Fuelling the F1: Why payments companies are sponsoring the sport

FXC Intelligence has published a report into F1’s payments sponsorships to assess why the sport is attracting sponsorships from payments companies. This report comes as the sport undertakes its usual pre-season shake-up and sees a string of sponsorship announcements.

The report identified that 40% of the grid has a payments-related player among its title or tier one sponsors, while every team – as well as the F1 organisation itself – has some form of sponsorship deal with a payments-related company. 

Companies with payments as either all or part of their operations have an outsized presence in the sport compared to their relative share of companies as a whole. This suggests that the sport has become a key choice for payments marketers.

Cryptocurrency and forex-related companies were the most common players for payments-related sponsors, closely followed by banks and then money transfers players. B2B-led companies, including software providers, were also a smaller but significant presence. 

In the majority of cases, although not all, payments-related players had services with a cross-border element, although for some, such as Cash App, this represented a small part of their overall offering.

So why are payment companies willing to pay a premium to have their logo featured in the F1?

Lucy Ingham, author of the report, Head of Content and Editor-in-Chief at FXC Intelligence, said: ‘Ultimately, F1 is a great marketing tool for many payments companies as it represents the chance to showcase as a brand both internationally and at a local level. As a sport, it’s become increasingly popular over the past few years, particularly with younger and female viewers. It has also seen a growing reach internationally, which is especially appealing to payments players with a cross-border focus.’

She added, ‘There is also an element of prestige to the sport, which attracts B2B-focused companies, while growing numbers of young people watching the sport is appealing to consumer brands targeting digital-focused customers.’