A lot of the media has picked up on a report claiming that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund thought of a $20bn bid for F1, however house owners Liberty Media weren’t enthusiastic about promoting.
Reality is that till just lately Liberty had certainly been seeking to promote the game, however with the success of Drive to Survive and the resultant “increase”, the American media firm believes it has found the proverbial goose that lays golden eggs and is subsequently not so eager to promote.
Alternatively, and now we have this from an impeccable supply, the potential purchaser, Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund (PIF), which amongst different issues, owns Newcastle United soccer membership and is behind all method of initiatives together with LIV Golf, had a little bit sniff however nothing extra.
Certainly, we perceive that the highest echelons of PIF weren’t even conscious of the curiosity being proven in F1 by these decrease down the meals chain, who, apart from seeing the game as a great funding – although no figures have been talked about – believed issues may very well be improved by placing Bernie Ecclestone again on the wheel.
As it’s, Bernard Charles, who’s presently charged with hiding £400m from the UK taxman – a clearly trivial matter since it’s is not talked about as soon as within the eight episodes that comprise the just lately launched documentary on the person – has proven no real interest in returning.
Of actual curiosity nevertheless is why this story, devoid of sources far much less quotes, has appeared within the first place.
With the announcement of the launch date of season 5 of Drive to Survive showing to undergo an analogous stage of indifference to that proven by the game to Andretti, some would possibly really feel the bubble is about to burst.
Certainly, discuss of a $20bn bid for a sport that value simply $4.4bn in 2017 – and which noticed monitoring inventory leap 7% on Friday within the wake of the report – has all of the smoke and mirrors hallmarks of its former boss.
