Formula 1 team Red Bull Racing is in advanced negotiations with international financial services company JP Morgan Chase about a sponsorship agreement, SportBusiness can reveal.
The American financial services firm is understood to be close to agreeing a deal that would focus on its global investment banking arm, JP Morgan, and a January 2024 announcement is planned if the two parties can come to an agreement.
The proposed deal would expand JP Morgan Chase’s F1 involvement. The JP Morgan brand is already a Founding Partner of the Miami Grand Prix in a contract which began in 2022, while its Sapphire credit card brand is listed as an Event Supporter for the race.
The US multinational houses a number of separate businesses that are active in areas such as credit cards, mortgages and auto financing, as well as retail and investment banking,
The focus on the JP Morgan investment arm in any potential deal would be a departure from much of parent company JP Morgan Chase’s sponsorship activity, which often places an emphasis on the Chase master brand, particularly in US Sport. Cases in point are the brand’s naming-rights agreement with the Golden State Warrior’s Chase Center arena in Mission Bay, San Francisco, and an agreement with the New York Knicks and New York Rangers which sees it sponsor a lounge and preferred seating area in the city’s iconic Madison Square Garden arena.
The exceptions are the Miami F1 Grand Prix deal and the company’s long-standing sponsorship agreement with the US Open tennis Grand Slam, where the internationally recognised investment banking arm JP Morgan appears on the backwall at the tournament’s Arthur Ashe Stadium in recognition of the event’s global broadcast reach.
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SportBusiness understands that the multinational’s credit card brand Sapphire had previously held discussions regarding a sponsorship agreement with the Alpine F1 team.
This was curtailed by negotiations with Red Bull Racing due to the latter’s policy of only signing sponsorship agreements with brands that do not sponsor other F1 teams.
The proposed deal could pose an exclusivity issue in Red Bull Racing’s financial services category, as it already has a deal with mobile payment services platform Cash App. SportBusiness understands that a possible outcome is that Cash App’s sponsorship will transfer to Red Bull Racing’s sister team, Scuderia AlphaTauri.
The team has enjoyed another year of success on the track having won the F1 Constructors Championship for the second consecutive year. Lead driver Max Verstappen has also claimed the Drivers’ World Championship for a second consecutive season.
The team’s recent commercial activity has included an extension to it long-running sponsorship contract with Tag Heuer. During 2023, the team also signed new sponsorship deals with brands including Bacardi, Heineken and Rokt.
SportBusiness approached Red Bull Racing for comment.
Sister title SportBusiness Sponsorship has published the 2023 edition of its Motorsport Data Snapshot. The data report provides detailed central sponsorship income and valuations for Formula 1, MotoGP and Formula E. An analysis of the F1 team sponsorship landscape will be published tomorrow.