Formula 1 hit by $200m loss of revenue

Liberty Media

Formula 1 hit by $200m loss of revenue

The initial cost of the coronavirus pandemic is revealed

Sam Hall

Thursday 7 May 2020 15:55 Updated: 18:48

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Liberty Media have revealed that Formula 1 lost over $200 million of revenue in the first financial quarter of 2020.

The period, which ran from the start of 2020 to the end of March should have seen Formula 1 complete the Australian and Bahrain Grands Prix, but the Covid-19 pandemic saw both events cancelled or postponed.

Greg Maffei, Liberty Media President & CEO, said, “We are operating in unprecedented times, impacting the Liberty portfolio across the globe. Our companies in the live event space have been working with players, teams, bands, fans and government authorities to operate during social distancing and safely provide unique and engaging experiences. We thank our employees and partners for their dedication, flexibility and leadership.

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“We were pleased to complete the reattribution between Formula One Group and Liberty SiriusXM Group in April. Liberty SiriusXM now includes Live Nation, a complementary business and an established leader in the entertainment space. SiriusXM posted solid first quarter results and the business is proving resilient. Formula One Group has a strengthened balance sheet which will enable us to enhance the F1 business and be opportunistic.”

In 2019, Formula 1 enjoyed a revenue stream of $246m in Q1 of 2020, but for the same period in 2020, this dropped to just $39m.

Operating losses are also up by a staggering 191% from a loss of $47m to $137m. This comes before the advance payments to struggling teams were made so the Q2 report could reveal the real figure to be much higher.

Figures shown do not account for personnel who were placed on furlough as this decision was made on April 3, several days after the close of the quarter. As such, further cancellations and postponements of eight grands prix events have no affect on these figures, the damage from those losses set to appear in the Q2 reports at the end of June.

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