Following today’s news (Wednesday December 15) that Philip Morris International has ended its sponsorship deal with the Ferrari F1 team;

Conrad Wiacek, Head of Sport Analysis at GloblalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Philip Morris’ deal with Scuderia Ferrari was one of the largest sponsorship deals in all of sport, worth an estimated $160m per season (worth a total of $640m for the latest contract), and was an echo back to an age where tobacco sponsorship was a key sponsorship sector and a major revenue source for many sports. While tobacco sponsorship was banned in F1, Philip Morris International continued to support the team through the Mission Winnow branding.

“Sports have adapted to the new reality, but with public health and safety becoming even more prevalent and the theme of environmental social and governance (ESG) issues now likely to be forefront for rights holders across the board, the significance of this deal ending should not be underestimated. This also presents a significant challenge for Ferrari to replace their biggest sponsor in a market still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.”