Official: Murdoch Wants to Buy F1

[cosworth151]

Rupert Murdoch has confirmed that his self-proclaimed "News Corp" want to buy F1. He is in league with Exor. Exor is owned by the Fiat-owning Agnelli family.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110503/F1/110509956

[Ian]

May all the pestilences of hell fall upon him. 

[Jericoke]

Rupert Murdoch has confirmed that his self-proclaimed "News Corp" want to buy F1. He is in league with Exor. Exor is owned by the Fiat-owning Agnelli family.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110503/F1/110509956

So if Ferrari stake holders get ahold of F1, does that at least mean looser engine regs?

[John S]

Pitpass.com seems to think that all this is a bargaining ploy to put an armlock on Bernie in the upcoming Concorde negotiations. Because the concorde agreement specificaly bans any team, member of a team or anyone authourised by them, to get involved with broadcasters or tracks. So Ferrari cannot be part of the bid, however the family behind the FIAT empire appear to have no such problem.   

The following are extracts from a longer piece  'The truth about EXOR, News Corp and the Concorde Agreement' on Pitpass.com:-

The line in the statement [from EXOR] which really got the attention of Pitpass' business editor Chris Sylt is the one saying that EXOR and News Corp want to formulate "a long-term plan for the development of Formula One in the interests of the participants and the fans." It reminded Sylt of the infamous 18 June 2009 Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) press release which trumpeted that "these teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders."

Later in the article Pitpass adds:-
 
It's little wonder it looks like Ferrari has had to think laterally when it comes to leverage over Ecclestone. The F1 boss has repeatedly rubbished the teams' efforts to establish a rival series and quite right too. Despite numerous threats over nearly a decade, the closest the teams have got to running their own series was in 2009 and this attempt lasted a grand total of six days. And that was when the series was backed by powerhouse car manufacturers Renault, BMW, Mercedes as well as Ferrari. Theoretically, they could have bankrolled a rival series though they never would because, when push came to shove, they decided that their purpose in F1 was purely marketing rather than series ownership.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kleinman's report states that "the expiry of the current Concorde Agreement (which dictates the distribution of F1's commercial revenues between the teams and the sport's owners) at the end of next year will sharpen the minds of CVC and the participating manufacturers as the latter attempt to extract a larger slice of the F1 commercial pie." It kind of sums up the point above and there is of course good reason for Ferrari's ultimate owner to be behind this leverage.

Pitpass.com, 04/05/11.

[Williamsfan]

It wouldn't be F1 without some political mess unfolding, would it?!  Ah well, it will be interesting to see how this all unfolds.

[Canada Darrell™]

May all the pestilences of hell fall upon him. 

Amen brother! 

But if they back up the armoured truck to Bernie's door we may all be in trouble!

[Jugirl]

May all the pestilences of hell fall upon him. 

Not happy then Ian   Sorry i couldn't resist i hate the idea too 

Ju

[cosworth151]

So if this happens, I guess we can expect Ferrari to get preferential treatment in rules making and enforcement.

At least that part of F1 won't change. 

[Jericoke]

So here's what I see happening:

Bernie and CVC unload FOM to Fox for an ungodly amount of money.

FOTA gets a bigger piece of the pie in the next 'Concorde', making the FOM rights worthless. 

Bernie repurchases the worthless rights, leaving Fox holding the bag.

Without CVC's, or Fox's massive debts, Bernie can renogitiate Concorde, giving himself a smaller piece of the pie, but less of that goes to servicing debt, leaving more in his pocket.

[Scott]

I bet Bernie would like you, Jeri 

[Ian]

This little snippet in the Daily Mail.

FORMULA ONE owners CVC Capital Partners have claimed the sport is 'not currently for sale' as a joint takeover bid by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp andExor, an Italian company with direct links toFerrari, gathers momentum. But CVC left the door open by saying talks would progress should somebody offer them a 'lot more money than it's worth.'

[lkjohnson1950]

Remember CVC is an investment company, run by bankers, not race fans. If they receive an offer that allows them to turn a profit, they will probably take it. There is still Bernie's assertion that the EU will not approve the sale because of the possibility of Sky TV getting the TV rights without needing to compete. And there is talk that Ferrari may not be the only team represented in the group looking to by the sport. After all Carlos Slim was mentioned when these rumors were first floated, and he has ties to Sauber.

Lonny

[Jericoke]

Remember CVC is an investment company, run by bankers, not race fans. If they receive an offer that allows them to turn a profit, they will probably take it. There is still Bernie's assertion that the EU will not approve the sale because of the possibility of Sky TV getting the TV rights without needing to compete. And there is talk that Ferrari may not be the only team represented in the group looking to by the sport. After all Carlos Slim was mentioned when these rumors were first floated, and he has ties to Sauber.

Lonny

EU rules prohibit TV companies and sports being part of the same corporation?

If that happened in North America, we'd lose a lot of teams, or a lot of channels.

Ted Turner build his empire by buying the Atlanta Braves to put on his TV channel.

The New York Yankees got tired of dealing with ESPN, so they started their own channel.

[lkjohnson1950]

MLB teams are free to negotiate their own contracts for TV coverage as long as they defer to MLB's national contracts. In other words the Arizona Diamondbacks are broadcast by Fox Sports Arizona unless FOX or ESPN want the game in which case FSAZ steps aside. Bernie says he has assurances that the EU will not allow News Corp to purchase F1 and it is thought the reasoning will have something to do with having a monopoly on TV rights.

Lonny

[cosworth151]

Several MLB teams have set up their own networks. Cleveland, for example, has Sports Time Ohio.

If I understand Bernie correctly, the EU deal is specifically about keeping F1 on free-to-air TV. The would be counter to what Elliot Carver, I mean Rupert Murdoch, seems to have in mind.