Marriott International is poised to extend its long-standing sponsorship agreement with the Mercedes Formula 1 team, SportBusiness can exclusively reveal.
The hotel group has sponsored the UK-based outfit for the past 11 years and last renewed its contract in 2019 when it announced an expanded deal to promote its newly renamed Marriot Bonvoy travel rewards programme.
Under the terms of the agreement, Marriott Bonvoy became the first ever sponsor to appear on the halo of the team car, the safety device introduced to protect drivers in 2018. The Bonvoy brand was also designated the ‘Official Hotel Loyalty Program’ of the team while The Ritz-Carlton, one of Marriott’s luxury brands, served as the team’s first ever ‘Official Hotel Partner’.
SportBusiness understands this earlier deal was extended during the Covid pandemic to compensate the brand for lost activation rights.
The company has drawn on the association to provide money-can’t-buy experiences for its customers, allowing Bonvoy programme members to bid with their loyalty points to spend a night on the team’s luxury yacht during the Monaco Grand Prix, for example, or for opportunities to meet the team’s drivers and watch races from the team paddock.
Marriott Bonvoy is the loyalty programme for more than 30 hotel brands owned by Marriott International and replaced the Marriott Rewards programme in 2019.
INTERVIEW: Experiential rights drive Marriott Bonvoy sponsorships
In an interview with sister title SportBusiness Sponsorship this August, Andrew Watson, vice-president of marketing for Marriott International, described the association with the team as one of the “most successful” deals in a sports sponsorship portfolio that also includes contracts with Manchester United and the National Football League (NFL).
Watson said the F1 team had helped the hotel group to improve its brand awareness and perception with an emerging fanbase of keen travellers.
“Being able to tell and amplify the travel story through the lens of F1, where there are 24 global races across five continents, gives us new ways to connect with these sports fans and educate them on the value of Marriott Bonvoy,” he said.
The Two Circles agency is understood to have a remit to identify sponsors for the Brackley-based outfit, although it is unclear if the agency was involved in negotiations with the hotel chain.
Industry sources predicted that the departure of British driver Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari and disappointing race results might impact Mercedes F1’s commercial performance. But the team recently renewed its sponsorship agreement with UBS, which has been in place since 2011. However, as reported by SportBusiness, the extension came about after the Swiss Bank held talks with Formula 1 about taking the central banking sponsorship category eventually filled by Spain-based financial services company Santander.
In April, sponsorship deals were credited as the main driver of record turnover for Mercedes F1 of £526.5m for 2023 (€640m/$681m at the time).
Brands that joined the team’s sponsorship portfolio during 2023 included mobile technology specialist Snapdragon, vehicle lifecycle management company Solera, artificial intelligence and cloud computing firm G42, payment platform Nuvei, paints manufacturer Sherwin Williams, tool brand Einhell and cloud-based performance management company, mCloud Technologies.
Mercedes F1 declined to comment.