to top of podium on revenue per employeeOn the eve of the Monaco Grand Prix, the motor race most synonymous with excess, new research has revealed that, in contrast, Formula One's commercial rightsholder has a leaner and more productive workforce than any of the top 100 companies in the UK.
Research by F1's industry monitor Formulamoney shows that the 260 employees of the Formula One Group each generate more revenue than those at any company in the FTSE 100. The revenue generated per employee at the F1 Group is an impressive US$4.4m (£2.2m) – over half a million dollars higher than that at any FTSE 100 company.
The F1 Group’s revenue per employee is also significantly higher than that of other global sports rightsholders such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA; leading entertainment rightsholders such as Nintendo and Marvel; and any other organisation in Formula One.
According to its latest figures, the F1 Group had revenues of $1.15bn (£577.8m) in 2007. This comes from TV rights to the FIA Formula One World Championship, race hosting fees,trackside advertising and corporate hospitality operations.
Over the same period the FTSE 100 company with the highest revenue per employee was private equity firm 3i, which had 765 employees and turnover of $2.8bn (£1.4bn). This equated to $3.7m (£1.8m) of revenue generated per employee.
The F1 Group’s achievement against the UK’s top companies is all the more remarkable given that it employs fewer people than any of its FTSE counterparts. The closest is real estate company Hammerson whose 261 staff generated revenues of just $620m (£311.5m) – around half of the F1 Group’s turnover. With revenues of $1.1bn (£546.7m) Liberty International, owner of London’s Covent Garden, has similar turnover to the F1 Group, but employs around three times more staff.F1 has history to thank for its lean workforce. Its billionaire boss Bernie Ecclestone singlehandedly commercialised the sport nearly 30 years ago and personally negotiated all the sport’s key contracts. He built up a core team of staff to support this and not one is unnecessary.
“We run a very tight ship and the staff are all focussed on maintaining F1’s position as the world’s most watched annual sports event,” says Ecclestone. “I can’t imagine anyone commercialising a sport from scratch again as I did with F1.”
F1’s lean workforce puts it in pole position to weather the economic downturn. In contrast, the ten teams in the sport are set to make hundreds of staff redundant as a result of cost cutswhich are being introduced after years of extravagant spending. Staff numbers at F1 teams are comparatively high and last year’s world champion McLaren alone employs almost fourtimes more staff than the F1 Group through its team and engine divisions.About Formulamoney:Formulamoney is an annual data report on the business of F1 containing more than 200 tables which uncover every aspect of the sport’s finances from a valuation of each current team sponsorship deal to the typical budget for a Grand Prix. The publishing partner of Formulamoney is CNC (cnc-communications.com), the communications consultancy which has worked with and represented several major sponsors, all car manufacturers and eight of the ten teams which participate in F1.
REVENUE PER EMPLOYEE DATA COMPARISONCompany Revenue Employees Revenue per employeeFTSE 100 COMPANIES1 Formula One Group $1,150.0m 260 $4.4m2 3i $2,797.9m 765 $3.7m3 Legal and General $36,222.0m 10,067 $3.6m4 Enterprise Inns $1,832.8m 510 $3.6m5 Tullow Oil $1,272.0m 370 $3.4mKEY GLOBAL SPORTS RIGHTSHOLDERS1 Formula One Group $1,150.0m 260 $4.4m2 FIFA $957.0m 320 $3.0m3 International Olympic Committee $859.0m 407 $2.1m4 World Rally Championship $18.4m 11 $1.7m5 Dorna (MotoGP) $219.4m 153 $1.4mKEY ENTERTAINMENT RIGHTSHOLDERS1 Formula One Group $1,150.0m 260 $4.4m2 Nintendo $8,259.6m 3,373 $2.4m3 Marvel $485.8m 250 $1.9m4 WWE $485.7m 570 $0.9m5 Cirque du Soleil $685.6m 4,000 $0.2m
Notes:• Sources of financial data: Reuters, Dun&Bradstreet, OneSource, company filings.• All monetary figures are rounded to the nearest $100,000.• Original figures in pounds sterling and euros have been translated using the exchange rate at 31 December 2007.• All FTSE 100 data relates to 2007. Revenue for sports rightsholders is the most recent available figure. Revenue for the IOC is an average of Olympic marketing revenues over the four years from 2005-2008.
