British American Tobacco, believed be on the brink of a massive
Formula 1 sponsorship deal, has axed its biggest existing sports
commitment.
BAT will not be renewing its Lucky Strike brand sponsorship of Suzuki in
the 500cc Motorcycle World Championships, which has been running for 12
years and is worth around pounds 20m a year.
The directive has come from Tom Moser, BAT’s director of global
sponsorships.
He said: ’This was a difficult decision but it reflects a change in our
global priorities for Lucky Strike.’
Moser is instead keen to throw BAT’s pounds 100m-a-year sponsorship
muscle behind the increasingly high-profile Formula 1 circuit.
However, the company’s initial plan to buy the Minardi Formula 1 team in
its entirety (Marketing, August 21) has run into serious obstacles.
BAT, which suffers from a historic lack of commitment to the sport, has
faced opposition from other members of the Formula 1 Concorde Agreement
and hit problems striking an engine deal.
Senior sponsorship sources also believe BAT is concerned that purchasing
Minardi would not bring Lucky Strike the kudos enjoyed by rivals
Marlboro (Ferrari) and Rothmans (Williams).
Consequently, BAT is thought to be in talks with the third major F1
team, Benetton, about title sponsorship. Such a move would be an interim
solution, although Benetton would have to ditch its current sponsor -
Japanese Tobacco’s Mild Seven brand - whose contract runs until 1998
with an extension option.
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