Formula One Grands Prix Generate More Revenue Per Event Than Any Sport in the World

Figures from Deloitte Sports Business Group show the NFL ($6.5 billion in 2006) and Major League Baseball (MLB, $5.1 billion in 2006) earn more overall revenue than F1's total $3.9 billion with a substantially higher number of annual events.

The Premier League soccer clubs� combined revenue was $3 billion in the 2006/07 season.

Formula One�s $3.9 billion is comprised of commercial rights revenues (from race sponsorship, corporate hospitality and broadcast fees), team revenues (including sponsorship and contributions from partners and owners) and circuit revenues (from ticket sales and sponsorships). However, this grand total could be dented in coming years as F1 teams are currently considering plans to cap their blockbuster budgets.

Formula Money shows that F1's costs have accelerated over the past five years, with the average race-hosting fee increasing seventy percent, from $11.3 million to $19.3 million. For the first time since 2000, the U.S. Grand Prix will be absent from F1's calendar this year after Indianapolis Motor Speedway chief executive Tony George and Bernie Ecclestone, chief executive of the F1 Group, failed to reach agreement on a new deal.
F1 is instead increasing its presence in Asia with Singapore hosting the first-ever F1 night race at the end of September. Last year almost a third of all races were held in Asia, a continent that didn't even host its first race until 1976 � 26 years after the F1 World Championship was founded. In the next three years, new Grands Prix in India, Abu Dhabi and South Korea will join F1's calendar.
With race-hosting fees soaring, most Grands Prix no longer aim to make a profit from the event itself, and instead see it as a marketing exercise and an opportunity to put a region on the sporting map. This is in stark contrast to NASCAR, where in 2007, circuit operators International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports Inc. made net incomes of $86.2 million and $38.4 million respectively. The smaller Dover Motorsports Inc. managed a net income of $3.7 million. (**Note: The Deloitte studies did not include a full accounting of NASCAR Sprint Cup series data or revenue.)

Caroline Reid, co-author of Formula Money, said �with a ready supply of emerging markets looking to put themselves on the global map in front of F1's 597 million unique television viewers, the sport is likely to grow further east in future. However, at the same time it must make sure it doesn't lose track of its historic heartland.�
Formula Money publishes an annual data report on the business behind Formula One, which provides all of the key data for understanding the industry in a single volume for the first time. It contains more than 200 tables and diagrams including a breakdown of every current sponsorship deal, all race sanction fees, the total resources of each team, and a comparison of team turnover stretching back 20 years.
The publishing partner of Formula Money is CNC (http://www.cnc-ag.com/), the consultancy which has worked with and represented several major sponsors, all car manufacturers and eight of the teams which participate in F1.

MotoGP driver Stoner in Qatar night triumph

Defending world champion Casey Stoner of Australia, on a Ducati, won the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix here on Sunday, the first world championship race to be held at night.
Rookie Jorge Lorenzo, who moved into the top flight MotoGP series after winning the last two 250cc titles, was second on his Yamaha, 5.323secs behind, with Honda's Dani Pedrosa taking third, more than 10secs off the pace.
"It's been a hard weekend for us," admitted Stoner who won here also last year but started Sunday's race from fourth on the grid.
"We didn't start well at all. I didn't have a lot of grip at the rear and people were knocking each other out of the road.
"But I managed to get in front where I felt comfortable and then do some reasonable lap times," added Stoner after his 11th MotoGP race win.
Lorenzo, at 20 the youngest rider in MotoGP, celebrated his second place by appearing on the podium sucking a lollipop.
"I would have preferred to have won," said the rookie. "But Stoner was really quick. Finishing second in my first MotoGP isn't so bad and it's a very long championship."
In a sensational start, Pedrosa stunned the field by taking a first lap lead from his eighth-place starting place as pole-sitter Lorenzo slipped back to fifth place.
But Valentino Rossi, a five-time world champion in the MotoGP series, then stormed into the lead on his Yamaha on the third lap with Pedrosa in second, Lorenzo in third and with Stoner biding his time on his Ducati in fourth spot.
The Australian then made his move on the eighth lap by taking the lead with Rossi relegated to third as Lorenzo took second spot.
Stoner, showing no ill-effects of a recent shoulder injury, gradually extended his lead and with seven of the 22 laps left, his advantage was more than a second over Lorenzo.
With five laps left, Pedrosa had pushed Rossi, whose Yamaha was on Bridgestone tyres, back to fourth while Stoner was hammering home his advantage at the front where his lead was over four seconds with two laps left.
Rossi's misery was compounded when another rookie, compatriot Andrea Dovizioso, went past him in his Honda on the final lap to grab fourth with Rossi having to settle for fifth place.

Sunday's race, held in chilly temperatures, was illuminated by 3,600 light fixtures generating 5.4 million watts of power - enough light to cover an area equivalent to 70 football pitches.
The bulbs are fixed on 1000 poles all linked together by almost 500 kilometres of wire and supported by 300,000 kilos of concrete.
The Dorna chief executive, Carmelo Ezpeleta, probably feels proud that his 18-round series has beaten Formula One to night-time racing: Lewis Hamilton will not make his debut in the dark until the Singapore round of his championship in September.

Singapore F1 Grand Prix Tickets Finally Released

F1 tickets go on sale tomorrow


AFTER a delay of more than a month, 70,000 tickets will finally be released for sale to the public from tomorrow for the inaugural SingTel Singapore Grand Prix.

Only three-day passes will be sold in the first phase, and these will comprise 15,000 walkabout tickets priced at $168 each and 55,000 grandstand seats ranging from $248 to $1,388.

These are in addition to the 11,000 corporate suite and 4,000 Paddock Club tickets on sale since November.

Last month, race organisers Singapore GP told Today they had to delay the release of tickets for the public, as efforts were being made to increase the capacity of the street circuit to accommodate more than the 65,000 ticket holders initially planned for. They have since added 5,000 more seats along Raffles Avenue.

But while fans are expected to throng grandstands at key spots along the circuit, the stretch at the Padang along St Andrew's Road could be noticeably empty during the race weekend from Sept 26 to 28.

The area can potentially seat 10,000 ticket holders, but as of yesterday, negotiations were still going on between Singapore GP and the stakeholders of the Padang � Singapore Recreation Club and Singapore Cricket Club � to set up grandstands there.

"If negotiations prove successful, we are looking to release additional grandstand seats at the Padang. These will likely be in the lower to middle price range," said Mr Jonathan Hallett, Singapore GP's media and communications director.

The most expensive tickets, as expected, will be for the grandstand seats at the first three turns as well as at the Start-Finish line � a three-day pass costs $1,388
The next costliest seats at $998 are at the Stamford Grandstand in front of the War Memorial, but fans on a smaller budget can still grab seats at the Bay Grandstand in front of the floating platform at Marina Bay for only $298 (lower tiers) or $248 (upper tiers).

Singapore GP said tickets will be sold on a first-come-first-serve basis, and to make them available to as many people as possible, each buyer will only be allowed to buy a maximum of eight tickets.

Tickets will also be sold through agents in North America, Europe, Australia and other parts of Asia.

The 15,000 general admission or walkabout tickets are expected to be the first to sell out.

At $168 for a three-day pass, this is one of the cheapest packages available for any of the venues on the Formula 1 calendar, and the ticket will allow access to many of the areas around the circuit, except the sector surrounding the paddock and adjacent grandstands.

Each three-day pass can also be used by different people on different days.

Weekend and single-day tickets will be sold at a later date, if there are still tickets available.

Tickets will be available online from 9am tomorrow at www.sin-gaporegp.sg, or by calling the hotline 6738 6738.

Thereafter, they will be available between 10am to 8pm from Monday to Friday, and 12pm to 6pm on weekends.

FIA confirms schedule of first night race

The FIA confirmed that practice and qualifying for the first Singapore Grand Prix will also take place at night this year. The race itself will take place at 20:00hrs local time (1pm CET) to increase viewing figures in Europe.

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Singapore to stage F1 Night Race

Singapore has secured F1 rights for five years from 2008

Singapore will stage a Formula One Grand Prix next year, with the race set to be the first in the sport's history to be held at night.
It will be on a street circuit around the Marina Bay district, and is planned for September or early October.

"Singapore is going to be the leader with the street race at night - we're excited about the idea," said F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.

But Singapore's government says safety concerns will have to be resolved.

"Safety is of paramount concern to all of us," said Singapore's Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran.



"Therefore, we will proceed with a night race only if the safety and operational requirements of all parties are fully met - if not, we will revert to a day race.
(But) a night race will be unique and allow the Singapore event to reach out to television audiences in Asia, Europe and the US."

Red Bull driver Mark Webber agreed the safety of the drivers must be absolutely guaranteed before night-racing could be allowed to make its debut.

F1 cars do not have lights and so the circuit would have to be brilliantly lit for visibility purposes.

"The power of the lights you would need to artificially light the place for visibility for the drivers, flag marshalling and other tasks would be enormous," Webber said.

"I think you could do it, but then there is a question of the rain or a blackout that could embarrass you if don't do your homework.
I have also done a few laps of a track in Singapore and there were a few places that needed to be made safer."


Singapore will stage the race for five years, with Ecclestone keeping the option to extend the deal for a further five years until 2017.

Ecclestone wants to expand the F1 calendar from 17 to 20 races per season, and the addition of Singapore is the second new race in two days after Valencia joined the circuit on Thursday.

"I am very pleased to welcome Singapore to the F1 family and we look forward to this exotic addition to the championship," said Ecclestone.

"This will be the first fully-lit street race in F1 and as a night race, we anticipate it will quickly establish itself as one of the most dramatic and atmospheric races in our calendar. I know that the F1 drivers, teams and fans are all looking forward to coming to Singapore next year."

Singapore's government anticipates tourist revenues of around �33m from the event, and says it will cover 60% of the estimated cost.

"Singapore is a leading business centre and our aim is to be a vibrant global city that is abuzz with high quality entertainment and events," added Iswaran.

"A world class event like the F1 race, with more than 500 million viewers worldwide, will take us closer to this objective. By holding the race on a street circuit in Marina Centre, we will bring the buzz and excitement into the heart of the city, so that everyone can join in the festivities."