F1 commercial boss lays out plan and priorities

Formula 1's new commercial boss Sean Bratches has laid out a plan covering key areas which require immediate attention as the sport enters a new era.

A former ESPN executive, Bratches spoke with CNN about Formula One Group's vision and its top priorities.

"There are four real things I am going to focus on," he said.

"One is the brand – the brand is the entry-point for any company, any brand, any sport. And we are going to work to understand the brand.

"We are going to polish it, we are going to elevate it. It is going to be really central to what we do. That will allow us to enter new market places.

"It will allow us to take out of the market place what we should on the commercial side from sponsors, from rights holders, to promoters.

"The second is digital. I think there is a huge opportunity in the digital space to re-imagine the digital products that F1 has today, and to engage fans in very new ways and also to use sponsors to activate it.

"The third is creating a much more democratic approach in terms of how we approach our partners – from teams/sponsors/promoters and rights holders. There is a lot of opportunity to leverage the F1 IP to integrate it to their businesses.

"And the last one, is the race experience. Creating a better race experience that engages fans, spectators there and on television is a huge opportunity."

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Bratches echoed CEO Chase Carey's view that because of its growth stagnation, Formula 1 has under- delivered in terms of its commercial proposition.

Unquestionably it is a Super Bowl every other week and I think that is going to be an emphasis of ours," he added.

"I think where the opportunity lies is on the commercial front, which I am going to be spending most of my time on. I think that generally speaking, it has under punched its weight class to date."

The executive was asked by how much he felt it failed to deliver, but remained mum on thye subject.

"I have a point of view on that but I am not going to share that with you.

"We are going to pivot this from a very deal orientated platform to one with a long-term vision that is focused on a very cadence business strategic approach to running the business.

"There is a huge opportunity with the global brand, and where we are on the commercial side."

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