Force India on the edge

[super7]

Need to remember as well that Williams is a floated team on the German stock market. They need to answer to Shareholders now, and can't just be 'Nice Guy's' in the pitlane being nice to other competitors.

[Gary C]

The whole thing is an absolute fking mess.

The tech of the engines is the most interesting bit, while the racing is suffering.

So unequal, special,deals by berni.

If Liberty follow though with the pay to view model, I could see even merc pulling about due to the massive fall in viewing figures.

Ah well.

[StevieBee]

Gary C said:

If Liberty follow though with the pay to view model, I could see even merc pulling about due to the massive fall in viewing figures.

Very unlikely. Absolute viewing numbers are not a barometer for the justification of the sort of spend Mercedes are committed to. It's all about alignment with success and the association with F1 being a pinnacle endeavour in a related field. It's this that shifts C and E classes, not someone watching a GP and thinking, "ooh, I'll get me a Mercedes".

lf you look at a lot of the brands dominant in the sport, you'll see that most aren't exactly in the mass-market product arena. With the exception of a few (Red Bull being the most obvious), that type of sponsor is consigned to the history books which is why new revenue streams are needed - such as pay-to-view.

[Vaud]

super7 said:

Need to remember as well that Williams is a floated team on the German stock market. They need to answer to Shareholders now, and can't just be 'Nice Guy's' in the pitlane being nice to other competitors.

Only 20% is publicly listed. Frank still has ~52% (before any dilution from Lowe joining). So the shareholders can apply some pressure but not a lot.

[markcoznottz]

StevieBee said:

Gary C said:

If Liberty follow though with the pay to view model, I could see even merc pulling about due to the massive fall in viewing figures.

Very unlikely. Absolute viewing numbers are not a barometer for the justification of the sort of spend Mercedes are committed to. It's all about alignment with success and the association with F1 being a pinnacle endeavour in a related field. It's this that shifts C and E classes, not someone watching a GP and thinking, "ooh, I'll get me a Mercedes".

lf you look at a lot of the brands dominant in the sport, you'll see that most aren't exactly in the mass-market product arena. With the exception of a few (Red Bull being the most obvious), that type of sponsor is consigned to the history books which is why new revenue streams are needed - such as pay-to-view.

Big business loves eyes on though, even for a few seconds on a grid walk etc. Casual viewers might be surfing thier pad but will have F1 on in the background. You just better hope someone somewhere knows what they are doing....

[anonymous-user]

StevieBee said:

lf you look at a lot of the brands dominant in the sport, you'll see that most aren't exactly in the mass-market product arena. With the exception of a few (Red Bull being the most obvious), that type of sponsor is consigned to the history books which is why new revenue streams are needed - such as pay-to-view.

So what you’re saying is they need to charge pay for view, which will inevitably lose viewers, because they can’t get sponsors because they’ve already lost many of their viewers.

Then there’ll be even less sponsor money in the future. Where will they find revenue then, unless they can offer a product that would attract more viewers, in which case they might get more sponsors and not need PPV?