alfa Romeo aka Sauber secured a reported three-year $100-million sponsorship from Stake.com which bills itself as "the leading Online Crypto Casino" and features F1 drivers Valtteri Bottas from Finland and China's Zhou Guanyu on their homepage.
The top sponsors in Formula 1 according to the official website are Heineken, Qatar Airways, Saudi Aramco, Rolex, MSC, Salesforce, DHL, Crypto.com, Lenovo, Pirelli, BBS Motorsport, AWS, Workday, Cyderes, Petronas, Ferrari Trento, Tata Communications, Liqui Moly,
188Bet
, AlphaTauri, and Patron Tequila.The boom in betting/gambling sponsors is not unique to Formula 1, and it can even be said they have been slow to the show, with other major sports firmly invested in attracting big betting companies with the substantial bags of money they have to spend.
According to Market Researcher, Ashley Hancock in a LinkedIn column: "Global Sports Betting Market was valued at $81.03-billion in the year 2022 and is forecast to reach a value of $167.50-billion by the year 2030."
McLaren have close to 50 sponsors on their car betting/gambling included
Of the current Formula 1 teams, in 2023 McLaren can boast close to 50 sponsors branded onto the cars driven by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. In 2021, the Woking outfit announced a multi-year partnership with Entain, which saw their PartyCasino and PartyPoker stickers appear on the car.
McLaren Racing CEO, Zak Brown said of the partnership: “Fan entertainment is a major focus for our team and sport. Like McLaren Racing, Entain brands such as PartyCasino and PartyPoker place high importance on providing moments of safe and responsible excitement for their customers.
“We look forward to starting our partnership with Entain from the [2021] Monaco Grand Prix and the activity we have planned together in creating moments of excitement for fans and customers.”
In other words, like tobacco once was the 'king' of big bucks Formula 1 sponsorship deals, gambling and betting - once the pariahs of the internet - are finding credibility and acceptance through sport. With interest in the sport at the highest levels, expectations are that the trend will ramp up in the near future.
Not only in Formula 1 but in every major sport too, it's a case of: Show us the Money! Because money talks and the rest walks.
Big Question: Are betting sponsors Formula 1's new tobacco-style cash cow and is it the right direction for sport in general?
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