It has long been said that Rolex’s association with Formula 1 is one of the greatest marketing partnerships of the 21st century.
Signed in 2013, the deal made Rolex the Global Partner and Official Timepiece of Formula 1 for a decade.
The sport has evolved beyond recognition in the past 10 years, expanding to 24 races across five continents in 2024 and developing into a series of events watched by hundreds of millions and followed, even by non-racing fans, through glossy docuseries like Drive to Survive on Netflix.
Every race weekend is an opportunity for sponsors to reach that audience through television and digital media, and at the track through on-course branding and lavish hospitality.
Formula 1 has always been a marketing vehicle that brought together glamour, money, drama, precision engineering and even beauty.
Rolex profited from aligning with all of these peerless marketing pillars in a way that no brand had previously.
As a Rolex customer or partner, the grand prix arriving in your home country was one of the highlights of the year.
From the 2025 season, that will no longer be the case. It will be TAG Heuer’s invitees that will be at the top table along with guests of several other LVMH-owned luxury brands ranging from Tiffany & Co. and Bulgari to Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy.
LVMH is rumoured to have paid $150 million per year for a ten year deal to replace Rolex as Formula 1’s apex Global Partner.
TAG Heuer is likely be the Official Timekeeper, although this has not been confirmed.
Hublot and Zenith have, so far, stayed away from Formula 1, but there could be opportunities to get involved.
It is reported that Rolex baulked at the $150 million per year price tag; thought to be three times higher than the $50 million it has been paying.
Rolex has not commented.
Finding an extra $100 million per year is highly unlikely to have been the deal-breaker for Rolex, which generated sales of over $10 billion last year (excluding Tudor and Bucherer).
The watchmaker is more likely to have concluded it can spend $150 million in a different way that aligns more closely with its values, which are centred more and more around its Perpetual Planet Initiative and support for art and creative industries.
Formula 1 may be getting cleaner and greener, but its progress towards net zero is a great deal less important — certainly in the minds of its adoring fans — as putting on an adrenaline-fuelled show of raw power.
Marketing opportunities like Formula 1 are rare, possibly unique in today’s media-saturated world, which is why I believe LVMH will be a big winner from its new global partnership.
Every race weekend will see different branding, promotional and hospitality opportunities. The Tiffany Grand Prix in Miami? Louis Vuitton Grand Prix in Las Vegas? Bulgari Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi? And, of course, the TAG Heuer Grand Prix in Monaco.
And, we can safely assume the Ferrari Trento Champagne being sprayed around from the winner’s podium every race will now be replaced by LVMH-owned Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot or Dom Pérignon.
But that does not mean Rolex is a loser from this renegotiation.
Every marketing idea has a shelf life.
Rolex and Formula 1’s partnership has grown and changed year after year, but these things start to deliver diminishing returns, not least because there can no longer be a petrol head on the planet who doesn’t have an image of Rolex’s trackside branding scorched into their retinas.
It may still be worth $50 million per year, even $149.99 million, but there comes a point where a brand has to consider what else it might do with a marketing budget like that, so LVMH made the winning bid, Rolex walked away, and we wait with interest to see what The Crown chooses to do with the money it has saved.