It may only be January, but it seems likely that the most valuable sponsorship deal in luxury watchmaking this year has already been done.
Tag Heuer was confirmed as Formula One’s official timekeeper earlier this month as part of a multi-brand deal between the sport’s owner Liberty Media and Tag Heuer’s parent, LVMH Group — the €323bn French luxury conglomerate. The deal, which was first announced in October, is thought to be worth $1bn over 10 years. It also includes Tag Heuer’s sister brands Louis Vuitton and LVMH’s wines and spirits business, Moët Hennessy.
In becoming F1’s official timekeeper, Tag Heuer takes the crown that had belonged to Rolex for more than a decade. Rolex is understood to have paid in excess of $50mn for the rights last year, a figure the company has not officially confirmed.
Tag is expected to shoulder most of the cost. “You would not imagine that the Formula One organisation would agree to less investment than they were getting,” says Tag Heuer’s new chief executive Antoine Pin, who joined the company in September and was not involved in negotiations. “It’s our biggest investment in terms of communication.”
2025 model Tag Heuer Formula 1 chronograph
The 1970 Tag Heuer Monaco chronograph
If the deal is worth more than $50mn a year, it will represent a big gamble for Tag Heuer. LVMH’s watches and jewellery division, which also includes Bvlgari, Hublot, Tiffany and Zenith, recorded revenues of €10.9bn in its last full set of results to the end of 2023, but it does not break down performance by brand. According to Morgan Stanley estimates, Tag Heuer’s revenues fell to SFr615mn ($675mn) in the same year, down from SFr729mn in 2022.
Pin is, however, expecting high returns. “It’s a super-big deal for us,” he says. “It’s not only a major opportunity, it’s a major statement: it says we’re part of the big league of brands that can afford to buy at that level and leverage such a big platform. If we don’t get incremental sales from Formula One, something is wrong.”
The so-called Billion Swiss Franc Club — an elite group of Swiss watch companies with revenues exceeding that figure — may be the group’s target for Tag Heuer, but Pin is quick to play this down. “To reach one billion [Swiss francs] is not an objective per se,” he says. “It’s a consequence. Of course, it’s a nice target, but what it stands for and what it represents is more important: namely, that Tag Heuer is a watch you can’t miss.”
LVMH’s deal comes at a time when global interest in F1 is on the up, thanks in part to the international success of Netflix’s F1 documentary Drive to Survive, which is scheduled to begin its seventh season in the spring.
According to a report last month by Nielsen Sports, the data and analytics agency, F1 is now the most followed sports series in the world. In 2024, it had a global TV audience of 1.5bn, the report said. And, since 2021, global fan numbers have risen by 5.7 per cent to 750mn, an increase of some 50mn. Nielsen also found that one in three fans is now under 35 years old and that 41 per cent of all fans are women.
As a consequence, brands are in a race to claim high-profile sponsorships. The average size of F1’s top 10 sponsorship deals has risen 64 per cent from $23mn in 2019 to $38mn for the 2025 season, according to Nielsen. And the average value of team sponsorship deals has more than doubled over the same period, too.
“Formula One has done a tremendous job of building its profile and driving revenues over the last five years,” says Andy Milnes, head of Nielsen Sports for the UK and Ireland. Milnes says Tag Heuer’s announcement carries extra weight. “The deal to become F1’s official timekeeper is made that much bigger as it replaces a direct rival in Rolex — perhaps one of the most prestigious brands in the world.”
Formula One is fertile ground for Tag Heuer. Is was the first Swiss watch company to enter the sport in the late 1960s and has been associated with it ever since. In recent years, it has sponsored F1’s Oracle Red Bull Racing team, worked with reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen, and been official watch partner of the Monaco Grand Prix — the most prestigious stop on what is now a 24-race calendar. Pin says these partnerships will remain in place.
If there is a downside say analysts, it is that the deal was not done sooner. “It’s a smart move by Tag Heuer and LVMH,” says Edoardo Martorelli, executive director of Drive Sports Marketing, which works across F1 and calculates there are around 300 brands involved in F1 sponsorship. “But it would have been even better if they’d signed it three or four years ago, when the sport’s value was 30-40 per cent lower than it is today.”
What exactly will F1 do for Tag Heuer? In 2013, when Rolex made what was seen as a surprise entry to F1, analysts suggested it was a defensive move against the rise of Omega after its successful sponsorship of the London Olympics of 2012 prompted a surge in interest for its products. But the gap between the two companies has since stretched out again, with Rolex’s revenues estimated by Morgan Stanley to be almost four times those of its nearest watchmaking rival.
“Rolex locked in the Formula One deal to avoid getting trapped and to ensure it remained as the leader in the category,” says David Sadigh, chief executive of Geneva-based digital marketing agency Digital Luxury Group (DLG). “The $100mn question is whether this deal will do something similar for Tag Heuer.”
Sadigh says F1 offers luxury brands a unique opportunity. “The only platform that can compete with Formula One in terms of reach and emotion is the Olympics, but it’s only once every four years,” he points out. “Soccer is quite interesting in some countries, but the demographics are not the same.”
LVMH is already in football — Hublot sponsors the Fifa World Cup and England’s Premier League. It was also reported to have paid €150mn to be the premium sponsor of last year’s Paris Olympics. And its Tiffany jewellery business produces trophies for the NFL’s flagship Super Bowl event.
Sadigh points to social media reach, too, noting that F1 has three ecosystems working in tandem: the sport; the teams; and the drivers. According to DLG’s research, the 32.3mn followers F1’s official Instagram account are dwarfed by the 79.7mn who follow the 10 F1 teams and the 129mn who follow the drivers. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has 38.5mn Instagram followers, alone.
In recent years, F1 races have become catwalks for celebrities, as well — among them Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Shakira, and Tag Heuer brand ambassador Patrick Dempsey. “Everything is about mix and match, and trying to bring in celebrities who will maximise the reach on social media,” says Sadigh.
Formula One also provides a route to the critical US and Chinese watch markets, where the sport’s popularity has grown rapidly. “Tag Heuer is under-leveraged in China, where Longines is the prince to Rolex’s king,” says Sadigh. “And Tudor has been killing it in the US, which is Tag Heuer’s biggest market.
“The Formula One deal makes a lot of sense because, instead of going for the NFL or NBA, you use the weight and clout of the [LVMH] group and sign something global. This way, Tag Heuer will be visible both in very mature markets, like the US and Europe, and in emerging markets, such as Mexico. We can expect lots of traction towards Tag Heuer in the years to come.”
Martorelli agrees. “As a sponsor of an F1 team, unless you’re the principal partner, all the media value you drive is around the content you’re generating,” he says. “Tag has been missing brand exposure, but this is what it will now get.”
Will that translate to sales? This week, Tag Heuer introduced additions to its Formula 1 collection of watches, priced from £4,100. That will put it out of reach of many new-generation F1 fans. “Some won’t be able to afford Tag Heuer,” admits Pin. “But Formula One is a platform not just to expose Tag Heuer to young people, but also a very well-off clientele.”
Pin says he expects the deal to increase his brand’s visibility and desirability. In its 1990s heyday, when it worked with the McLaren F1 team and Brazilian racing legend Ayrton Senna, Tag Heuer was one of the most desirable brands in the world. “We need this,” says Pin. “You should get goosebumps when you talk about Tag Heuer.”
