What is the solution?

[J.Clark]

I think most fans have some good ideas about how to fix this problem.

The problem is how to keep privateers and start-up teams in the sport of Formula 1.

There are several things that people have offered up as possible solutions, many related to cost savings or changing how revenues are distributed.  Some border on ridiculous, but many are not only viable, but would be simple enough to initiate.

We effectively lost two such teams at end of 2014; although, one did make the final race, they were goners.  Now one will re-emerge this season under a new name.  I am truly hopeful that they can survive and grow. 

Next year is supposed to bring a new entry in the form of Haas' Ferrari powered cars.  I sincerely hope nothing but success their way.  The costs are staggering and Bernie, with the help perhaps of the FIA, need to sit down and seriously discuss ways to fix it.  Otherwise, I see the demise of F1 in the not so distant future.

I agree completely with Arrivabene in this article from Crash.net.
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/215264/1/ferrari-three-car-teams-not-the-solution.html

[Jericoke]

I'm sure enough people here are sick to death of corporates sloganeering (and God bless those of you who aren't subjected to these buzzwords on a daily basis!)  I don't think the problem is keeping privateers and start ups in the sport at all.

The problem is keeping SPONSORs in the sport.  No matter how much you split up the money, Ferrari and Mercedes will have more than everyone else.  The small teams don't need the prize money to survive, they need sponsors to survive.

How do we make F1 appeal to sponsors?

NASCAR had a lot of success of utilizing cars that had massive advertizing surfaces, and limited technical innovation to ensure close racing so as many cars are possible are in view at a time.  However NASCAR's formula isn't working any more.

What can an F1 team offer a sponsor that they can't get anywhere else?

[Monty]

The problem is keeping SPONSORs in the sport.

I agree. Without more big money sponsors the future of F1 looks bleak
Bernie has limited the coverage gained by F1 by chasing the big pay to view TV deals. Therefore, the sponsors are talking to a different demographic. In the USA motor sport has successfully won a family audience. McDonalds are talking to their key customers, Valvoline are talking to their key customers even Daz are talking to their key customers. Who are F1 sponsors talking to? Certainly the UK live coverage being mostly locked into Sky means that the viewers are either mad, nutter enthusiasts like us who stump up our hard-earned to watch the sport we love or they are (by the mere fact that they can afford the appropriate Sky package) 'Affluent Achievers'. I am no expert but even I know that the marketing spend for many brands will not be aimed at this audience.

[lkjohnson1950]

I've said before, F1's biggest problem is that there are not many companies whose reach extends into all the markets F1 races in. Add in the vast increase in sponsorship costs and you reduce your pool significantly. F1 had better success when it was a Euro centered series; sponsors knew the market and had less wasted exposure. Many NASCAR teams have multiple sponsors. Jeff Gordon wears Dupont colors most of the time, but at certain races he will wear Pepsi colors, or even advertise a new movie. I wonder if F1 teams could sign on regional sponsors?

[J.Clark]

What would happen if Bernie controlled the feed, but allowed more media coverage, and actually promoted F1 in places such as the United States and Canada, as well perhaps in parts of South America?

It would seem to me that if he could increase the viewing audience, which will never happen with pay-per-view, he would be able to help teams attract sponsors.  They put their money where they get the most bang for their buck, and that means they want maximum coverage for their dollars.  If a fan base shrinks instead of expands, it is fairly obvious that they would pull their logos from cars wanting big money to put it there.

Of course, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to recognize that this too comes down to the massive amount of money spent by a team just to put a car on the grid.  This is something else that Bernie in particular, and the FIA to some extent, have a great deal of control over.

[Alianora La Canta]

How about "get the grandees to not behave like spoilt toddlers?" Might not be a whole solution, but it would let us see possible paths!

[Scott]

I think the only way F1 will be able to attract more sponsorship for the teams is to make F1 free to air for every market they broadcast in and for heavens sake, will someone PLEASE tell Bernie that he needs a solid internet marketing strategy (i.e. streaming video)? 

I'm sure sponsors are coming through the door talking about stickers on cars, discussing TV broadcast stats, then asking 'Ok, but what about youtube...how many hits are F1 videos getting on youtube, and Vine, and Vimeo and, and, and'.  NOBODY wants F1 run by someone who doesn't understand the internet, yet here we have it.

[lkjohnson1950]

Bernie understands the internet well enough to know he can't control it, so he's trying to avoid it because he has to control F1 content or he fears he will lose a Euro or two.

[Scott]

If he understood its economy, he would understand he's missing out on millions.

[Jericoke]

If he understood its economy, he would understand he's missing out on millions.

My fear is that Bernie understands he won't be in charge of F1 much longer, and is thus trying to squeeze every nickel (or .05 Euro) out of the sport now, and damn the consequences later.

I haven't deciding if he's just planning to die with the biggest pile of money, or hoping that when he's forced out and the house of cards collapses, he can swoop in for a bargain price and build F1 back up as a modern entertainment medium.

[J.Clark]

I agree with what Scott said a few posts ago.

If I was a potential sponsor, also known as a corporation, I would be asking all of those same questions and more.  Tell me Bernie, why is it worth my money to put my name and logo a car in Formula 1?  What sort of 'bang for my buck' are going to get me?

[Scott]

Just imagine the millions of hits some of those yanked videos would be getting on youtube?  If FOM put its race edits up on youtube and add the thousands of replays of each and every incident in each race, they would be getting millions of plays and quite a bit of ad revenue (especially if Bernie was to negotiate a really good rate with Youtube - and we all know what a good negotiator Bernie is).

Start another channel just for F1 streams for people like me who live in an adopted country with a language that is not my choice language for watching F1.  Make me pay $25/year for a channel in the language of my choice.  I don't care if they sell me the South African feed, just give it to me in English.  Or people like Ian who doesn't want to pay a couple hundred dollars for Sky just to watch 8 more F1 races.  Or people like Dare and Cos who get sketchy F1 broadcasts where they live in the US.  Or people who simply find themselves in a place that has WiFi, but there is no available TV around during a race.  Watch F1 at your favourite bar with earbuds instead of having to fight for space in a sports bar with F1 on the TV's.  These days with tablets and WiFi, people don't watch nearly as much traditional TV as they used to (another worry for sponsors).

[J.Clark]

I especially like the YouTube part.  There are only a few videos there from F1.

[Scott]

I was only talking about YouTube. 

Sorry, the 2nd paragraph is also a reference to Youtube, as in Youtube Channels.  There are already quite a few for pay Youtube channels.  Many or instructional and I think Red Bull has one as well for major events which is actually a live stream, but there is nothing to say it wouldn't work perfectly well for F1 as well.

[John S]

I think Bernie has been boxed into a corner by the major teams over the pay TV route, he has make the total pot to be divvied up ever bigger so big teams can afford the whims of Newey et al.

You can increase race hosting fees up to a certain point, which he has done with the loss of some traditional tracks - more to follow I'm sure - but it's just not enough so other ways of increasing the FOM/prize pot have to be used.

Obviously the higher revenues for a much reduced audience from pay TV does not really affect the top teams, a lot of their sponsorship deals are business trade offs in other areas in exchange for the F1 funding.

The smaller audience does however hit the mid and back end teams sponsorship monies, whether they're hit more than the increased amount they also see from the bigger FOM/prize pot is hard to say - back marker teams will never get anything like the same money for a rear wing message when compared to Merc or Ferrari.

IMHO it's hard to tell if falling audiences is really to blame for money troubles further down the grid, for me it's the increased costs of engines , sorry I mean power units.

There is no easy fix as far as I can see, sure Bernie could embrace the internet more but over using youtube may actually compromise pay TV deals. If you're paying £20, £30  million, or more, yearly per country then you may not be best pleased if your public can get free access to a lot of your expensive content on the internet.