Bernie Ecclestone has announced a new deal to boost the sport with financial services company UBS to become a global sponsorship partner of Formula One.
The agreement follows a comprehensive evaluation by UBS of worldwide sponsorship opportunities. The company decided that F1 offered the best opportunity to fulfil its desire for global reach and brand awareness.
The partnership will be formally launched at the Singapore Grand Prix at the end of September.
Oswald Gr?â??bel, UBS Group Chief Executive, said:
UBS has been searching for a global sponsorship platform that has appeal to our clients, promotes our brand globally and makes good commercial sense.
Our new partnership with one of the largest and most popular sporting organizations in the world will fulfil all these criteria, and it constitutes a key element of our newly launched branding activities. The global reach of F1 complements the many local activities we support.
Oswald Gr?â??bel
Bernie Ecclestone added: "UBS is a global company where performance, teamwork and superior execution are integral to their clients’ success. These values complement those of Formula 1 and I’m delighted to welcome UBS to Formula 1."
BasCB
23rd August 2010, 22:35
The fact UBS signs this deal means F1 has been doing a good job to present itself as a good prospect for sponsors.
After the last 2-3 years I feel not only the financial crises but also the political bickering and uncertainty that went with the end of the Mosley era made a lot of sponsors (and participants) reconsider participating.
Will this bring another era of financial institutions bringing money into F1? Surely Williams and Sauber as well as all the new teams, and the other established teams would love to get a share of that.
Electrolite
23rd August 2010, 23:48
I hope so. It’s important that F1 has teams like Williams and Sauber participating. At least for me it is anyway, I don’t know about anyone else.
Chippie
24th August 2010, 0:13
Say what you like about Bernie, he knows how to make the deals. I reckon when you look at the financial mishaps of A1 and other motor-sport ventures we should be grateful we have the best man to do the dirty work so that we can watch the sport we love.
Lee
24th August 2010, 16:01
totally agree, i know people criticise some of the things he does but if anyone else were doing his job F1 might not have made it through the last few years in such strong shape.
Nullius
25th August 2010, 13:31
Given the excruciating time UBS has had recently, I can only assume they got a fantastic deal because they aren’t exactly flush. They were fined nearly a billion dollars by the US government for helping US citizens avoid US tax, and they lost billions more in the crash of 2009. They have shed many of the rich private clients that their business depends on, and the had to suffer the indignity of having the Swiss government impose a new management structure under the leadership of the old Credit Suisse boss – CS being the big rival.
I’d have thought UBS would keep their heads down for a while, and return to profit before embarking on a tilt like this.