The Concorde agreement is a contract between the International Automobile Federation (FIA), the Formula 1 teams and the Formula 1 group, which imposes the conditions under which the teams participate in the races and the sharing of television revenues and price. There were indeed eight separate agreements, all top secret: the first in 1981, the other in 1987, 1992, 1997, 1998, 2009, 2013 and the current agreement for 2021. However, the secret was broken by the famous race journalist Forrest Bond when the publication of the 120 page 1997 Concorde Agreement by RaceFax in late 2005. [1] The statement issued by the FIA as a result of these statements did not mention the strategic group, but “the prize money awarded to the Formula 1 World Championship is in line with the bilateral agreements between each team and the commercial rights holder (HRC). The FIA is not aware of these agreements. The last iteration of the contract, the Concorde Implementation Agreement, was signed in July 2013 and runs until the end of 2020. It significantly increased the FIA`s revenues, including acquiring a 1% share of the F1 group for only $458,197.34, up from $70 million at the time. The share could only be cashed when CVC sold its shares, which required the agreement of the FIA, which fuelled the allegations of conflict of interest. The terms of the contract remain largely confidential, although the known provisions required the signatory teams to show up and show up at each race, guaranteeing their right to do so in order to assure the public of the newly acquired television of the sport that they would have a race to watch. In addition, perhaps most importantly, the agreement grants ECA the right to televise Formula 1 races – this right has been “leased” to Formula 1 Promotions and Administration, a company founded and owned by Bernie Ecclestone. Another important element was the stability of the rules, which is described as protecting teams from “the whims of the governing body”.
[2] Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of the Formula 1 group, added: “I am very pleased that the agreement between the FIA and the Formula 1 group has been reached.” This agreement provides the FIA with significantly improved financial resources to fulfil its regulatory missions and reflect the FIA`s increased role in motorsport. The parties agreed on a strong and stable framework for sports governance, including the Formula 1 group, the FIA and the participating teams. The agreement lays the solid foundation for the development of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. In a statement, the FIA said that “the Concorde Implementation Agreement concluded by the Formula 1 commercial rights holder and the FIA in 2013 has established a new governance structure for Formula 1 and has redefined certain conditions of its relationship, notably to ensure that the FIA is properly compensated for its regulatory role. The agreements promote professionalism and increase the commercial success of Formula 1. The most important factor in achieving this was the requirement for teams to participate in each race, making the sport more reliable for channels that should invest heavily in acquiring television broadcasting rights. In return, a percentage of the sport`s commercial revenues were guaranteed to the teams. “Although we are not bound by the confidential agreement, we have decided to observe it,” Bond said, “but recent events concerning the dispute between the FIA/Bernie Ecclestone and the manufacturer of the Assn Grand Prix.