Yamaha’s factory MotoGP team is facing a decisive moment in preparation for next season, all because their main sponsor, Movistar, is about to withdraw from MotoGP due to falling revenues in the Spanish telecommunication company.
Movistar also has the exclusive rights to transmit the MotoGP races in Spain, and for that exclusive, they’ve payed Dorna a lot of money, money they’re not getting back with the number of viewers falling every year in respect to the year before.
The deal between Movistar and Dorna is about to end with the end of the 2018 season, and they don’t want to negotiate a new deal, especially with when Dorna continues to demand so much money for the exclusive rights.
So, it seems Movistar are taking the opportunity to move away from MotoGP, and that will leave Yamaha in a difficult position, without a main sponsor, something the team led by Lin Jarvis knows too well, since in 2011, 2012 and 2013 they also raced without a big sponsor showing in the fairings of their Yamaha M1 machine.
For Yamaha this is a problem, but nonetheless it isn’t a big problem.
The Iwata brand is already working on securing a new sponsor, and that sponsor can be Monster Energy.
With KTM (Red Bull) getting a deal with Tech3 team, Monster Energy will in fact lose exposure in MotoGP. There was a moment before Jorge Lorenzo signed with Repsol Honda that the energy drink giant was almost certain to sponsor the deal between Lorenzo and Suzuki, in what would be a monster deal, but in the end Lorenzo opted to go to Honda, and Monster Energy is still looking for a team to wear its logos.
And that team might well be the Yamaha factory.
The money Monster Energy has is more than enough to secure a deal with Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi team, and by joining forces with one of the best teams in MotoGP, Monster Energy would regain exposure and, best of all, Viñales and Rossi would be carrying their logos during their fights for podium positions, and that’s something Monster Energy really wants.
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Good article. I agree very much with the observation and assessment. New sponsor with a great team !