Liverpool FC X Formula 1 ⚽️ 🏎
Plus 40% of Premier League to lose sponsorship and a small Italian club that is the king of fashion 🇮🇹
Welcome to Athletic Interest.
We noticed something rather odd this week, Formula 1 and Football seem to be doing some sort of collaboration.
The first evidence of this is the news that Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group are reportedly looking at getting the owners of F1, Liberty Media, to invest in the club.
This may sound like an odd combination, but it actually makes perfect sense.
Liberty Media doesn’t just own F1. In fact, it’s the head of the most valuable sports empire on the planet.
The group also owns the Atlanta Braves and SiriusXM Radio, giving it a total value of $20 Billion. That’s double the value of FSG.
But Liberty wouldn’t just bring financial power to the table. The company’s media expertise would be crucial in helping Liverpool open new revenue streams.
Just look at what Liberty Media has done to F1. Under previous owner Bernie Ecclestone, F1 barely had any presence on social media. Fast forward to today, and F1 is the fastest-growing sports league on the internet.
FSG clearly understand the importance of a strong media strategy, especially if they plan on competing with sovereign wealth funds and Todd Boehly’s deep pockets.
🏎 Liverpool isn’t the only Premier League club getting cosy with Formula 1.
Tottenham Hotspur have just announced a 15-year partnership with F1, that will see the Spurs install an electric karting track under their south stand.
This will be the world’s first in-stadium electric track, and will even be allowed to host races from the national karting championship.
Plans are also in place to host a driver academy within the stadium, something that will certainly be unique within world football.
So, why have these two sports collided?
Well, for Tottenham the thinking is clear.
“Since building this stadium our ambition has always been to see how far we can push the boundaries in delivering world-class experiences that will attract people from around the world all year round,” explained Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy.
Tottenham’s income from their stadium has increased by almost €50M in the last four years. Everything and everyone from the NFL to Beyonce have been hosted and the stadium is quickly becoming one of the entertainment centers of London. Karting is yet another entertainment package to draw in the crowds and help the Spurs maximise their stadium revenue potential.
For F1, association with the Premier League, which is the most powerful and popular domestic sporting league in Europe, will only enhance its growing brand worldwide.
👕 Talking of the Premier League. 40% of the teams are about to lose their shirt sponsors.
According to the BBC, the Premier League is about to agree to a deal with the UK government that will see all clubs voluntarily remove betting sponsors from the front of their shirts.
As a result, the likes of Everton, West Ham, and Leeds will need to end their current deals and find new sponsors.
The initial plan was to ban betting companies from sponsoring English clubs in any capacity. This has since been watered down to just shirt sponsorship within the Premier League. Betting companies can still sponsor lower league English sides and the stadiums, training tops, social media (etc) of Premier League clubs.
Those in support of this move have argued that footballers act as walking sponsorship for an industry that can leave people in financial ruin. Those against caution that clubs outside the big six have no choice but to accept money from these companies. Historically, betting companies have offered double for sponsorship than non-betting companies.
It’s interesting to note that Newcastle have already started the process of removing their betting sponsor, but it has nothing to do with this deal.
The current sponsor, FUN88, only gives the club around €7 million per year. That’s the lowest of any club in the Premier League.
The club is now battling for Champions League football and has decided that it can get more money from another sponsor.
🇮🇹 The other clubs looking to replace their betting sponsorship may wish to turn to the Italian side Venezia for inspiration.
This small club, located in Venice, has been struggling recently. At the end of last season, they were relegated from Serie A. This year, they sit close to the bottom of Serie B.
While the football has been disappointing, the club’s shirt sales are going through the roof.
This may be surprising to hear. For most clubs, shirt sales are tied to performance. Perform well and everyone wants to show off their allegiance, perform badly and you are lucky if the fans don’t burn the shirts.
And yet, Venezia made €3 million from shirt sales last year. That’s 4x more than they made in the year they won promotion.
How is this possible?
Well, Venezia has worked hard to position itself as a fashion symbol and not just a football club. With striking designs and stylish photoshoots, the club shirt has become a must-have fashion item.
The club even has a flagship store in the fashion center of Venice.
With a €110 price tag, the shirts are not even targeted at the club’s fans. In fact, 96% of all purchases are international, with people from all walks of life wanting to associate with the Venezia brand.
F1 is a nice show, great entertainment, but unfortunately it's another male dominated sport making records, not even mentioning the gas guzzling, tabacco sponsored and infrastructure heavy nature of the sport...