Liberty Media Corp., the owner of the Formula 1 racing business, is seeking additional funding from the principality of Monaco as part of advanced negotiations over a new contract that would extend the historic car race until later. 2025.
According to people familiar with the discussions, Monaco pays about $20 million a year to host the event, the lowest on the 24-race calendar, and Liberty Media representatives are seeking an increase. Parties agreed with the current three-year contract in September 2022. This year, prelude on May 24.
Like all major tourist attractions, the Monaco Grand Prix provides a major economic boost to the region, filling hotel rooms with spenders big and small. According to some, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, the other two race hosts, spend more than $50 million each year. estimate. These fees provide Formula 1 with the money it uses to pay prize money at the end of each season.
A Formula 1 spokesman declined to comment on current negotiations, but said the company was not considering pulling out of Monaco. The Automobile Club de Monaco, which organizes the race, did not respond to a request for comment.
Under CEO Greg Maffei, Liberty Media has grown annual Formula 1 revenue by more than 50% since 2019 to $3.22 billion last year. The company has focused on expanding Formula 1 to countries outside of Europe, where the sport originated. The US currently hosts three races – in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas – and there have been persistent rumors of a race coming to another US city.
In 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams suggested Randall’s Island as a potential site, but Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali disagreed on the viability of that site, a small island including ballparks that would be difficult to access for the more than 300,000 fans expected at such an event
Prime Minister of Thailand have just met with F1 officials to discuss the race in Bangkok.
The glamorous Monaco Grand Prix, held on the sun-drenched streets of Monte Carlo, is considered a notable event in motorsport. Monaco organizers are reluctant to change their business model that much because they trust that the history and prestige of their nearly 100-year-old track will outweigh financial considerations, one person said. main. Many drivers live in Monaco.
But Formula 1 fans and famous drivers including Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton criticized the two-mile track as too dull, as the size of modern racing cars deterred them making daring passes and three-mile tracks more like modern racetracks. allow.
“Thank God the race is over, it was the most boring race I’ve ever been in,” seven-time world champion Hamilton said after he finished third there in 2022.
The principality has been forced to change in the past. Two years ago, it give up rights produced his own television show about the race in exchange for a new contract.
“Monaco is the epitome of F1,” said Vincenzo Landino, an F1 analyst and consultant who publishes Qualifying, a newsletter about the sport. “In my opinion, you get rid of that, now you have a brand crisis.”
