PARIS — All lights are green between LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Formula 1.
The French luxury group on Wednesday revealed that it has signed on as global luxury partner of the motorsports championship for the next 10 years, starting with the 2025 season that begins next March with the Melbourne Grand Prix.
While LVMH did not disclose the financial terms of the decade-long deal, sources with knowledge of the matter said the figure came in at under $100 million a year.
The news caps off months of speculation surrounding the end of Rolex’s role as global partner and official timepiece, which it held since 2013. It comes as luxury brands deepen their connections with Formula 1, which has seen a surge in popularity among younger viewers, fueled by the Netflix series “Drive to Survive.”
In the joint statement revealing the partnership, Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Group, said its houses and Formula 1 shared “the people, the quest for excellence and the passion for innovation.”
“In motorsport as in fashion, watchmaking or wines and spirits, every detail counts on the path to success,” he continued. “Both in our workshops and on circuits around the world, it is this incessant search to break boundaries that inspires our vision, and this is the meaning that we want to bring to this great and unique partnership between the Formula 1 and our group.”
Greg Maffei, president and CEO of Liberty Media, which owns Formula 1, expressed great satisfaction at linking up “two global brands that consistently push the boundaries of creativity and innovation.”
“The opportunity to scale our commercial arrangements is emblematic of the vision we have for Formula 1 as the business continues to grow its platform,” he added.
Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of the Formula 1 franchise, characterized the deal as a landmark partnership for both companies.
“As Formula 1 continues its global growth, attracting new and more diverse audiences, the strength and breadth of LVMH makes it the perfect partner for us to work with as we look to continually enhance the experience of our fans and the heritage of our incredible sport,” he declared.
Billed as the most prestigious motor racing competition, Formula 1 drew 6 million race attendees and a cumulative TV audience of 1.5 billion last year across 24 races. The average audience per race is around 70 million, but some may top the 100 million mark, while the social media tally of the competition has passed 60 million fans across all its platforms.
“In recent years, Formula 1 has truly become one of the most desirable sports in the world. It’s a vibrant discipline that echoes a number of values that are very important to us, such as innovation, team spirit and performance,” said Frédéric Arnault, CEO of LVMH Watches.
The watchmaking executive told WWD that the partnership was rooted in the shared history and partnerships between the motor sport and LVMH houses.
“Ten years sounds like an extremely long period but in Formula 1, it is quite usual,” he continued. “We are thinking long term with our brands and are convinced that this kind of association can be done over time.”
While details are still under wraps, several LVMH houses will play roles throughout the racing weekends around the world: Louis Vuitton, Tag Heuer and Moët & Chandon, the group said.
LVMH and its houses will also play a role in the 75th anniversary of Formula 1 in February. Other brands within the luxury conglomerate’s Moët Hennessy wine and spirits division could also take part in selected race weekends.
The group’s new partnership with Formula 1 is not expected to affect other deals, such as Tag Heuer’s with the Oracle Red Bull Racing team or Lewis Hamilton’s Dior ambassadorship.
For Tag Heuer, it’s a return to familiar track. The Swiss watchmaker previously served as the official Formula 1 timekeeper from 1992 to 2003.
Over the decades, it has partnered with prominent racing teams Scuderai Ferrarai, McLaren and, most recently, Oracle Red Bull Racing. Tag Heuer linked with the team in 2016 and extended the contract for a “significant” amount of time in 2023, though terms were not disclosed.
Bernard Arnault, Stefano Domenicali, Greg Maffei, Bernard Arnault and Frédéric Arnault.
It is also an ongoing sponsor of the Grand Prix de Monaco and its vintage-car counterpart since 2011.
One of the most enduring images of Formula 1 is the podium at the end of each race, where drivers often douse each other in Champagne. It’s a tradition familiar to Champagne house Moët & Chandon, which has been associated with the championship from its first year.
The tradition of awarding a bottle of bubbly to the victor began in July 1950, when Juan Manuel Fangio received a bottle of Moët & Chadon after winning the French leg of the championship, then held on a circuit through the wine-producing region.
For the past four years, the winner of the Grand Prix de Monaco received the trophy in a custom Louis Vuitton trunk, a new chapter in the French brand’s long history with sports. It has partnered with major sporting events including the FIFA and Rugby World Cups, the Australian Open tennis tournament and most recently, the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In recent years, the environmental impact of automobile sports, particularly Formula 1 given the type of vehicles and extensive traveling it entails, has been closely examined. It’s a topic that LVMH has also carefully weighed up.
“In all our partnerships and particularly broad-reaching ones like these, sustainability is among the key topics that we look into, so we asked Formula 1 to explain their roadmap to their objective of carbon neutrality by 2030,” said the younger Arnault.
He noted Formula 1’s potential for innovation, particularly in terms of research and development of new sustainable fuels. “It can be a motor for innovation that will serve the entire [automotive] industry and beyond,” he said.
LVMH’s partnership with Formula 1 follows its sponsorship of the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, where it won gold in terms of media and brand recognition by several measures.
The French luxury giant had the highest social media value and visibility, due to its overall media visibility as a premium partner and official sponsor of the games, according to media analytics firm Commetric.
The group drew attention with a multipronged approach that included Chaumet creating the medals; Louis Vuitton designing the medal trays and Olympic torch cases; Dior dressing opening ceremony performers Lady Gaga, Celine Dion and others; Berluti designing the French team’s outfits; Sephora sponsoring the torch relay, and Moët opening a pop-up eatery.
Commetric analysts credited this bump to LVMH expanding its appeal by going against the grain of luxury’s built-in exclusivity with involvement in an event that has more mass appeal.
The conglomerate’s sponsorship of the Olympics was estimated to have cost around 150 million euros. That spend dented the group’s profits in the first half, in the latest round of results released in July.
The group’s net profit fell 14 percent to 7.27 billion euros in the first six months of 2024, hit by a slowdown in spending in China. The group’s revenues fell 1 percent year-on-year in the second quarter to 20.98 billion euros.
LVMH has increasingly strengthened its ties with the sports world, having signed several elite athletes, including basketball player Victor Wembanyama and tennis player Carlos Alcaraz as brand ambassadors, featuring them in ad campaigns and seating them front row at fashion shows.
— With contributions from Rhonda Richford
