New F1 owners describe current NBC rights deal as a ‘popcorn fart’

Liberty Media has wasted little time in putting their mark in Formula 1. Since they bought the series in January for $8 billion, the corporation has been finding ways to maximize their investment.

From wanting more races in the United States to investing more in multimedia and social media, it seems like Liberty Media has a clear game plan. But some recent comments by Liberty Media’s CEO has left people confused.

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, CEO Greg Maffei labeled NBC’s media deal as a “popcorn fart.”

“The US is, you know, it’s a popcorn fart. It’s nothing. The opportunity is good, certainly in percentage terms, not in absolute Dollar terms. It is very low. It is with NBC, and it’s not on the main NBC, it’s on their sports channel.”

I have plenty of confusion right now about that statement. First of all, I need to know what exactly a “popcorn fart” is and it supposedly means “something which is hardly worth the effort.” It’s reported that NBC only paid $3 million for Formula 1 rights since they first bought the rights in 2013. Clearly, Liberty Media doesn’t like how NBC pays next to nothing for TV rights, but is that really NBC’s fault?

Think about this critically for a second. Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone was who negotiated the original rights deal. Bernie Ecclestone is a lot of negative things, but one thing he did was make Formula 1 a lot of money by being a great negotiator and was able to get as much money as he could in every deal. In 2013, Speed was being converted to Fox, so they were trying to get away with most motorsports. ESPN wasn’t going to bid for Formula 1, so that pretty much left NBC.

Why would NBC pay any more than they had to? Besides, NBC usually puts four races on broadcast NBC (Monaco, Canada, USA and Mexico), which is as many as Speed did on broadcast Fox. And NBC’s ratings have gone up over the years.

So why is Maffei saying all this about a current TV partner now? NBC’s rights deal ends this season and I have to assume that Maffei is trying to drum up interest and create some sort of bidding war. The reason why Sky is paying $150 million a year was because they had competition between BT Sport and beIN Sports.

Liberty Media shouldn’t expect $150 million from anyone in the United States for Formula 1 rights, but they should expect more than $3 million. Fox Sports is reportedly interested and has NASCAR, NHRA, Supercross, Formula E, IMSA and the World Endurance Championship. So Fox Sports is more than capable of adding Formula 1 to their list of racing properties.

Although not reportedly interested yet, beIN Sports can be a potential home. They have been branching out from just doing soccer and have Moto GP rights. Given they have the top motorcycle series in the world, would be logical to have the top open wheel series in the world as well.

In addition, given Liberty Media’s added importance of digital and social media, never rule out a move to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or some other similar online outlet. Facebook and Twitter have been getting into the sports TV rights game, Formula 1 may be the next logical step for them.

So, NBC is likely to face added competition this next go-round of F1 negotiations. NBC will be hoping that a rise in ratings and investment in Formula 1 has bought them some trust to continue their relationship, but Maffei’s comments seem to indicate Liberty Media is focused on the money, and that’s all that matters. So if NBC wants to secure Formula 1 rights after this year, they’ll need to offer a sweeter deal. Otherwise, it could be just about anyone grabbing Formula 1 rights next season.

[Forbes]