New report reveals value of U.S. to Formula One

London, UK., September 19, 2008 - A new business report reveals why Formula One teams want the United States Grand Prix back on the calendar. Formula Money (www.formulamoney.com), the industry monitor of the business of F1 racing, reports United States-based companies represent 21.4 percent of all F1 team sponsors – far more than any other country.

According to the 2008/09 edition of Formula Money, 44 of F1’s 206 team sponsors and suppliers have headquarters in America. This represents 10 more sponsors than the second-placed UK, where six of the 10 teams and the sport’s commercial rights holder are based.

The total estimated value of the U.S.-based investment is $113.6 million, averaging $2.6 million per sponsor. The U.S. companies contribute 12.7 percent of all team sponsorship revenues for 2008. Intel, which sponsors the BMW team to the tune of an estimated $25 million this year, is the American company with the largest investment.

This demonstrates why the teams are so eager to get the U.S. Grand Prix back on the calendar. The race was dropped this season for the first time since 2000 after Indianapolis Motor Speedway chief executive Tony George and Bernie Ecclestone, chief executive of the F1 Group, failed to reach agreement on a new deal. Recently team bosses called for a return to the U.S. on the grounds that it would be good for business, with BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen saying that not only is the United States the biggest market for the carmaker, but it is very important for the team’s sponsors as well.

Formula Money is an annual data report on the business of F1, containing more than 200 tables regarding every aspect of the sport’s finances, from a valuation of each current team sponsorship deal to the typical budget for a Grand Prix event. For 2008, it has expanded to 156 pages, adding sections detailing the finances of F1’s feeder series, GP2, and analyzing the editorial print media exposure of F1’s team sponsors – the first time this data has ever been produced.

According to the new edition, revenues from all businesses within F1 will reach a record total of $4.7 billion in 2008. The biggest component of this is the $1.6 billion spent by the team owners, which increased from $1.47 billion in 2007 largely due to the arrival of Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya who runs the Force India team.

The authors of Formula Money, Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid, are the world's only newspaper journalists to regularly cover the business of F1. Their experience covering the sector stretches across all other types of media from magazines and books to radio and TV.

The publishing partner of Formula Money is CNC, the communications consultancy which has worked with and represented several major sponsors, all car manufacturers and eight of the ten teams which participate in F1.