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Formula One Racing Severs Many Tobacco Ties  

The flurry of activity comes as Formula One draws ever closer to ending its long-term relationship with tobacco companies. With regulators in Europe and elsewhere moving to close some of the last loopholes that permitted cigarette companies to sponsor auto racing, the hundreds of millions of dollars that these brands used to lavish on Formula One are dwindling.

As of next season, two tobacco brands that have long been high-profile Formula One sponsors will be out of the circuit. Mild Seven, owned by Japan Tobacco, has ended its relationship with the Renault team, while a deal between British American Tobacco’s Lucky Strike brand and the Honda team has also expired. Other cigarette brands, like West and Benson & Hedges, previously bowed out.

Tobacco brands had been willing to pay a premium for these sponsorships because Formula One was one of the last marketing options left for the industry. With that money now disappearing, some teams feared a financing crisis. Instead, analysts say, as racing executives prepare to gather next week in Monaco for a conference on the commercial side of the sport, the sponsorship market looks surprisingly healthy.

The departure of the tobacco brands may actually have helped to attract a new kind of marketer

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