Jim Wright, The Commercial world of Motorsports

Jim is taking us on a great journey through the commercial world of motorsports from his humble beginnings in UK motorsports to his career in Formula 1 to Formula E now. He is one of the most creative and talented commercial guys in Motorsports I know. His thinking and approach for how to create stories and sponsorship programs works for any sports. As a “commercial guy”, I love this talk.  Anyone can sell a hot property, like the FIFA World Cup, the Team or athlete that just won a big Championship. In that space, it’s less about creativity but about managing the demand and getting top value for the client/property.  When you sell a back/mid-table team or a new franchise, you have to be a whole lot more creative and come up with new angles. Jim is a master of that.  Enjoy the lessons and give us your feedback.   Key Highlights His passion for motorsports from his teens and how he got into it step by step His knack for the commercial side of the business His Williams F1 racing days under Sir Frank Williams, incredible learning BMW and Williams F1 team deal, the learning and stories around it Hundreds of Millions of Dollars of deals but even the little deals count Learning how people treat other people Power of B2B part in sponsorship Switch to Formula E, difficult start but as usual staying focused on the end goal always works Difference in budgets between F1 and Formula E How to sell Formula E, the story book, do your home work on the client Andretti Autosport, going beyond traditional motorsports revenue The difference between selling commercial rights for a Winning team vs others (Mahindra Formula E story) How to sell sponsorships in the new world after Covid-19 Current plans to get Formula E back on the track     About A marketing professional with a proven and quantifiable track record for sponsorship sales, particularly in motorsport, Jim Wright is a sports fan with a finely honed talent for creating mutually beneficial opportunities and making partnerships happen using strategic vision techniques.   Having started his career upon completion of a Business Studies degree, Wright moved from team management and logistics in to the commercial side of motor sport working for the fledgling ATS F1 team in 1980/81 before accepting an offer from Eddie Jordan to help grow his eponymous team.   Through the acquisition of team sponsorship and trade partnerships, Jordan was able to hire race winning drivers and move his team to the forefront of international racing below Formula 1. Wright was the driving force behind this strategy and he also worked with the ebullient Irishman on driver management, starting the Eddie Jordan Management business.   After five years with Eddie Jordan, Jim was recruited by Cellnet, then Britain’s fastest growing mobile phone network to set up and manage a strategic motor sport division of their marketing department aimed at creating awareness and commercial opportunity for Cellnet as the mobile phone market emerged in the UK. Alongside this commitment, Wright developed his own agency to service other motor sport clients including drivers, championship promoters and car constructors. This business was a great success, particularly in Japan where Wright delivered the single biggest sponsorship of the booming Japanese F3000 championship with the Promise financial services company and Reynard Racing Cars.   Wright’s exploits were noticed by Frank Williams and in 1994 Jim Wright was offered an opportunity to head up sponsorship sales for the Rothmans Williams Renault F1 team, an opportunity that he could not turn down. Having landed his first deal within 10 days of joining Frank’s team, Wright quickly emerged as a real force and within 14 months of joining Williams he was asked by Frank Williams to be the Head of Marketing & Sponsorship, a position that Wright held for the next 11 years. During this term, Williams created the Senior Management Group – a core of five key executives who reported to t