For the first time in the history of Sports Marketing we are confronted with a massive rush of brands and partners to the same, narrow core of sports properties. We are, of course, talking about the massive number of sponsors that are pouring into the Formula 1 segment, powerfully reshaping the scenario.

What has happened in recent months is actually a very common phenomenon in modernity but one that we have rarely seen applied to marketing tools as specific as sponsorship in the top four-wheel series: the Fear Of Missing Out, often known by its acronym FOMO.

FOMO: genesis and development of a modern phenomenon

FOMO began to be theorized at the end of the last millennium in a 1996 study by Dan Herman and was later popularized by a 2004 paper by Patrick McGinnis that appeared in Harbus, the magazine of Harvard Business School. McGinnis theorizes that the tendency to idealize and then emulate the positive experience of others (what Anglo-Saxons summarize by the phrase Keeping up with the Joneses) is made even more extreme by the proliferation of new technologies, which expose the individual to an increasing number of others’ stories and images.

The insights of first Herman and then McGinnis prove to be spot on, and the phenomenon explodes into the mainstream. Social media, as well as major information and entertainment platforms constantly confront us with trends, fads, and major cult objects that create an important dichotomy between those who have had that experience and those who, irretrievably, have been left out. Whether it is the television series that everyone has watched, the TV show that no one has missed, or the wildly popular thread on social media, there are multiple occasions when-every day-individuals-especially the young and very young-suffer from the fear of being left out of the thing that everyone is talking about and can’t help but know about.

Disney, Formula 1 sponsorships and the new golden age

It is today, May 20, 2025, news that the Disney Group will be a partner of the Formula 1 World Championship from the 2026 season through the Mickey & friends brand.

“In recent years,”reads the official statement issued by the parties,“Formula 1 has experienced tremendous growth among younger fans, and data show that more than four million children between the ages of 8 and 12 are actively following the circus in Europe and the United States, while 54 percent of followers on TikTok and 40 percent on Instagram are under the age of 25. The new relationship is strengthened by the two brands’ common affinity for creativity, entertainment and innovation, and for bringing fans together around the world through unforgettable, one-of-a-kind experiences.”

It is yet another mega-deal that the planet’s top 4-wheel league seals in recent months and will contain, rumors say, both a licensing deal and a substantial marketing and media rights package.

The U.S. multinational joins a portfolio of sponsors that has grown impressively in recent months and now sees the likes of LVMH, Barilla, Lego, Nestlé, and McDonaldsjoin an already astounding group that includes Aramco, Heineken, Salesforce, Lenovo, DHL, and Qatar Airways, among others.

Entering its seventy-fifth year, Formula 1 is far more than a sports championship. Under the leadership of Liberty Media the Circus’ revenue has reached the extraordinary annual figure of US$3.65 Billion. Growing in triple digits in this number is precisely the sponsorship compound, which has seen a 134 percent increase since the American group completed its acquisition of the series.

The championship -as well as having lengthened its calendar and being ready to host brand new and highly spectacular circuits in the wake of the successful entry of Las Vegas and Miami- also awaits the entry of other major automotive names, Ford, Audi and Cadillac, with the latter set to be the 11th team on the grid as early as next season.

It is a new golden age for one of the most popular sports on the globe-the cumulative viewership for 2024 is north of 1.6 BILLION viewers-and one of the most powerful marketing platforms of modernity.

FOMO sponsorship and the brands that can’t not be there

It is precisely this climate of bombastic growth that is fueling what for all intents and purposes seems to be a Sponsorship FOMO, that is, a fear of being left out of the orbit of this extraordinary marketing supernova that has been sweeping across planet earth in recent years.

For the global business Gotha, you simply cannot not be there.

Not only the partners of the Championship, but also those of the Teams, Circuits and the entire paddock are increasing at an increasing rate, to the point that some merchandise sectors are completely “unavailable.” If Real Estate is what it is all about, for some industries we are close to saturation point-at least until teams and organizers decide to further fragment some categories to circumvent the principle of merchandise exclusivity.

This trend likely tells us a few things about the state of the art of sponsorship in Formula 1.

First, and as has been discussed on these pages, the goal of awareness has long since lost center stage. Brands such as Vuitton, Disney, Nestle, and Lego certainly are not in the sport to increase an already stellar popularity. On the contrary, they are probably here precisely to recalibrate and better target their influence and area of interest, focusing on luxury, technology, and a high-spending, energetic audience.

Second, this golden age and apparent FOMO of businesses tells us that increasingly important is what goes on behind the scenes, in that all-important B2B fabric that has always been racing’s most fertile ground. The paddock, and perhaps even more so the super hospitality of the paddock club, are unmissable business venues in which to shake hands, seal deals, and meet the “who’s who” of the most prestigious business rounds. The impressive increase in prices of the most prestigious hospitality solutions, clearly aimed more at a corporate audience than at the admittedly affluent enthusiast, must also be read in this light.

Finally, and both LEGO and Vuitton have amply demonstrated this lately, Formula 1 has become a ground-breaking field for what concerns creative activation, experiential marketing, and exceptional PR. These are themes that cannot but be on the agenda of any brand aiming to be top of mind.

And then, precisely, there is the FOMO, the bandwagon effect, that voice in the hallways that says that to be au courant of world business one has to be there, whatever it takes. And that, too, is a fact to be reckoned with today.

Sponsoring to stay

In a fast-paced, granular modernity driven by great vectors of passion traveling on the lines of communication and entertainment all products compete for the same assets: attention share, overcoming consumer cognitive defenses, and access to the great sort of popular culture and consciousness within which we all live.

It is in this great race that the most recent developments in marketing first and sports sponsorship later must also be placed. In this view, to sponsor means to position oneself, to stay, not to be left out, to participate, to be present.

Today’s Formula 1, a discipline that is experiencing a rise in popularity that is extraordinary and far greater than that of other world sports, is proving that if marketing platforms are able to return to brands the values and reward mechanism that they seek, stories of extraordinary success can be created.

Celebrating crowds, billions of viewers in front of the television, technology, celebrities, adrenaline and creativity are a cocktail that no company wants to be excluded from because missing the train today means being left out of a conversation that is too important to be left out of the room.

What is happening today is a decisive paradigm shift for the discipline. What we are experiencing, a moment that will define the rules of the game for years to come. It would be a real shame, precisely, to stay out of it.