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The new Formula One season offers some reason for optimism. When the green lights flash for the opening race in Melbourne at the end of March, we will get our first glimpse of the new promised 鈥淪uper Bowl-style鈥� Grand Prix. If its recent history is any guide, Liberty Media, the group which now owns F1, should have the ability, experience and resources to revitalise the sport, and deliver on promises they鈥檝e made. 
John Malone鈥檚 Liberty is a vast media conglomerate, and a rival of Rupert Murdoch鈥檚 News Corp. Both, at various times, have eyed . Liberty controls big name brands such as Virgin Media and the shopping channel QVC. It is anticipated that the organisation鈥檚 media pedigree will be used to recruit younger Formula One fans, and attempt to keep a tight hold of them through improved interaction.
For an idea of how this might go, we can look at Liberty鈥檚 ownership of the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball (MLB) team in the US. The former World Series Champions were in what was described rather unromantically as a 鈥渢ax driven transaction鈥�. Since then, performance on the field has not lived up to expectations. Two years ago, attendance slumped to the , which affected revenue badly. Not good signs for Formula One you might say.
Renovation
However, many of the problems for the Braves were caused by essential renovations of their home ground, Turner Field. This had been the 1996 Centennial Olympic Stadium and was to improve the experience for fans. There was no solution that didn鈥檛 involve a significant outlay.
What Atlanta is getting is a new stadium complex 鈥� , which opens in April and involves a deal to bring in Comcast鈥檚 high-speed voice and video services. An agreement like this could have potential in F1 where both virtual reality and gambling opportunities might be developed.
For the Atlanta Braves, the prospect of this new venue bolstered confidence and led to a sharp increase in the . There is fresh optimism around results on the field too if about the good young players that Liberty has assembled.
Sun Trust Park is not just a sports stadium, and as such, it doesn鈥檛 have to rely entirely on MLB games for revenue. It includes a shopping mall which will have up to a million square feet of retail space, as well as a hotel and sponsorship involvement from other local blue chip companies including Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines. The prospect of year-round entertainment is a message for many Formula One tracks: investment in infrastructure could pay off.
MLB makeover. Turner Field in 2006. ,
Liberty are well placed to advise. Another Liberty company, Live Nation Entertainment, is a partner in Sun Trust Park, and describes itself as the largest live entertainment company in the world. Billy Joel will headline the , opening a schedule that is expected to see 40 music and comedy shows each year.
Brains and Brawn
The Liberty team has some strong leadership in place, but they haven鈥檛 played it flawlessly so far. CEO of the parent group Liberty Media Corporation is Greg Maffei, who also acts as Live Nation鈥檚 chairman. Maffei is a former Microsoft chief financial officer (CFO) and was once chairman and CFO of technology group Oracle. He described Liberty as 鈥渉appy owners鈥� of The Atlanta Braves but came in for criticism from loyal fans when he and wouldn鈥檛 give a long term commitment.
This is noteworthy because Liberty Media Corp chairman, , has a business empires. At the time of writing he has not yet visited a Formula One race.
Liberty鈥檚 Formula One Group, however, is being led by Chase Carey 鈥� a former executive vice-chairman at 21st Century Fox. He when he visited the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix and was impressed that the race managed to captivate the whole city. He drew that comparison with the Super Bowl.
But the really crucial part of the leadership team must be Ross Brawn. He was hired by Liberty to act as managing director for motor sports and called the Formula One deal an 鈥渁lmost unprecedented opportunity to work together with the teams and promoters for a better F1.鈥�
There is little that Brawn doesn鈥檛 know about Formula One having delivered no less than 20 world titles. He has worked with Williams, Benetton and Ferrari, notably with Michael Schumacher. In 2009 he won one title with his own team鈥檚 Brawn GP Formula One car . And Brawn has many educated opinions about the competitiveness of the racing and the show expected by spectators.
These were no doubt expressed during his time as a consultant to Liberty before the company purchased Formula One. Brawn also introduced Virgin Media to Formula One in 2009, a company now absorbed in to Liberty. He too knows the media ropes and the expectations of such sponsors.
Brawn鈥檚 involvement, alongside the long-term game played with the Atlanta Braves, offers every indication that Liberty has the potential to improve Formula One for all concerned 鈥� and to do so not just with an accountant鈥檚 eye, but with some understanding of the glorious romance attached to this global sport.
, Lecturer in Sport Marketing specialising in motorsport,
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