SEPTEMBER 10, 2003

A commercial settlement in sight?

Our sources in Formula 1 circles say that a deal is now nearing completion between Formula One Management, the creditor banks involved in FOM's parent company SLEC, the automobile manufacturers and Formula 1 teams over a new commercial deal for the sport.

We hear that the basic deal has now been agreed and that there is a strong desire for the new arrangements to be finalized and announced as soon as possible to allow the teams to show sponsors that the sport has a stable future.

We believe that the new deal will feature a very long new Concorde Agreement, which could be as long as 20 years. This however will bring the teams a much bigger share of the revenues generated by the sport. There will be no need as a result for the GPWC which will have achieved its stated aim of getting a bigger slice of the profits from the business.