Formula One brands get Bahrain Grand Prix boost
The 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix generated broadcast exposure worth $90.4m for the 103 brands with coverage at the race. This was well above the 2010 race average of $78.0m worth of exposure, representing 6.1% of the $1.5bn value of F1's total brand exposure.
The Bahrain Grand Prix, which joined the F1 calendar in 2004, performed extremely well when compared to high profile traditional races. In both 2009 and 2010, Bahrain generated a higher value of exposure for F1’s teams and trackside advertisers than the five oldest races in the sport, the Monaco, British, German, Belgian and Italian Grands Prix.
The leading brand at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix was Red Bull, which gained exposure worth $22.4m from its logos on the Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso cars. This was followed by race title sponsor Gulf Air on $12.3m and Ferrari sponsor Santander on $9.4m.
The Bahrain Grand Prix is expected to generate $560.2m worth of broadcast exposure for brands in F1 over the next five years. This is made up of $437.8m of exposure for brands with on-car coverage, including team owners, sponsors and engine manufacturers, and a further $122.4m of exposure for the sport’s trackside advertisers. F1 has already lost exposure worth $95.3m due to the cancellation of the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix so if the race didn’t stay on the calendar, the total value of the lost exposure would reach $655.5m by 2016, when its current contract comes to an end.
Formula Money has also found that if the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix is cancelled the teams could lose $44.7m of prize money. Projected prize money totals for 2012 show that over the scheduled 20-race season, F1's top ten teams will receive a $894.5m prize fund, with the constructors' champion taking home $126.0m. However, without the Bahrain Grand Prix this total falls to $849.8m. The constructors' champion would lose $6.3m in prize money while the 10th placed team would see its prize money reduced by $2.6m.
It isn’t just teams and sponsors who would lose out financially if the race is cancelled, but also the local area. The Bahrain Grand Prix has the highest local economic impact of any Formula One race at $220m. This is more than double the average local economic impact of $101.3m and represents a significant 11.4% of F1's total annual local economic impact of $1.9bn.