Liberty Media is hopeful the financial loss Formula 1 made last year will only be a “2020 event”.
Revenue dropped from $2.022bn in 2019 to just $1.145bn as the original F1 calendar was decimated by Covid-19, giving way to a revised 17-race schedule between July and December.
Also, the absence of fans at 11 races meant promotion fees, one of the biggest sources of income, only made up 12% of total revenue, down from 30% the previous year.
As a result, the revenue pot given to teams also significantly reduced from $1.012bn in 2019 to $711m, those payments leading to the overall loss by F1 of $386m.
Responding to the figures, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei was confident about the financial outlook for the sport.
“I think one of the things about being part of the Liberty group is we have the ability to hopefully look ahead and be thoughtful with the benefit of our operating companies,” he said.
“The F1 balance sheet is very, very strong. I think the operating levels we have in our agreements are fine, and then when you look at the cash flow level, it’s quite strong.
“So I’m not really worried about the balance sheet.”
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Challenges are expected to continue into 2021, with the Chinese Grand Prix already cancelled and most early-season races expected to have limited or no attendance.
Even so, Maffei was cautiously optimistic.
“We expect a fairly normal broadcast revenue stream in light of our 23 races. Now, again, no crystal ball about exactly how Covid plays out,” he said.
“But our goal was to try and take the pain in 2020, to the degree that we rightly had to make concessions to some of our broadcasters – our goal was to, as much as possible, make that a 2020 event and bring 2021 back to normal.
“That’s our hope and expectation, but Covid could change that, as a warning.”
