Formula 1 hits $2.54B sponsorship

Formula 1 has turned itself into a sponsorship machine. That’s the real story here. In 2025, the 10 teams on the grid pulled in $2.54 billion from sponsors, enough to put F1 second among global sports properties, just behind the NFL. The surprise is not that F1 is growing — everyone could see that coming. It’s how fast the money has arrived, and how much of it is being driven by the United States. (sponsorunited.com) ### What actually hit $2.54 billion? That number is team sponsorship revenue, not total Formula 1 revenue. Basically, it is the combined value of commercial deals attached to the teams themselves — title partners, sleeve logos, tech partners, hospitality packages, all of it. SponsorUnited’s new 2025-26 report says that total reached $2.54 billion in 2025, up 22.1% from the year before. (sponsorunited.com) ### Why is that such a big deal? Because F1 is now sitting in territory usually reserved for giant U.S. leagues. The NFL still leads at $2.66 billion, but F1 is now much closer than it was a year earlier. The Premier League trails at $2.02 billion. In other words, a sport that used to look niche in America is now competing with the biggest sponsorship ecosystems on earth. (sponsorunited.com) ### Where did the growth come from? A lot of it came from sheer deal volume. SponsorUnited counted 382 deals across 358 brands in 2025, with F1 adding roughly $460 million in sponsorship in a single season. That is a huge one-year jump for any sports property, but especially for one that already started from a very large base. (sponsorunited.com) ### Why does the U.S. matter so much? Because America has become the commercial center of gravity for F1, even if the sport is still more culturally European. James Vowles said 83% of the commercial partners backing the 11 teams on the current grid are U.S.-based. That tells you what bra(sponsorunited.com)dience with growing U.S. relevance. (the-race.com) ### So has F1 already “made it” in America? Commercially, mostly yes. Culturally, not quite. McLaren chief executive Zak Brown said on May 1 in Miami that the next big push has to be television viewership in the United States. That’s the catch. Sponsors have rushed in faster than mass-audience TV numbers have followed. (straitstimes.com) ### Why are TV ratings the missing piece? Because sponsorship inflation eventually needs proof that lots more people are actually watching. F1 has three U.S. races, Netflix momentum from *Drive to Survive*, and a bigger entertainment footprint than it had five (straitstimes.com)d of audience scale. (straitstimes.com) ### Is this just a one-year spike? Probably not — though the pace may cool. One recent forecast has F1 sponsorship moving past $3 billion in 2026. That looks plausible when you stack the current ingredients together: U.S. brand demand, more commercial inventory(straitstimes.com)r. The next gains look harder and more dependent on audience depth. (msn.com) ### What’s the bottom line? F1 is no longer selling itself as a racing series with some sponsor logos attached. It is selling itself as a global luxury-media platform that happens to race cars on Sundays. The money says brands already buy that pitch. Now the sport has to make sure viewers do too.