Driving value: The business of motorsport sponsorship in 2022

Foreword 23XI 

W Series Oracle Red Bull Racing Case Study: Heineken Yas Marina Circuit 

The Inside Track 

American Flat Track Shell 

KORE Software 

About 

DRIVING VALUE: 

THE BUSINESS OF MOTORSPORT 

SPONSORSHIP IN 2022 AUGUST 2022 

www.blackbookmotorsport.com

Foreword 23XI 





About 

CONTENTS 

3. Foreword 

5. 23XI 

10. W Series 

15. Oracle Red Bull Racing 

19. Case Study: Heineken Pit Wall Bar 

22. Yas Marina Circuit 

27. The Inside Track 

33. American Flat Track 

38. Shell 

43. KORE Software 

49. About 

www.blackbookmotorsport.com 

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Foreword 23XI 





About 

FOREWORD 

Motorsport has never been more 

socially engaged in the digital space 

than it is today, nor has it ever been 

held under such a high level of scrutiny. 

Home to some of the most engaging 

and storied sporting events, the 

landscape of motorsport partnerships 

is aspirational, yet complex. 

This report showcases how teams, 

leagues and partners across various major 

series have stepped up to environmental 

responsibilities, focused on closing gender 

gaps, leveraged new technologies on 

and off the track, and shown up for social 

responsibility with campaigns, products 

and initiatives designed to support and 

evolve not just the realm of motorsport but 

for the greater good. 

In the area of environmental 

sustainability, for instance, this report 

discusses Shell’s path to net zero and 

how the climate change challenge 

represents a crossroads for motorsport. 

As the company’s global lead for energy 

transition partnerships explains, its 

initiatives and historic partnerships, 

especially with Ferrari and Formula One, 

are now focused not just on brand and 

environmental awareness, but unique 

opportunities to create a positive impact 

far beyond motor racing. 

Elsewhere Steve Lauletta, the 

president of Michael Jordan’s Nascar 

team, 23XI Racing, outlines how the 

team is advancing social responsibility 

conversations off the track, online 

and everywhere in between through 

their unique partnerships. And on the 

discussion around purpose in motorsport 

sponsorship more generally, agency 

leaders from Sport Dimensions, CSM and 

Prism share their views on everything 

from sustainable fuel development to 

new business categories, ROI metrics 

and all things data. 

Lastly, as the racing industry continues 

to grapple with its historic gender 

imbalance, W Series chief executive 

Catherine Bond Muir touts the allfemale 

championship as the flag-bearer 

for women in motorsport. Bond Muir 

discusses the W Series’ strong trajectory, 

echoing recent data analysis by KORE 

Software that indicated women in 

sport across all categories are currently 

growing investment value through social 

engagement five times faster than men. 

As the official data and insights 

partner of Blackbook, KORE Software’s 

annual data analysis of the entire 

sports and influencer network reveals 

that partnership spend increased over 

three per cent in 2021 as compared 

to pre-pandemic levels. That number 

continues to grow in 2022. KORE data 

also shows that while sponsorship spend 

is increasing and projected to grow 

over 30 per cent by 2029, the number of 

deals has decreased. This concentration 

of partnerships tells us that brands are 

consolidating portfolios and doubling 

down on those investments that are 

seeing the greatest returns. 

Understanding how industry and social 

engagement data has played a role in 

redefining partnership objectives and 

expectations is therefore critical. KORE’s 

platform plays a central role for quickly 

and securely identifying the right data, at 

the right time, and leveraging it for longterm 

success. 

Research suggests the global sports 

sponsorship market is expected to 

grow to almost US$90 billion by 2027. 

With investment value rapidly growing 

across social media, the stories and 

unique partnerships discussed in this 

report are inspiring. At the same time, 

the intersection of in-person and virtual 

experiences continues to merge. How 

does one confidently create or choose 

the winners? How do you access a bird’s 

eye view of the entire landscape, learn 

from peers and measure success? 

Collaboration and maintaining a solid 

pulse on data is a requirement to gain 

a competitive advantage. Likewise, 

it has never been more important 

for sponsorship sellers to evaluate, 

understand and communicate the value 

of their assets to their partners in a 

proactive way to secure trust and future 

spending. 

All this creates a fascinating backdrop 

for this timely report into the state 

of motorsport sponsorship in 2022. 

We hope you find it an enjoyable and 

informative read. 

Best, 

The KORE Software team 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

MAKING A DIFFERENCE 

A team co-owned by basketball legend Michael Jordan will 

always attract interest from sponsors but, as Steve Lauletta, team 

president of 23XI Racing, explains, the chance to drive real change 

outside of the sport is also of big appeal to brands. 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

RIGHT: Basketball great Michael Jordan 

co-founded 23XI Racing in 2020 

LEFT: 23XI Racing president Steve Lauletta 

WE RELY ON OUR PARTNERS TO HELP 

US GET OUR MESSAGE OUT THERE.” 

23XI Racing is a newcomer to the world 

of Nascar, having only made its debut 

last year. The team is owned by former 

basketball player Michael Jordan, with 

current Nascar driver Denny Hamlin as 

a minority shareholder. It fields two cars 

at the moment, driven by Bubba Wallace 

and Kurt Busch, in a technical alliance 

with Joe Gibbs Racing. 

While someone like Hamlin, with three 

Daytona 500 wins to his name, would be 

well known in the world of motorsport, 

the wider draw of National Basketball 

Association (NBA) legend Jordan 

cannot be understated. Not only does 

it drive greater obvious interest, but it 

also brings a different perspective from 

outside Nascar. 

“[Michael Jordan] is a huge influence, 

he’s a huge fan of the sport,” says Steve 

Lauletta, team president of 23XI Racing. 

“It’s a different perspective, which I think 

is great for where we can help and work 

with Nascar.” 

The most important thing for the new 

team is to gain a foothold in the sport, 

something that is not only helped by the 

involvement of Jordan, but also Wallace. 

The only full-time African American driver 

in any of Nascar’s three national series, 

Wallace rose to worldwide prominence 

through his activism to highlight racial 

injustice. It was that campaigning which 

eventually stirred Nascar to ban the 

display of Confederate flags at its tracks, 

which marked a small step towards a 

more inclusive future. 

It is that message of inclusivity that 

forms the backbone of what 23XI Racing 

wants to achieve with its partners. 

“It’s part of the mission and values of 

this team, and it was started by what 

Bubba did for the sport of Nascar in 

2020,” outlines Lauletta. “We all believe 

in it and we want to make it a focus of 

what we do as a team, and our partners 

believe in it. The exciting thing for me 

with these initial partners is they believe 

in and want to be as much a part of what 

we’re trying to do off the race track as 

what we’re trying to do on it. 

“Unlike other major corporations that are 

building brands, we rely on our partners 

to help us with creative ways to get our 

message out there of what the brand 

stands for, both on and off the track.” 

Wallace also brought established 

brands with him when he joined the 

team, including McDonald’s, DoorDash, 

Columbia, and Root Insurance. 23XI 

Racing had Toyota supporting them from 

the beginning and, once Wallace officially 

joined the team, Dr Pepper entered the 

fray as well. 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

As Lauletta explains, these brands 

support 23XI Racing in their social 

responsibility initiatives. Dr Pepper, for 

example, has put its name to the 23XI 

Speed Institute Tuition Programme, 

which awards 23 students from diverse 

backgrounds with US$5,000 in tuition each. 

The goal is to provide opportunities for 

underrepresented individuals to learn about 

the motorsport industry in a range of fields. 

“This was the second year that we 

gave away 23 US$5,000 scholarships 

to students of diverse backgrounds that 

wanted to explore motorsports, whether 

that be in engineering or on the business 

side,” Lauletta says. “Two of those 

winning scholarship recipients were 

interns with us this year, and they’ll be 

interns with us next year. Those are the 

kind of things that all of our partners are 

rallying behind and want to be a part of 

so that we can help change the sport.” 

The team’s approach is unique in 

Nascar and could even benefit the series 

further down the line. Lauletta admits 

that the sport needs “to start attracting 

a wider and new fanbase” while also 

keeping its core product and audience in 

place. This is something that 23XI Racing 

have already made progress on and now 

hope that the sport at large will be able to 

follow their lead. 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

BELOW: Root Insurance was one of several 

brands brought to the team by Bubba Wallace 

“Right now, our social media following 

is much younger than the general Nascar 

fan today,” states Lauletta. “[It’s] much 

more diverse and wider reaching in 

global markets that aren’t necessarily 

where the core Nascar fan resides today.” 

A large reason for this is the way 

that 23XI Racing have worked with 

their partners and drivers to position 

themselves at the intersection of 

motorsport and pop culture. 

“We’ve got some programmes 

coming that are focused in a couple of 

markets with Bubba – away from the 

race track – to introduce Nascar to the 

African American community,” explains 

Lauletta. “We had Denny and Bubba 

in a Post Malone video. [We get these 

opportunities] with the partners that we 

have, like McDonald’s, the Jordan brand, 

and Monster Energy.” 

Despite being less than two seasons 

old, having partners engaged in their 

journey means that 23XI Racing have 

“already started to make a difference”, 

says Lauletta. While the team is also 

concentrated on delivering short-term 

success, Lauletta adds that 23XI Racing’s 

long-term mission is something that 

appeals to brands. 

“We certainly talk about our points of 

difference and why we want partners 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

INSIGHTS 

BELOW: Wallace and teammate Kurt Busch are 

among the most marketable names in Nascar 

BELOW: McDonald’s expanded its support for 

23XI Racing ahead of the 2022 season 

23XI RACING HAS THE #1 SOCIAL MEDIA 

ENGAGEMENT RATE AMONG ACTIVE NASCAR 

CUP SERIES TEAMS AT 2.3%. THAT IS 6.2X 

HIGHER THAN THE AVERAGE 

BUBBA WALLACE HAS ADDED MORE THAN 690,000 

NEW FOLLOWERS ON SOCIAL MEDIA SINCE THE 

START OF 2020*, THE MOST NEW FANS OF ANY 

NASCAR DRIVER 

WALLACE’S TEAMMATE KURT BUSCH IS ALSO IN THE 

TOP TEN, HAVING ADDED MORE THAN 195,000 

NEW FOLLOWERS 

*Data date range: 1st January 2020 – 1st August 2022 

engaged with us,” he continues. “Not 

only through the traditional model 

of using a sports platform like us to 

promote their brand, but also this 

message of how we collectively make a 

difference and change the sport, giving 

opportunities to people that maybe have 

not been provided that opportunity in 

the past. 

“It’s why a lot of companies engage 

with us because they realise that we are 

taking a different approach and it’s not 

just logos on race cars. We’re having 

conversations with companies that I 

guarantee you have been pitched Nascar 

many times, and they’ve never jumped 

into the sport. They’re back having 

discussions with 23XI because of our 

approach.” 

In the future, the hope is for 23XI 

Racing to be known beyond Nascar, with 

Lauletta picking out the brand affinity of 

Major League Baseball’s (MLB) New York 

Yankees as an example of how high 23XI 

Racing are aiming. 

“I want somebody that doesn’t watch 

our team necessarily for three-and-a-half 

hours every Sunday, but that they feel 

something for 23XI,” concludes Lauletta. 

“They’ll follow us on social media, they’ll 

support our partners, they’ll wear our 

clothing because of the brand. 

“That would be a massive success 

down the road.” 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

SEEING IS BELIEVING 

In the male-dominated world of motorsport, it requires a ground-breaking initiative to drive 

real change. W Series is currently embarking on its third season, with the goal of propelling 

the best female talent towards the promised land of Formula One. The series’ chief executive, 

Catherine Bond Muir, outlines why visibility is so important for its commercial goals. 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

RIGHT: W Series is staging ten Formula One 

support races in 2022 

LEFT: W Series chief executive 

Catherine Bond Muir 

I WANT IS TO BE SEEN AS THE PREMIUM 

GLOBAL FEMALE SPORTS PROPERTY.” 

April 2022 marked the 30-year 

anniversary of the last female driver 

to enter the Formula One world 

championship. Giovanna Amati 

participated in the first three rounds of 

the 1992 championship, but failed to 

qualify for any of the races before being 

sacked. Since then, only Susie Wolff 

has taken part in a Formula One race 

weekend, when she drove for Williams 

in the first practice session at the 2014 

British Grand Prix. 

To find the last woman to start a 

Formula One race, you have to go back to 

1976, when Lella Lombardi finished 12th 

at the Austrian Grand Prix. This illustrates 

the scale of the challenge currently facing 

Catherine Bond Muir and W Series. 

Still a fledgling property in the world of 

motorsport, the all-female, free-to-enter 

championship is the only women’s sport 

that competes globally on an annual basis. 

“If people want to have global reach for 

a challenger female brand, then we’re the 

sport to go to,” explains Bond Muir. “The 

partners that we are looking for are the 

partners that share our values. They will 

be able to help to promote us because 

they will be promoting our values. The 

fact that we stand for and believe in 

promoting diversity and gender equality 

is our heartbeat.” 

This push for greater representation 

is the driving force behind W Series and 

has also seen many great initiatives set 

up elsewhere in motorsport, such as the 

Girls on Track UK programme between 

the International Automobile Federation 

(FIA) and Motorsport UK. Even beyond 

motorsport, it’s important that more 

effort goes into growing women’s sport 

as a whole. 

“I believe the tide rises for us all in 

women’s sport,” states Bond Muir. “It’s 

interesting that everyone from different 

governing bodies of different sports 

work very well together. There’s a lot 

of information sharing, there’s a lot of 

discussion, because we believe we’re in 

a rising tide and we don’t believe we’re 

competing against each other for the 

same dollars.” 

Bond Muir points to the success of 

English soccer’s Women’s Super League 

(WSL) overseas, and specifically in the 

United States, as a sign of the changing 

tide. 

She says: “What [the WSL has] 

achieved in the last decade gives me 

enormous comfort that, one, there is a 

market for us in the United States, and 

two, if they are embracing women’s sport 

in the US, then they will do that here [in 

the UK] too.” 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

BELOW: W Series has put females on the 

racetrack as part of its ongoing push for 

greater representation in motorsport 

WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT, 

VIEWING FIGURES MATTER.” 

The importance of this ongoing 

momentum cannot be understated in 

sponsorship terms, and the increasing 

visibility of W Series will only help to 

grow its appeal to brands. A major step 

came at the start of this season, when it 

was announced that UK broadcaster Sky 

Sports’ Formula One channel would carry 

coverage of W Series until 2024. 

“Whether we like it or not, viewing 

figures matter,” explains Bond Muir. 

“We’ve been delighted by the audiences 

that we’ve received on Sky, our first 

race [in Miami] was our second-largest 

audience after Silverstone last season on 

[commercial broadcaster] Channel 4.” 

The exposure its broadcast 

arrangements have given W Series 

has been invaluable, and Bond Muir 

knows that the series’ visibility across 

all platforms is crucial to its commercial 

goals. At the moment, because it is so 

early on its growth journey, a significant 

chunk of the organisation’s revenue 

is generated through sponsorship. 

The series currently has partnerships 

with beer brand Heineken and cyber 

protection firm Acronis, as well as 

sportswear manufacturer Puma, tyre 

maker Hankook and sparkling wine 

producer Ferrari Trento. 

“Our main revenue streams are teams 

revenue, media revenue, and sponsorship 

revenue,” Bond Muir highlights. “[The first 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

two] are growing year-on-year but they’re 

still not at the level of our sponsorship 

revenues. Women’s sport is growing, but 

you’re not going to get to where you want 

to be on day one, it’s going to take years 

to grow.” 

She adds: “The bigger we become, 

the more sponsorship we can attract, 

and at higher values than we can 

currently attract. That money can then be 

reinvested, so it becomes a self-fulfilling 

prophecy. We’re not in a stage at the 

moment where we have to give money 

back to our shareholders, we need to 

reinvest the money that we make into the 

sport and into the marketing to make it 

grow.” 

The hope is that this current reliance 

on sponsorship income will subside as 

revenue increases across the board. 

According to Bond Muir, this would mean 

“getting fees from promoters” and “media 

values increasing”, in addition to being 

able “to manage and monetise our digital 

platforms more”. 

Once W Series reaches that stage, it 

will be in the best position to challenge 

the status quo. 

“I always say that I’ve got a white cat 

on my lap that I’m stroking, because I’m 

looking for global domination,” jokes Bond 

Muir. “What I do want is to be seen as the 

premium global female sports property that 

happens every year. Now, I’m not going to 

I ALWAYS SAY THAT I’VE GOT A WHITE CAT ON MY LAP THAT I’M 

STROKING, BECAUSE I’M LOOKING FOR GLOBAL DOMINATION.” 

ABOVE: Jenner Racing’s two-time W Series 

champion Jamie Chadwick stands atop the 

podium after May’s race in Miami 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

INSIGHTS 

WE’RE AT THE START OF A VERY 

LARGE MOUNTAIN RANGE.” 

W SERIES SAW 4X FOLLOWER GROWTH ON 

SOCIAL MEDIA BETWEEN THE START OF 2019 AND 

1ST JULY 2022 

W SERIES FANS ARE 3.3X MORE ENGAGED 

WITH POSTS ABOUT GENDER EQUALITY AND 2.4X 

MORE ENGAGED WITH MENTAL HEALTH-RELATED 

POSTS THAN FORMULA ONE SERIES FOLLOWERS 

pretend we’re going to beat the Women’s 

World Cup but, I think as an annual sports 

competition, I want to be seen as the sports 

event that is truly global.” 

The trajectory of the series is obvious 

already. None of the circuits it raced 

at in its inaugural season were current 

Formula One circuits – although 

Hockenheimring in Germany, Circuit 

Zolder in Belgium, and Brands Hatch in 

the United Kingdom had hosted Grands 

Prix previously – and none of those 

tracks have made a second appearance 

on a W Series calendar. This is down to 

its now cemented place on the support 

grid for Formula One. 

While it’s certainly a positive to be in 

that position so soon after its inception, 

Bond Muir believes there is still work to 

be done for W Series to achieve its goals. 

“We need to engage with our fans 

more, we need to grow our fanbase much 

more,” she concludes. “We’re at the start 

of a mountain range, and it’s a very large 

mountain range, and it’s a very long way 

from where we want to be. 

“We have truly global ambitions, and 

that is going to take time.” 

LEFT: Jenner Racing led the W Series team 

standings heading into August 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

SIMULATE TO ACCUMULATE 

Last season’s Formula One title battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen not only 

provided plenty of on-track action, but the perfect platform to showcase a new partnership 

between Red Bull Racing and computer technology giant Oracle. Now a title sponsorship 

for 2022, Ariel Kelman, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Oracle, and 

Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull Racing, discuss the collaboration. 


15

Foreword 23XI 





About 

BELOW: Oracle’s five-year deal with Red Bull 

Racing is understood to be worth US$300 million 

Whether it’s the AT&T network transmitting 

data from the circuit to the team’s 

operations centre in Milton Keynes in just 

300 milliseconds, or the software solutions 

from Siemens enhancing the production of 

composite parts, Red Bull Racing relies on 

its partnerships to deliver on track. 

Ahead of the 2022 Formula One 

season, US technology giant Oracle 

made the step up to title sponsor the Red 

Bull team, having started working with 

the UK-based outfit in 2021. The five-year 

deal, understood to be worth US$300 

million, sees Oracle’s cloud infrastructure 

enable Red Bull to significantly reduce 

the cost of billions of simulations. 18 

months ago, all simulations by the team 

were run on site, whereas now the cloud 

is utilised in everything it does thanks to 

the partnership with Oracle. 

“We’re looking at a transition now of 

moving into the Oracle cloud from the 

more conventional data centre setup that 

we’ve utilised [previously],” explains Red 

Bull team principal Christian Horner. 

The benefits of the cloud are numerous, 

but it gives Red Bull a lot more flexibility 

when approaching data analysis, not 

to mention the substantial cost savings 

compared to the more traditional method. 

“The more computing horsepower 

you can provide, the more accurate 

your results are going to be,” adds Ariel 

Kelman, executive vice president and 

chief marketing officer at Oracle. “This is 

one of the things with the cloud, where it 

costs the same amount of money to run 

1,000 servers for one hour as it does to 

run one server for 1,000 hours. 

“So, what this means is, for a lot of 

these engineering challenges, you’re not 

going to [run] the simulation five per cent, 

ten per cent better. I’m going to run it 

1,000 times [better].” 

Red Bull is one of a number of sports 

sponsorships for Oracle, which also has 

partnerships with the likes of English 

soccer’s Premier League and SailGP. 

According to Kelman, the opportunity to 

showcase how the company’s technology 

can benefit Red Bull in a competitive 

environment was very attractive to Oracle. 

“The way we look at these partnerships 

is to be able to highlight the technology 

that we’re working on and bring it to 

life,” he says. “When you show a sports 

team that’s really using it to improve their 

business and to improve their results 

competitively, it really ends up being a 

great marketing tool.” 

One of the ways this has been made 

possible is when Red Bull runs its Monte 

Carlo simulations. These are carried out 

predominantly before race weekends 

to discover the probability of different 

outcomes during a Grand Prix to inform 

the race strategy of the team’s drivers, 

Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez. 

THE BREADTH OF TECHNOLOGY THAT ORACLE 

BRINGS IS TREMENDOUSLY EXCITING.” 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

The plan eventually is for Oracle’s 

technology to make it possible to simulate 

the races of every single driver on the 

grid, which would better inform Red Bull’s 

own race strategy as it searches for any 

competitive edge it can find. 

Kelman explains: “Early on, once we heard 

about how [Red Bull] wanted to model out 

the strategy decisions throughout the race, 

it’s very similar to what a lot of the largest 

banks in the world do on our cloud platform, 

running large scale Monte Carlo simulations 

for trading positions to figure out the risk. 

“So we worked with the team on 

building out Monte Carlo simulations 

for the key decisions in the race around 

tyres, around when to make pitstops 

based on various actions that happen, 

and to simulate billions of different 

scenarios.” 

Data, especially drawn from processes 

like the Monte Carlo simulations, is key 

for Formula One teams, something 

Horner knows all too well as the longestserving 

team principal in the sport. 

“We have a lot of very data-hungry 

engineers, data is our lifeblood, how we 

manage that data, how we store that 

data,” Horner explains. “Pivotal moments 

are driven by data. Utilising the Oracle 

resource, we’re able to make a much 

more informed decision, whether it’s the 

conversion to the soft strategy in France 

[in 2021] that won Max [Verstappen] 

the Grand Prix there, or the utilisation of 

safety cars at the last Grand Prix.” 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

ABOVE: Red Bull Racing team 

principal Christian Horner 

PIVOTAL MOMENTS ARE DRIVEN BY DATA. 

UTILISING THE ORACLE RESOURCE, WE’RE ABLE 

TO MAKE A MUCH MORE INFORMED DECISION.” 

Race strategy isn’t the only area where 

Oracle is looking to assist the Milton 

Keynes-based team. Having had their 

engines supplied by Honda since 2019, Red 

Bull were left with a decision to make when 

the Japanese manufacturer announced 

before the start of this season that it would 

be stepping away from Formula One. 

While Honda is set to continue to 

supply engines to Red Bull and offer any 

assistance required until 2025, the team’s 

new Powertrains division is set to take 

on responsibility for the production and 

manufacture from 2026. Volkswagenowned 

Porsche has also been heavily 

linked with a potential Red Bull engine 

partnership since Honda’s departure. 

Either way, the expertise that Oracle 

provides today will enable the team to 

have the best approach to its power 

unit production before the new engine 

regulations are introduced in 2026. 

“A lot of the most advanced 

engineering in the world is being done 

on computers now, as much as it is with 

people holding tools,” Kelman highlights. 

“That combination of the two is the 

critical factor in the best technology that 

actually comes into physical form.” 

Horner adds: “The breadth of 

technology that Oracle brings and the 

suite of tools that are available to us 

is tremendously exciting, particularly 

as we are on the next stage of our 

journey towards becoming a power unit 

manufacturer as well.” 

Away from the track, Oracle is also 

helping Red Bull with its fan engagement 

approach. Perhaps the most obvious 

example is the team’s loyalty programme, 

with each fan receiving a personalised 

experience depending on what they 

interact with based on Oracle’s data 

tracking. 

“We’re utilising [Oracle’s] knowledge, 

their knowhow, their tools, to create a 

whole new fan engagement experience,” 

Horner comments. “I think we’re now able 

to service these new fanbases coming 

into the sport by giving them a fantastic 

experience and engaging [with them].” 

The title partnership also has its 

advantages for Oracle itself, as the 

feedback the company receives from Red 

Bull goes into improving its service to 

other customers. The relationship might 

barely be two years old, but both sides 

already seem satisfied with the returns. 

“We look at the types of chips we’re 

using, the way we package things – 

there’s a lot of different configurations 

that work well for one use case and don’t 

work well for others,” explains Kelman. 

“There’s new products that we’re going to 

be rolling out for our customers that are 

based on the specific uses that the team 

has been using over the past couple of 

months.” 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

CASE STUDY: 

HEINEKEN PIT WALL BAR 

Dutch brewing giant Heineken became the official global beer 

partner of Formula One in 2016, signing a seven-year deal 

reportedly worth US$250 million. Its agreement includes a 

range of marketing rights, including trackside advertising and 

title sponsorship of several Grands Prix, while the company also 

maintains a separate sponsorship deal with Red Bull Racing. 

HEINEKEN PIT WALL BAR: 

295,400 TOTAL 

COMPETITION ENTRIES – 

A NEW RECORD FOR F1 


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Foreword 23XI 





About 

LEFT: The Heineken Pit Wall Bar included live 

broadcasts on multiple screens, beer on tap 

and team headphones 


121,600 HEINEKEN 

DATA OPT-INS 

To date, Heineken has used its F1 

association to promote its responsible 

drinking message and its Heineken 0.0 

brand of non-alcoholic beer. During the 

Covid-19 pandemic, the company brought 

that messaging to life to great effect 

by creating what it called the ‘ultimate 

watch-from-home experience’. 

Named the Heineken Pit Wall Bar, 

the creative activation offered fans 

the chance, through a prize draw, to 

experience how team principals like 

Red Bull’s Christian Horner conduct 

proceedings during races. Complete 

with multiple screens for watching the 

live broadcast feed and iPads displaying 

live timing and in-race telemetry, the bar 

included Heineken 0.0 on tap, branded 

glassware and coasters, and team 

headphones. 

The activation, which has since 

been rolled out to another Heinekensponsored 

motorsport property, the W 

Series, was conceived to ensure the fan 

at home was as involved in the live event 

as possible, offering the next best thing 

to being trackside at a time when Grands 

Prix around the world were being held 

behind closed doors. 

Created by M&C Saatchi Sport and 

Entertainment, Heineken’s motorsport 

creative agency since 2017, the pit 

wall bar concept was a classic brand 

marketing play. According to Neil 

Hopkins, M&C Saatchi’s global head 

of strategy, the goal of the campaign 

was to connect the live event with a 

“consumption moment” that is less 

apparent in Formula One than in other 

mainstream sports. 

“Not many people watch F1 in a pub, 

as a matter of course,” he says. “So 

the challenge was to introduce that 

consumption moment into F1 fandom, 

and I think that was the genesis for the 

idea of the bar.” 

Initially rolled out across five Grands 

Prix – in the Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil, 


20

Foreword 23XI 





About 

Italy and Portugal – the campaign 

comprised significant digital activity 

due to ongoing restrictions tied to the 

pandemic. Supported by online video 

content featuring the likes of F1 legend 

David Coulthard, Red Bull Racing drivers 

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, 

and other social influencers, it gained 

immediate traction, with more than 

370 pieces of PR coverage across the 

campaign. 

As Hopkins puts it, what was “a 

relatively straightforward and simple idea 

got a huge amount of pickup”, quickly 

becoming “one of the most popular 

global PR campaigns” the agency has 

ever run within motorsport. 

“We ended up doing what I think was 

the most successful competition that 

F1 had ever run in terms of the number 

of people who entered it to win one of 

these pit wall bars,” says Hopkins. “It was 

somewhere in the region 300,000 people 

worldwide – that’s pretty phenomenal.” 

Of those competition entrants, more 

than 120,000 people opted in to sharing 

their personal data with Heineken, 

helping the brand towards its goal of 

forging more direct relationships with 

consumers. “That was certainly the 

best-performing piece of work that 

[Heineken] has ever done on that basis, 

certainly within Formula One,” says 

Hopkins. 

“They understand exactly where their 

audience are, they understand that they 

are, to a large extent, digital natives. 

Within the alcohol industry, we’ve got 

to be very careful about marketing to 

under 25. But fundamentally I think 

you’re looking at the bulk of their core 

audience as being probably under 

35, in terms of consumption, and 

certainly in terms of brand target. 

Those individuals have simply grown 

up in the era of social media and digital 

communication. You have to be digitalfirst 

in that regard.” 


370+ PIECES OF PR COVERAGE ACROSS THE CAMPAIGN 


21

Foreword 23XI 





About 

THE SHOW MUST GO ON 

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been on the Formula One calendar since 2009. The race has 

seen plenty of ups and downs in that time, none more so than last year’s controversial season 

finale. David Powell, chief strategy and transformation officer for Yas Marina Circuit, discusses 

why the spectacle is so important to the commercial success of the track. 


22

Foreword 23XI 





About 

While Yas Marina Circuit hosts a number 

of motorsport gatherings, the main draw 

for brands is the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. 

The marquee event in the circuit’s stable 

comes with the added benefit of not only 

being on the Formula One calendar, but 

it is also the season-ending race, adding 

much more drama to the mix. 

Even though it sits as the premier event 

at the circuit, David Powell, the venue’s 

chief strategy and transformation officer, 

makes sure to point out that there is value 

to be had for brands across the board. 

“We always try and use Formula One as 

the entry point for a sponsor,” he begins, 

“and then say you can retain your value by 

associating yourselves with our business 

and our business activities all year round. 

“The Formula One event we host 

every year has got huge brand equity, 

because it comes with all of the brand 

equity of Formula One. Along with that, 

we’ve got a fantastic asset which is the 

circuit, one of the best in the world and 

situated within a tourism destination. So, 

there’s a lot of investment that goes into 

the island around us.” 

The glamorous location and event 

portfolio all contributes to the circuit 

being an attractive proposition for 

sponsors, and Powell says there was a 

“huge amount of local excitement” when 

the Formula One circus first rolled into 

town in 2009. 

ABOVE: Formula One’s season finale has been 

held at Yas Marina Circuit since 2009 

WE’VE GOT A FANTASTIC ASSET WHICH IS 

THE CIRCUIT, ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD.” 


23

Foreword 23XI 





About 

“It was quite easy at that point to 

build a big portfolio of local sponsors 

or regional partners in the event,” he 

continues. “It was new to the region, it 

was the first Formula One event, now 

there are four [in the Middle East].” 

However, Powell highlights that it hasn’t 

always been that straightforward. While 

there was initial excitement at the arrival of 

the Grand Prix, it was the overarching way 

that Formula One was being presented at 

the time that began to cause issues. 

Indeed, this had a knock-on effect for 

Yas Marina Circuit. The on-track action - 

or lack thereof - was resulting in dwindling 

viewing figures, which made Formula One 

a harder sell to sponsors keen to reach as 

wide an audience as possible. 

“[Formula One] was stuck in a mode 

where they were still making rule changes 

and trying to equalise the playing field,” 

states Powell. “After four to five years, 

there was a natural pullback in investment, 

determined by economic factors but also 

the fact that brands wanted to reposition 

themselves alongside other sports. 

“The situation we then found ourselves in 

between 2013 and 2016, the championship 

was very formulaic. We were seeing a 

plateauing effect in terms of how Formula 

One was growing its audience. It retained 

its traditional audience, but it wasn’t 

breaking into and growing new audiences.” 

Since then, however, Formula One has 

grown in popularity under the stewardship 

of new owner Liberty Media. While Powell 

points to the obvious influence of Netflix’s 

‘Drive to Survive’ documentary series, 

he also highlights another reason for the 

recent audience growth. 


24

Foreword 23XI 





About 

“Formula One raced during the 

Covid-19 pandemic, which is good 

because lots of sports weren’t very active 

at the time that Formula One was,” he 

says. “This really attracted people who 

were hungry for sports-related content.” 

The subsequent benefit for the circuit 

now is that it has potential partners 

approaching it wanting to be a part of the 

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, whereas before 

Powell says “we were trying to drive them 

towards it” and “tell the stories that are 

being told”. Formula One’s move away from 

what Powell describes as the status quo, 

combined with the success of the Netflix 

documentary and a more competitive 

championship, allows for much more in 

terms of what the circuit can deliver for 

existing sponsors and offer to new ones. 

But the circuit believes it has always 

been about more than the on-track 

action, irrespective of whether the race 

is actually a championship-decider or a 

guaranteed Mercedes one-two finish. 

“There’s always been an appetite 

to attend the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 

because it’s more than just the race 

itself,” Powell says. “There’s the after-race 

concerts, there’s the factor of coming to 

Yas Island, coming to Yas Marina Circuit 

– there’s an experiential value.” 

Despite this, the organisers took the 

step to make substantial changes to the 

track layout for last year, acknowledging 

that the overall spectacle of the race 

has a significant impact on the circuit’s 

commercial performance. 

“If the fanbase is engaged, if ticket 

holders are engaged, if there’s high 

demand from corporates, if there’s 

significant engagement from a broadcast 

perspective, then naturally sponsors will 

want to be part of that environment,” 

Powell explains. 

And the circuit is always looking to 

improve, according to Powell, who reveals 

that the venue is not just looking within 

Formula One for inspiration. 

“We think Manchester City are doing 

unique things with their sponsors, with 

their hospitality partners, we constantly 

look at what they do,” he says. “Also, 

in Dubai, they had the Expo [2020] 

recently, and again we look at how that 

was delivered in a really creative way 

and try and introduce this into the way 

LEFT: The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is both a 

sporting spectacle and drawcard for brands 

WE THINK MANCHESTER CITY ARE DOING 

UNIQUE THINGS WITH THEIR SPONSORS. 

WE CONSTANTLY LOOK AT WHAT THEY DO.” 


25

Foreword 23XI 





About 

INSIGHTS 

THE ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX GENERATED 577 

MILLION TOTAL FAN ENGAGEMENTS ON 

SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2021 

#1 RACE BY FAN ENGAGEMENT AMONG ALL 

FORMULA ONE RACES IN THE 2021 SEASON 

we continue to plan and deliver the Abu 

Dhabi Grand Prix.” 

Moving forward, with Formula One’s 

increasing focus on sustainability, 

headlined by its target to achieve net zero 

carbon by 2030, it follows that the circuits 

on the series’ calendar also have to move 

in that direction. 

With that in mind, Powell suggests 

that Yas Marina Circuit is looking to work 

with sponsors that can help it meet those 

sustainability goals. 

“We got International Automobile 

BELOW: Yas Marina Circuit boasts FIA threestar 

accreditation for sustainability 

Federation three-star accreditation last 

year for sustainability, we’re now starting 

to look at the International Organisation 

for Standardisation standards when it 

comes to delivering sustainable events,” 

he explains. “[Our sponsors] are investing 

huge amounts of money in biofuel, they’re 

changing the way that they operate their 

business to make it more sustainable. 

“Therefore, there’s some common 

language starting to develop and we’re 

seeing other sponsors keen to showcase 

their green credentials.” 

2X HIGHER FAN ENGAGEMENT THAN THE 

AVERAGE AMONG ALL FORMULA ONE GRANDS PRIX 


26

Foreword 23XI 





About 

THE INSIDE TRACK 

With the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation squeezing marketing budgets across the board, 

the BlackBook spoke to a group of agency executives to get their take on the health of the 

motorsport sponsorship industry today, the current challenges facing rights holders and 

brands, and where the sector will go next. 


27

Foreword 23XI 





About 

THE CONTRIBUTORS 

Austin Schneider, 

Director of Business Development, 

Sport Dimensions 

Chris Long, 

Managing Director, Motorsports, EMEA 

& APAC, CSM Sport & Entertainment 

David Webb, 

Chief Executive, CSM Sport & 

Entertainment 

Quentin Warren, 

Head of Motorsport, Prism Sport and 

Entertainment 

How would you assess the overall health 

of the motorsport sponsorship market? 

Chris Long: It’s in good health across 

a range of motorsport series, but no 

doubt that is being driven by the ongoing 

renaissance in Formula One, which has 

seen enormous growth since Liberty 

Media took over. 

In any typical year over the last decade 

or so, Formula One has succeeded in 

attracting an average of 50 to 60 new 

brands to the sport. In 2021, a year after 

Covid, it was able to attract around 125 

new brands of which nearly 40 per cent 

were US-based companies. In 2022, 

although the number of deals halved, it 

should be noted that they have increased 

in value significantly, with 13 of them 

exceeding US$10 million. 

Quentin Warren: With new title-level 

deals for Red Bull Racing and McLaren, 

it feels like the motorsport sponsorship 

market remains healthy and vibrant with 

new brands coming into the sport. We’ve 

also seen Formula E retaining and adding 

new sponsors. 

Another trend of note is the 

continuing presence of cryptocurrency 

brands in motorsport and other forms 

of professional sport. While new crypto 

brands are inking sponsorship deals, 

the volatility of that sector and the 

unproven nature of token schemes 

in other sports creates a level of 

uncertainty and risk. 

Austin Schneider: Many technical 

partnerships have a positive impact 

for the entire marketplace outside of 

motorsports - such as 100 per cent 

sustainable fuel development, single-use 

plastic elimination, safety enhancements, 

and many more. 

The cost of entry to modern 

sponsorships has dropped considerably 

as more flexibility is built into the 

ecosystem. Brands are no longer required 

to sign multi-year arrangements right 

from the start. The most successful 

programmes still end up there but the 

new flexibility has allowed for more 

brands to explore the opportunities 

sponsorship provides with less 

commitment. 


28

Foreword 23XI 





About 

What is motorsport lacking and what 

can it learn from other industries? 

Quentin Warren: It would be good 

to see more fast-moving consumer 

goods (FMCG) brands coming into the 

sport, not only in Formula One. Our 

experience indicates to us that there is 

white space for campaigns appealing 

to broader fan audiences and targeting 

more accessible areas of the sport. This 

seems to be lagging behind the recent 

growth in mainstream interest in the 

sport. More FMCG brands embracing 

all motorsports would help what is a 

niche category of sports (arguably even 

Formula One) have more of a mass 

appeal, such as MotoGP in the post- 

Valentino Rossi era. 

Austin Schneider: Motorsport is still 

missing its ‘World Cup’ event where 

an overwhelmingly large portion of the 

mainstream stops and watches – even 

if they have zero interest in the sport 

throughout the rest of the year. 

Other industries have found ways 

to make their offerings much more 

engrained in cultural and mainstream 

activities. Motorsport has made positive 

strides in that direction, but since 

motorsport affects the mainstream 

consumer more than they realise, there is 

still room for improvement. 

Chris Long: The first is the need for a 

better narrative around both sustainability 

and diversity and inclusion (D&I) across 

the board. Even those best placed to tell 

a compelling story around those subjects 

have to work hard to land the message. 

The fan experience in Formula One 

– and other series – is lacking in some 

areas. More effort needs to be made to 

encourage sponsors to elevate the fan 

experience and for them to deploy their 

technology to support spectators, rather 

than just the teams and drivers. 

One other area of concern is Formula 

One’s dependence on B2B and tech 

companies for sponsorship revenue. 

Whereas the revenue and, in some cases, 

the technical assistance is welcome, 

these companies do not create engaging 

fan-facing activation campaigns. 

What are the major challenges and 

opportunities facing brands/buyers 

and rights holders/sellers within 

motorsport right now? 

Austin Schneider: Motorsport has a 

unique opportunity to integrate and share 

audiences more than other industries. 

There are multiple globally-recognised, 

professional motorsports series across 

different disciplines. The US market is 

particularly well-positioned for brands to 

take advantage of this. 


29

Foreword 23XI 





About 

needs to think about the long-term 

health of the sport rather than taking the 

quickest money on the table. Fans are 

dealing with economic issues at home. 

They need to be nurtured, supported, and 

sustained - not exploited. 

For example, you don’t see multiple 

US-style football sanctioning bodies. 

If your brand is interested in American 

football, you will be attracted to the 

National Football League (NFL). 

However, if your brand is interested in 

US motorsport, you can choose from 

Nascar, IndyCar, F1, IMSA, NHRA, and 

many others. Each of those motorsport 

properties provides different value and 

access to different audiences but there 

is a common thread linking them all 

together. 

David Webb: The main issue is rising 

costs – for both fans and partners. Due 

to an increase in fandom, viewing figures 

and world events, the price of entry into 

Formula One is becoming high. We can 

see the impact that is having, because 

whilst B2B-focused brands still see 

value in motorsport, consumer brands 

are finding it harder to make a case for 

getting involved with the sport. 

For the fan, meanwhile, race weekend 

ticket prices and the cost of hospitality is 

unsustainable. Formula One, specifically, 

LEFT: Water treatment firm BWT has used its 

motorsport sponsorships to encourage people 

to ‘Change the world - Sip by sip’ 

THE MAIN ISSUE IS 

RISING COSTS – FOR BOTH 

FANS AND PARTNERS.” 

Quentin Warren: Challenges include the 

volume of races and general travel chaos 

teams have to negotiate, compounded by 

the post-Covid staffing challenges faced 

by many industries. This has resulted in 

shortage of staff willing to travel. 

Opportunities include the broader 

audience for Formula One which has 

been spurred by the popularity of 

Drive to Survive. We believe this new 

generation of fans has broader interests 

and more crossover passion points. 

This is appealing to brands to align their 

portfolios with other partnerships, such 

as in music and entertainment. 

The expansion of race schedules also 

creates opportunities. It will be interesting 

to see which brands make the most of 

having three Formula One races in the 

US in 2023. 

Who’s doing the most impressive 

work in terms of marketing creativity? 

Austin Schneider: Ally Financial across 

Nascar, IndyCar, IMSA, and Sprint Cars 

has been wonderful to watch grow over 


30

Foreword 23XI 





About 

the last couple of years. The programme 

has been well-executed and organically 

expanded with some great campaigns 

along the way. They have built up equity 

with a strategic mix of drivers, teams and 

venues that provide a valuable asset mix 

to activate all year long. 

Chris Long: From a brand perspective, 

BWT is generating a lot of awareness. 

The next step for them is to formulate a 

narrative and use link that captures the 

imagination of consumers. McLaren and 

Google’s wheel stickers were a good 

stunt and raised interesting ideas around 

potentially commercialising what has 

commonly been perceived as dead space 

on a Formula One car. 

Quentin Warren: Aston Martin 

Formula One team have redefined 

their creative and content strategy to 

include a well-defined message via 

Sebastian Vettel. W Series continues 

to attract interest: its first race outside 

Europe at the Miami Grand Prix shone 

a stronger spotlight on the series, 

increasing interest. McLaren’s big 

focus on engaging the US audience 

and embracing their fans – in addition 

to their test and learn content strategy, 

[such as] Unboxed – is really paying off. 

In what ways is the role of the 

sponsorship agency within the 

motorsport industry evolving today? 

Austin Schneider: The role of the 

sponsorship agency has become much 

more than simply handling footprints 

and hospitality onsite. The sponsorship 

agency has become a central hub of 

marketing and revenue-generating 

activities for its clients. Because revenuegenerating 

arms of businesses are 

often the ones to leverage sponsorship 

assets, the agency has the opportunity 

to integrate disparate business units to 

create new value. 

This provides obvious value to the 

brand the agencies represent, but also to 

the properties their clients are sponsoring 

because this kind of success leads to 

longer, more sustainable partnerships. 

Quentin Warren: There’s a huge 

and growing appetite for content and 

creativity, not just in at-race activation 

and guest hosting. Brands are relying on 

agencies to help them navigate digital 

platforms and new technologies that 

enable deeper fan engagement and open 

up commerce opportunities. 

There is also a much greater focus on 

data analytics beyond top line metrics 

LEFT: Soon-to-retire Formula One driver 

Sebastian Vettel (right in picture) has fronted 

Aston Martin’s recent motorsport positioning 

RIGHT: Saudi oil and gas giant Aramco 

became a sponsor of Formula One in 2020 


31

Foreword 23XI 





About 

like engagement. We work closely with 

clients to uncover behavioural insights and 

leverage these to inform a more audiencefocused 

approach to storytelling. 

Chris Long: The demographic of 

audiences consuming motorsport has 

shifted significantly in recent years, which 

necessitates a more important role for 

research and insights teams, particularly 

when it comes to identifying sponsors 

and brands interest. 

Similarly, with added scrutiny on 

marketing budgets, genuine deep 

sector knowledge, expertise, and a 

consultative approach is required to 

ensure brands are getting a good deal. 

You cannot really get that without using 

an agency. 

In addition to that, measurement and 

evaluation of rights holder packages is 

also critical. With an economic squeeze 

happening, brands want to ensure 

maximum ROI. It is our job to ensure we 

connect them with rights holders we 

know can deliver that. 

How do you expect the motorsport 

sponsorship business to evolve in the 

coming years when it comes to areas 

like sales, new categories, on-site 

activation, ROI measurement, and 

market growth? 

Austin Schneider: From 

environmentally sustainable footprints to 

increased efficiency with resources, the 

current demands of sponsorship require 

efficiency. You will start to see decisions 

being made to benefit increased 

efficiency more than just for increased 

impressions, or whatever the chosen 

vanity metric is. 

Sponsorships may also rely less 

on vanity metrics because they have 

been diluted in value recently. There 

seems to be a gap with how consumers 

are watching live sport and how that 

viewership is reported, which has left 

the industry without a single source of 

accurate reporting on all of that, so there 

can’t really be a single metric everyone 

can equally compare to. 

Chris Long: We will see further 

development of virtual product placement 

(VPP) by companies like Ryff as the 

sports broadcaster landscape changes 

with new arrivals like Amazon Prime and 

Netflix, and further growth from DAZN. 

This will increase the advertising and 

signage inventory during live races for 

rights holders to sell. 

On-site activations will need to become 

increasingly personalised, and I would 

expect that rights holders will continue to 

come under pressure to bring their brand 

personalities through at races, providing 

more partner-specific experiences along 

the way. 

Quentin Warren: Key areas to watch 

are an ever-increasing reliance on data 

and data analytics, fan engagement 

growth, opportunities to tailor content 

to individual fans and redefining the fan 

experience, as well as guidance on how 

brands can meaningfully engage via 

augmented reality, virtual reality and the 

metaverse. 

RIGHTS HOLDERS WILL CONTINUE TO COME UNDER PRESSURE 

TO BRING THEIR BRAND PERSONALITIES THROUGH AT RACES.” 


32

Foreword 23XI 





About 

RIGHT ON TRACK 

A new national broadcast deal with Fox Sports has injected fresh 

commercial momentum into American Flat Track. Now, as chief 

executive Michael Lock explains, the premier dirt track motorcycling 

championship is working to deliver for its partners like never before. 


33

Foreword 23XI 





About 

Behind the scenes, US motorcycling 

racing series American Flat Track (AFT) 

has been revolutionising its sponsorship 

strategy. Within the last five years, the 

business has dramatically changed, 

making the series a more attractive 

proposition to potential partners. 

What ignited this change was the 

series’ first major broadcasting contract 

with NBC Sports, which lasted until 

the channel closed down at the end of 

2021. With that came the opportunity to 

connect with the broadcaster’s millions 

of viewers across the US, and while 

AFT has since moved its programming 

to Fox Sports for the 2022 and 2023 

seasons, the exposure offered by broad 

television coverage continues to prove 

transformative. 

“Five years ago, we rebranded our 

series,” explains Michael Lock, AFT’s 

chief executive. “It was more than putting 

a new set of clothes on it, a new brand 

and a new logo - it was really about 

changing how we did business. 

“I think a lot of motorsports, particularly 

the middle to smaller ones, have based 

their whole economic model on you 

do X number of races, and you have an 

expectation of selling this number of tickets 

and VIP packages. And you have sponsors 

who help you with the prize money. 

“The economic model traditionally 

was not that complicated. But things 

changed substantially when we got our 

TV contract, and we had our first major 

national TV contract in 2017. It put us 

on NBC Sports, which meant we could 

reach America. 

“It became an opportunity to 

dramatically increase our viewership and 

fan numbers, but the costs surrounding 

TV broadcasts are not insubstantial, 

because you can’t do it on the cheap. You 

may be a small sport, but you can’t look 

small on TV. There’s a minimum standard 

of production and editing and all of 

that, that you have to do. So this really 

changed our world.” 

Securing expansive TV coverage 

flipped AFT’s entire business model, 

ensuring the series was no longer 

so reliant on ticket sales, but it also 

carried a whole new level of cost and 

infrastructure. This meant that the 

championship had to seek to bolster its 

sponsorship offering, relying more on 

these opportunities as the series grew. 

Then, in early 2020, the Covid-19 

pandemic struck. Nevertheless, AFT 

pressed ahead with its title sponsor 

search, examining sectors related to 

the motorsport industry but which had 

greater relevance for wider society. 

Ultimately it settled on the insurance 

sector, striking a multi-year title 

sponsorship deal with Progressive 

Insurance in September 2020. 

ABOVE: American Flat Track is America’s 

premier dirt track motorcycling championship 

THINGS CHANGED SUBSTANTIALLY 

WHEN WE GOT OUR TV CONTRACT.” 


34

Foreword 23XI 





About 

“The goal was to get a blue-chip partner 

to the series, because we realised that 

in the absence of having Nascar viewer 

numbers or NFL numbers, which we may 

never get, we had to establish credibility in 

a different way,” explains Lock. 

“The lucky break was the pandemic, 

believe it or not. We picked the 

insurance sector because we felt that 

they understood motorsport already. 

We managed to secure sponsorship 

from Progressive Insurance, who are 

one of the largest automotive insurance 

companies in the US.” 

The timing worked out perfectly for 

American Flat Track. During the Covid-19 

pandemic, the majority of people 

stayed at home, reducing the chance of 

them needing to make an automotive 

insurance claim, yet they still paid for 

this insurance. Therefore, Progressive 

Insurance, as well as other firms, adapted 

their business model, and were able to 

enter an agreement with American Flat 

Track. This represented an alternative 

way for them to get in front of their 

customer base. 

Since the deal was signed, the newly 

titled Progressive AFT has been able 

to leverage the partnership to secure 

additional sponsorship agreements. 

What followed was a deal with Mexican 

food brand Mission Foods, whose 

arrival bolstered a commercial portfolio 

comprising a host of endemic and nonendemic 

sponsors. 

“They saw what we were doing with 

the growth of the business, expanding 

through the medium of TV and streaming 

and getting Progressive Insurance on 

board,” says Lock. “So, they partnered 

with the series as well. Now we had 

an insurance company, and we had a 

consumer food company. 

WE HAD TO ESTABLISH CREDIBILITY 

IN A DIFFERENT WAY.” 


35

Foreword 23XI 





About 

LEFT: Content integration helps deliver 

additional value to AFT’s sponsors 

RIGHT: Sponsor exhibitions help keep fans 

engaged and entertained during AFT events 

“What we’ve found is that as long 

as we’re able to deliver the kind of 

sophistication of feedback to them as to 

how their dollars are working within the 

sport, they are happy to keep increasing 

and keep supporting.” 

To provide additional value to sponsors, 

AFT has simultaneously bolstered its 

streaming and social media offering. 

Now, the series can more accurately 

keep track of how many people watch 

and engage with the championship, 

generating data that can be fed back to 

its partners. 

The series is streaming every race on 

Facebook throughout the 2022 season, 

with practice and qualifying available at 

no cost, while the semi-finals and main 

events will be available for US$3.99. 

“Being able to capture data is much 

easier on streaming than it is on regular 

broadcast,” notes Lock. “A parallel 

project for us has been to really develop 

our streaming and our presence on 

social media, partly because it’s a 

quick way to reach people. But, more 

importantly, you can tell the sponsors 

how many people you reached. 

Whereas with conventional TV or cable, 

there are ratings, but the ratings are 

estimates based on the rating agencies’ 

extrapolations.” 

AFT is also able to provide value to 

sponsors due to its unique structure. 

The series promotes two thirds of the 

events on its calendar, which allows 

it to adjust its schedule and run other 

promotions throughout the year that 

benefit partners. 

Adds Lock: “It’s quite common that 

the larger more blue-chip sponsors will 

say to us, ‘we have a huge push next 

year to develop our market share in 

New England, what can you do in New 

England to bring our brand to town?’ 

Being the sanctioning body and the 

promoter means that we could say, ‘hey, 

let’s run two races’.” 

Sponsors also play a critical role in 

driving awareness of AFT races through 

promotional activities in local markets. 

Mission Foods, for example, created an 

AFT-branded point-of-sale campaign 

featuring full-sized rider cardboard cutouts 

in supermarkets close to where 

races were being held and produced 

limited edition motorcycle-shaped tortilla 

chips. “That’s a huge resource, a degree 

of brand reach that we could never 

dream to achieve ourselves,” says Lock. 

For the 2022 season and beyond, 

AFT is working with its new domestic 

broadcaster Fox, whose nationwide 

broadcast deal began this year, to deliver 


36

Foreword 23XI 





About 

viewership numbers and audiences that 

will deliver for its range of sponsors. 

Live coverage of all 18 races this season 

are airing in one-hour broadcasts on 

cable network FS1, with the telecasts 

scheduled directly before or after other 

motorsports programming in a bid to 

maximise eyeballs. 

“We need to be delivering good 

viewership numbers from the beginning,” 

explains Lock. “Front-of-mind for us is 

reinforcement promotion, reminding people 

that we’re right there at the moment. 

“We will be watching the viewership 

numbers like a hawk for the first couple of 

months to see whether there’s anything 

we need to do, or whether we have any 

risk, so that’s a major focus. 

“Whoever wins the race doesn’t matter 

to them. Really what matters to them is 

how many people watched it and a real 

demonstration of growth.” 

ABOVE: Increased commercial revenue has meant 

AFT is no longer so reliant on ticket income 

FRONT-OF-MIND FOR US IS 

REINFORCEMENT PROMOTION, 

REMINDING PEOPLE THAT WE’RE 

RIGHT THERE AT THE MOMENT.” 


37

Foreword 23XI 





About 

THE PATH TO NET ZERO 

Energy company Shell has a storied history within motorsport, most notably with Ferrari, a 

partnership so old that it began before the team even entered Formula One. Nicholas Meyer, 

Shell’s global lead for energy transition partnerships, explains how its traditional standing in the 

sport doesn’t prevent the company from looking to the future with its partnerships. 


38

Foreword 23XI 





About 

RIGHT: The Shell brand is prominent 

in several series, including DTM 

LEFT: Nicholas Meyer, Shell’s global lead 

for energy transition partnerships 

WE’RE MUCH MORE THAN JUST 

A STICKER ON THE CAR.” 

When you think of Shell’s involvement 

in motorsport, it’s hard to look past its 

longstanding partnership with Ferrari. After 

all, Nicholas Meyer, the company’s global 

lead energy transition partnerships, claims 

that it is a relationship “that has existed 

even before Ferrari was in Formula One”, 

even going as far as to say that “Enzo 

Ferrari has been partnering with Shell since 

before the foundation of Ferrari, when he 

was still racing for Alfa Romeo”. 

But the oil and gas giant’s influence in 

motorsport stretches far beyond just the 

global motorsport series. 

“We have two teams [in Formula 

E] with Nissan and Mahindra, we’re 

partners of Ducati Corse in MotoGP as 

well,” says Meyer. “Hyundai in the World 

Rally Championship, BMW Motorsports 

as an entity and, in the US, we have 

partnerships in Nascar and IndyCar with 

Team Penske.” 

Its reach into multiple spheres 

of motorsport places Shell in the 

best position to realise its future 

ambitions: most notably, the path to 

decarbonisation. This can be achieved 

in two ways – by displaying its technical 

expertise through its partnerships, or by 

raising greater awareness through its 

initiatives. 

More specifically, Meyer highlights 

three areas in which Shell looks to 

achieve its objectives. 

“First of all, it’s to highlight how the 

products we supply to track are providing 

increased performance to the teams,” he 

explains. “The second part is using these 

partnerships to highlight the different 

brands and the products that we offer to 

consumers on the road. The third area 

is around decarbonisation, something 

that highlights how we at Shell are 

transforming.” 

Shell has already been taking 

steps in Formula One to help Ferrari 

reduce its carbon footprint, even with 

something as simple as its set-up in 

the paddock on race weekends. It is 

a massive logistical operation for the 

paddock to navigate the globe while 

the Formula One circus visits city 

after city, sometimes on consecutive 

or even three weekends in a row. But 

even the smallest changes can make a 

difference. 


39

Foreword 23XI 





About 

LEFT: Shell is a title partner of Hyundai 

Motorsport in the World Rally Championship 

WE’RE WORKING 

WITH RACE TRACKS TO 

ORGANISE RACES IN A 

MORE SUSTAINABLE WAY.” 

“For example, with Ferrari, we’ve been 

supplying generator fuel for their motor 

homes at the paddock which are based 

on biofuels,” Meyer highlights. “There’s 

CO2 reduction, as well as improved air 

quality. We’re also working with race 

tracks to help them organise races in 

a more sustainable way using greener 

electricity.” 

One such race track is the Indianapolis 

Motor Speedway (IMS), host of the 

iconic Indianapolis 500, where Shell 

assisted in the installation of a 150kW, 

high-powered electric charger on 

the grounds of the circuit. Shell also 

supported the track in implementing 

a scheme whereby fans are able to 

offset their travel footprint through a 

nominal contribution to the GreenTrees 

reforestation project. 

The approach to assisting race tracks, 

however, has been a very different 

experience to what Shell is used to with 

its usual partnerships. 

“The needs are completely different,” 

Meyer states. “We have solutions that 

can help, from rooftop solar to green 

electricity from the grid, generator fuel for 

the events, and most Formula One tracks 

are laid with Shell bitumen.” 

Furthermore, not only do these 

partnerships display Shell’s technical 

expertise, they also raise awareness, 

something equally as important for 

driving conversation around the 

environment. This acts as a further 

reminder that sponsorship is more than 

just a passive collaboration. 

“It’s not just about branding, it’s about 

creating awareness,” Meyer continues. 

“We want to showcase our expertise 

through these partnerships, but it’s very 

much a working relationship, there [has 

to be] give and take on both sides.” 


40

Foreword 23XI 





About 

This environmental shift represents 

somewhat of a crossroads for motorsport, 

as sustainability and energy transition 

become more and more crucial to 

the survival and everyday relevance 

of the sport. It’s beneficial, then, that 

partnerships have always acted as a 

testbed for innovation and developing new 

technologies. As Meyer points out, Formula 

One is targeting “net zero by 2030”, 

meaning that series and others, such as 

Formula E, provide prime opportunities for 

Shell to work towards a greener future. 

“For example, in Formula E, we 

work with the teams to develop 

eFluids, specialised lubricants for the 

transmission that really has an impact 

on the performance of the car,” explains 

Meyer. “In Formula One as well, this year 

it moves an E10 fuel – we worked very 

closely with Ferrari, we have a team of 

engineers in Hamburg in our technology 

centre that have been working on the 

fuel for some time, so it’s great to see the 

results of that hard work coming to life in 

the good performance of the team.” 

This is key to Shell’s approach, as the 

company does not see sponsorship 

simply as a branding exercise. As Meyer 

puts it, “we’re much more than just a 

sticker on the car”. A lot of this comes 

down to the focus on decarbonisation as 

Shell transitions away from being just an 

oil and gas company. The organisation is 

ABOVE: Shell’s technical partnership with MotoGP 

team Ducati Corse dates back over 20 years 

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT 

BRANDING, IT’S ABOUT 

CREATING AWARENESS.” 


41

Foreword 23XI 





About 

INSIGHTS 

ENERGY BRANDS RECEIVED US$72 MILLION 

IN AAV DURING THE FIRST HALF OF 2022, 13% 

OF ALL SPONSORSHIP VALUE AAV GENERATED 

ACROSS MOTORSPORT THIS YEAR (DOWN 4% 

FROM THE SAME PERIOD IN 2021) 

SHELL RANKED FOURTH AMONG ENERGY 

BRANDS IN MOTORSPORT IN TERMS OF 

AAV, RECEIVING US$6.3 MILLION 

HALF THE SPONSORSHIP VALUE AAV FOR 

ENERGY BRANDS COMES FROM MOTORSPORT 

SERIES SUCH AS FORMULA ONE 

SPONSORSHIP VALUE AAV 

FOR ENERGY BRANDS BY 

PROMOTER TYPE 

1% 

Event promoter 

13% 

Athlete 

36% 

Team 

50% 

Series 

also diversifying in terms of who it would 

traditionally partner with. 

“It now goes beyond just fuel and 

lubricants,” Meyer says. “It also looks at 

how we can support potential race tracks, 

and how we can support the OEMs in 

their factories with energy supply.” 

Shell is already preparing for the future 

through its Shell Recharge and Shell 

Energy initiatives, nascent brands that 

emphasise the importance of visibility 

through sponsorship. But, as Meyer is 

keen to emphasise, it’s important for the 

company to continue to target the right 

types of partners. 

“We work with established brands that 

are credible in their space and have an 

existing track record,” he explains. “But 

we are primarily looking for a natural 

partner with whom we can develop new 

products, test them, optimise them, and 

really work as a team to deliver the best 

performance in a sustainable way.” 


42

Foreword 23XI 





About 

THE STATE OF 

MOTORSPORT 

ON SOCIAL MEDIA 

Blackbook official data and insights partner KORE Software looks across all types of 

motorsport to identify the top series, brands and best practices on social media. 


43

Foreword 23XI 





About 

KORE Software is the official data 

partner of the BlackBook, lending its 

industry-leading software solutions and 

unmatched global dataset to provide 

an in-depth analysis on the state of 

motorsport on social media. 

KORE Software provides benchmarks 

for brands and properties in motorsport 

to understand how they measure up on 

social media compared to other drivers, 

teams, and series, where sponsorship 

value is being generated, and what works 

for brand promotion. 

Through the first half of 2022, fan 

engagement on social media across 

motorsport is trending nearly equal 

to the same period last year, behind 

just three per cent compared to 2021. 

However, not all series are even with 

the past year’s pace. 

For example, Formula One has 

continued its massive growth from 

previous years, seeing a 35 per cent 

increase in cumulative followers and a 

19 per cent increase in fan engagement 

across drivers, teams, and the series 

accounts on social media compared to 

the first half of 2021. 

NHRA was another bright spot in 

motorsport, seeing an eight per cent 

increase in followers and a 13 per cent 

increase in fan engagement this year 

compared to last. 

Other series trailed last year’s fan 

engagement, such as Nascar and 

Formula E, each down between eight 

and nine per cent in the first half of 

2022. 

FORMULA ONE HAS 

CONTINUED ITS MASSIVE 

GROWTH FROM PREVIOUS 

YEARS, SEEING A 35 

PER CENT INCREASE IN 

CUMULATIVE FOLLOWERS.” 

LEFT: Formula One has seen a 19 per cent 

increase in fan engagement on social media 

compared to the first half of 2021 


44

Foreword 23XI 





About 

THE STUDY 

SOCIAL FOOTPRINT OF MOTORSPORT 

This report focused on nearly 4,000 

drivers, teams, series, events, and venues 

across all types of motorsport as well as 

the brands they promote on social media. 

Through computer vision and advanced 

machine learning, every post by those 

motorsport properties and individuals 

was analysed to identify deliberate 

promotion of any brand by direct 

mention, hashtag, or keyword in the text 

of the post as well as brand logos within 

the images and videos. 

These branded posts were then 

analysed to evaluate post quality and 

brand value for the associated brand(s) 

and summarised to come up with the 

data included in this report. The data 

gathered for this report is from social 

and digital channels, including Facebook, 

Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, VK, Weibo and 

YouTube, and the date range for this data 

was 1st January to 1st July 2022. 

Fan engagement (Billions) 

18 

16 

14 

12 

10 

8 

6 

4 

2 

0 

On the whole, motorsport is 

consistently among the top five sports 

by fan engagement on social media, 

on par with the likes of basketball, 

cricket, and American football. The 

SPORTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN H1 2022 

Rugby 

Golf 

Baseball 

Tennis 

MMA 

first half of 2022 has been no different, 

with motorsport combining for 1.2 

billion followers and nine billion fan 

engagements, ranked fourth among all 

sports in each metric. 

Motorsport 

American Football 

Cricket 

Basketball 

0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 

2,500 

3,000 

Followers (Millions) 


45

Foreword 23XI 





About 

MOTORSPORT TRENDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA SINCE BEFORE COVID 

Fan engagement across social media (Billions) 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

Engagement 

Followers 

15.1 16.9 20.2 18.1 

1,400 

1,200 

1,000 

800 

600 

400 

200 

0 

Cumulative followers across motorsport (Millions) 

2019 2020 2021 2022 Est* 

ABOVE: Formula One ended 2021 with 1.1 billion followers 

and 20 billion fan engagements on social media 

SINCE 2019, MOTORSPORT HAS SEEN DOUBLE-DIGIT 

FOLLOWER AND FAN ENGAGEMENT GROWTH.” 

Since 2019, motorsport has 

seen double-digit follower and fan 

engagement growth, setting new 

highs in 2021, ending the year with 

1.1 billion followers and 20 billion fan 

engagements. Even if the current pace 

holds for the rest of 2022, ending the 

year with 18 billion fan engagements will 

be a 20 per cent increase over the pre- 

Covid high in 2019. 


46

Foreword 23XI 





About 

TOP MOTORSPORT SERIES 

ON SOCIAL MEDIA 

TOP SERIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2022 

When it comes to the top series in 

motorsport, Formula One and MotoGP 

stand out from the pack. Looking at 

series accounts only, Formula One, 

MotoGP, and Nascar are the only three 

with over 10 million followers or 150 

million fan engagements. MotoGP has 

five times more fan engagement on its 

series accounts than Nascar so far in 

2022 and Formula One has 2.5 times 

more than MotoGP. 

To put a finer point on the dominance 

of Formula One on social media, F1 

drivers, teams, and the series account 

for 28 per cent of the total followers 

across motorsport (333 million), 54 per 

cent of the fan engagement so far in 

2022 (4.8 billion), and 65 per cent of the 

sponsorship value generated for brands 

(US$360 million). 

Fan engagement (Millions) 

3,000 

2,500 

2,000 

1,500 

1,000 

500 

0 

Supercross 

WRC 

NASCAR 

0 10 20 30 40 

50 

60 

Cumulative social media followers (Series accounts only) (Millions) 

*Note, global football (#1 in followers, engagement) not included in chart. 

Global football stats: 15.5B followers, 65B engagements 

MotoGP 

F1 

WHEN IT COMES TO THE TOP SERIES IN MOTORSPORT, 

FORMULA ONE AND MOTOGP STAND OUT FROM THE PACK.” 


47

Foreword 23XI 





About 

TOP BRANDS IN MOTORSPORT 

The fan engagement within Formula One 

and MotoGP means big sponsorship 

value for brands invested in these series. 

Across motorsports, US$554 million in 

sponsorship value has been generated 

on social media through deliberate (@ 

mentions, #hashtags) and incidental 

(background logos / signage) promotion. 

The top ten brands promoted are all 

invested in Formula One or MotoGP. 

Unsurprisingly, automotive brands 

received the highest percentage of AAV 

at 32 per cent for the endemic industry. 

The beverage sector had the second 

highest AAV at 17 per cent followed 

by the energy industry, including oil 

and gas and lubricants brands, at 

13 per cent. Only four of the top 100 

individual entity (driver, team, series) 

to brand partnerships were outside of 

Formula One or MotoGP. These were 

Supercross promoting Monster Energy 

and Yamaha individually, Mahindra 

Racing Team (Formula E) promoting 

AAV Rank Brand name Category Branded posts AAV Top promoter 

1 Red Bull Beverage 22.4k US$59.2M Formula One 

2 Ferrari Automotive & Powersports 10.3k US$37.7M Ferrari F1 

3 Mercedes-Benz Automotive & Powersports 9.4k US$24.6M Formula One 

Mahindra Automotive, and Formula E 

promoting ABB. 

Some brands have seen major leaps 

in their AAV rankings in 2022 compared 

to the first half of 2021, including Saudi 

Aramco, Crypto.com, and Salesforce, all 

propelled by Formula One. Outside of 

Formula One, Audi’s new partnership 

with Ken Block and Mike’s Hard 

Lemonade’s sponsorship of Supercross 

both saw major lift in sponsorship value 

generated. 

TAKEAWAYS 

Social media has become a core part of 

every sponsorship deal, with motorsports 

reaching over 1.2 billion followers globally. 

However, over half of the partnerships 

within motorsports have generated less 

sponsorship value AAV during the first 

half of 2022 than they did during the first 

half of 2021 due to a variety of factors, 

including fewer branded posts and lower 

logo quality within those posts for the 

brands promoted. 

As sponsorship costs rise and budgets 

get tested, it is vital to have the data 

in-house to know how your partnerships 

are performing and justify that internally. 

KORE’s suite of solutions can help you 

manage, measure, and optimise all your 

partnership assets and activations, from 

the small insights to comprehensive 

portfolio ROI reporting. 

4 Petronas Energy 5.1k US$23.3M Mercedes F1 

5 Monster Energy Beverage 20.6k US$15.3M MotoGP 

6 McLaren Automotive & Powersports 5k US$13.5M Formula One 

7 Saudi Aramco Energy 2.9k US$12.8M Formula One 

8 Alpinestars Sporting Goods & Apparel 14.7k US$11.5M MotoGP 

9 Pirelli Automotive & Powersports 8.5k US$11.2M Formula One 

10 Haas Automation Manufacturing 3k US$10.3M Formula One 


48

Foreword 23XI 





About 

Credits 

About BlackBook Motorsport 

BlackBook Motorsport is a business 

community for the international 

motor racing industry, supported by 

SportsPro, covering the business 

behind global motorsport across 

print, digital and events. BlackBook 

Motorsport subscribers can keep 

up-to-date with breaking motorsport 

business news and gain invaluable 

analytical insight into each major series 

through our comprehensive reports 

and comprehensive commercial guides, 

whilst members also gain access to 

interact with key figures in motorsport 

with our industry-leading events. 

Find out more at 


About SportsPro 

SportsPro is the world’s leading 

international media company for the 

sports industry in print, digital and 

events. Launched in 2008, SportsPro is 

our highly respected flagship magazine 

combining in-depth reporting and 

analysis with diverse features and 

top-level interviews, while SportsPro’s 

digital and social platforms offer a highly 

regarded showcase of analytical features, 

insightful interviews and the best of the 

print magazine. Since 2014 SportsPro has 

also hosted annual conferences across 

the globe providing outstanding content, 

access, and networking opportunities. 

Find out more at 

www.sportspromedia.com 

Editorial Director 

Michael Long 

Deputy Editor 

Sam Carp 

Staff Writer 

Cian Brittle 

For more information about future 

reports, please contact: 

Peter Jones 

Executive Director, BlackBook Motorsport 

pjones@blackbookmotorsport.com 

Tom Brown 

Partnerships Executive, BlackBook Motorsport 

tbrown@blackbookmotorsport.com 


49

Driving value: The business of motorsport sponsorship in 2022

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