E1 Series appoints Iris as exclusive media partner

All-electric powerboat championship E1 Series has appointed Iris as its exclusive media partner.

Contract:

• Iris will market all media rights for an expanded 2025 series featuring up to ten races
• The two will collaborate on a strategy to expand the series’ global audience through broadcast exposure across all forms of media

Context:

With a fleet of celebrity owners including Rafael Nadal, Tom Brady and Will Smith, E1 Series has a unique access point with fans. Capitalising on this through a focused broadcast rights strategy is key, but generating media revenue will not be a main priority right now. In order to maximise exposure, the series will likely focus on free-to-air (FTA) avenues.

This strategy will be aided by significant backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns a 50 per cent stake in the series and holds the position of principal partner. Although, as shown with Extreme E’s decision to curtail its 2024 season, another series in which PIF owns significant shares, the sovereign wealth fund will not provide a bottomless pit of funds for its interests in sustainable racing.

Comment:

Rodi Basso, co-founder and chief executive of E1 Series, said: “E1 has defied expectations and broken records as a first year sports series in 2024, and we look forward to raising the bar even higher in 2025. We are confident this partnership with Iris can bring us greater and wider audiences and take us to new heights next season and beyond.”

Coming next:

Despite a three-year contract being signed to host races in Hong Kong, including this year’s season finale, there is currently no confirmation of when and where the inaugural season of E1 Series will conclude.

Go deeper:

• A celebrity’s playground: How is Saudi-backed E1 Series changing the world of water mobility?
• How E1 Series is relying on its celebrity appeal to make a global impact