It’s a rumour that has been circulating the Formula 1 paddock for a few weeks now, but more evidence has come to light that suggests the worlds biggest drinks company, Coca Cola, is looking to enter the sport as a major sponsor.
The American giant has never sponsored F1 before, but it came close in 2005 when it approached Bernie Ecclestone with the idea of title sponsoring the entire series. However Ecclestone decided not to go ahead with the deal, believing title sponsorship of F1 could damage its relationship with its many other sponsors.
The company is now reportedly looking at title sponsoring a team, with many believing that team to be McLaren – who’s current title sponsor Vodafone, recently announced it’s to review its ‘global sports and events sponsorship’.
Whilst no announcement has taken place, its sponsorship division reveals that in-depth research has taken place recently into the benefits other drinks companies are gaining from their involvement. The company’s head of global sports and entertainment marketing, Emmanuel Seuge, is also involved in the research, further adding weight to any possible deals.
The worlds most well-known brand certainly has the cash to spend having made profits of £5.6 billion ($8.6bn) on revenues of £30bn ($46.5bn). It also throws money at other largescale events including the Olympics, which reportedly costs the company £64m per four-year cycle.
The news won’t be welcomed by some of it’s biggest competitiors which are involved in F1, including Red Bull who’s energy drink competes with Coca Cola’s Relentless, Lucozade, which sponsors McLaren, Monster Energy which sponsors Mercedes and Caterham’s EQ8.
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