SEPANG: The Bahrain government will determine Formula 1 ticket prices and keep ticket sale revenue for its one-off race at Sepang, says Sepang International Circuit (SIC) chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif (pic).
He said SIC was still negotiating with Bahrain to secure more affordable ticket prices for Malay-sians, but stressed that the final decision rests with Bahrain.
“All the ticket sales revenue will go back to Bahrain, so we don’t have the absolute power to determine certain things.
“I will try my best to negotiate for a special price, maybe a MyKad price for Malaysians, but the final decision is with Bahrain because they are paying the hosting rights fee,” he told reporters here yesterday.
Azhan also clarified that while Bahrain is paying the hosting fee, SIC will share operational costs with Bahrain, including track preparation and event staging, with the shared operational cost estimated at about RM40mil, excluding the hosting rights fee.
“We are looking at a ballpark figure of about RM40mil to be shared between SIC and Bahrain,” he said, adding that the expenditure must be viewed alongside the wider economic returns from hosting Formula 1.
“We have to look at the spillover effect.
“From reports of countries that host Formula 1, they can get more than three times the value,” he said, adding that Malaysia has the potential to gain more than RM1bil in economic impact when viewed from the perspective of the entire hosting fee that any host country has to pay.
Azhan also expects the race to generate significantly greater economic benefits than when Malaysia previously hosted Formula 1, citing the sport’s rapid growth under Liberty Media.
“In the past, we had to work hard to sell tickets. Today, Formula 1 has built a huge global fan base.
“Since the announcement, we’ve received enquiries on sponsorships, festivals and commercial activities.”
However, Azhan stressed that SIC remains focused on successfully delivering the one-off event before considering any long-term return of Formula 1 to Malaysia.
“If we gain the confidence of all stakeholders and produce something special, then perhaps we can look at the future.”
He said Formula 1 representatives had conducted an initial inspection of the Sepang circuit and found no major issues preventing it from hosting the race.
