Motorsports Network And Yahoo Sports Partner To Expand Audience
Motorsports Network, the world's largest independent motorsports media outlet, and Yahoo Sports have partnered to allow both to expand their reach in the growing sports sector.
The deal between the two is a content partnership that will see Motorsports Network's stable of reporters and analysts provide key content off the main Yahoo Sports masthead under yahoosports.com/racing. The deal will see Motorsports Network branding on the dedicated section of Yahoo Sports.
By partnering with Yahoo Sports, additional exclusive opportunities for Motorsports Network including Daily Draw, the new free-to-play game in the Yahoo Sports app, that will feature Motorsport in contests connected to major races, beginning with the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, which sees race week May 2-4. Additional, the new hub on Yahoo Sports will expand to see the two co-produce new video shows in the future.
For Motorsports Network, they see the partnership of expanding their reach. Well entrenched with the endemic racing community, the growth of F1, the sizeable audience of NASCAR, the history and prominence of IndyCar, and the expanding fan base of MotoGP in the U.S. is something they see as a core reason to partner with Yahoo Sports.
'Our conversations with Yahoo Sports truly became something where we learned this is much bigger than just a content syndication deal,' said Werner Brell, CEO of Motorsport Network in the exclusive interview. 'It's truly a content partnership deal. It became clear very quickly that discussions on how can we build and grow the Motorsport fan base in the US where we come with the expertise of Yahoo that comes with a really wide reach, the capabilities of doing video content series together, the capabilities of doing events together, the capabilities of fantasy through the Daily Draw game.'
Brell also noted that, in addition to Yahoo's vertical, they could tap into Yahoo Finance, given Motorsports Network and Autosport Business, which focus on the motorsports business community.
For Yahoo Sports, the addition of Motorsports Network was the next logical step in growing their network of content partnerships, given the increased interest in motorsports in the U.S., especially on the open-wheel side, as Formula 1 has now broken into the market.
'What we want to do is bring the best racing coverage we can to as many fans as possible,' said Jon Shaw, head of Revenue and Partnerships for Yahoo Sports. 'We have millions of those on Yahoo Sports across various platforms of every month, and we think we have found the very best partner to work with. Werner and the team at Motorsports Network, they're clearly an extremely trusted authority on racing, which makes them the ideal partner for what we need to do when we fill gaps in our coverage today, I think what we want to do is build the best destination we can on either sports on our site, make it a one stop shop for fans of racing, as he mentioned, notably F1 but also IndyCar, and NASCAR. We'll probably dip into some other things, like MotoGP, Formula E… racing series we were not going to cover ourselves in-depth the same way that they can with the expertise that they have.'
Yahoo Sports and Motorsports Network have been working on the partnership for several months. Financial details were not revealed, although the sides did say they are sharing revenue from advertising and sponsorships connected to the content in the hub and any shows they co-produce.
The partnership also creates new opportunities for advertisers to connect with a passionate U.S. racing audience. Brands will have access to cross-platform media placements and sponsored franchises across both Yahoo Sports and Motorsport Network. Shaw from Yahoo Sports specifically noted they've seen strong interest from tech and financial service categories.
The partnership tees up not just ahead of the F1 Miami Grand Prix, but also the Indianapolis 500, the NASCAR All-Star race, as well as the Coca-Cola 600.
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