As the echoes of Bernie Ecclestone's comments that Formula One is not for sale reverberates in the halls of motorsports, the Telegraph in the UK is reporting that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp may be looking into taking over the pinnacle of motorsports. According to the paper, Mexican telco billionaire Carlos Slim is also getting in on the action as he currently sponsors Sauber and being one of the richest men in the world, has companies connected to at least one Formula One manufacturer.
However, the dough in the oven hasn't even warmed up yet, such is the early stages the talks are at. CVC Capital Partners, who currently hold the keys to the racing series, haven't even been involved yet in the discussions. Should the effort to take over the series outright fail to catch air, Murdoch would also be looking into purchasing the broadcast rights to the sport. This could actually generate more revenue for the sport as Murdoch could potentially provide it with a larger audience worldwide through television.
At this given point, things are still very much firmly in the 50:50 state of things, so it's impossible to garner where the saga will end up. Nonetheless, given that Slim is a huge fan of the sport and that News Corp are fond of spending big on NFL broadcasting rights, what seems unlikely could very well become highly likely in the future.
Source: Telegraph
