FIRST AMONG GLOBAL TRENDS

At the beginning of February, Minister of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, Azad Rahimov, and CEO of Formula-1 Group, Chase Carey, signed an agreement in Baku extending the date of the Formula-1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix until 2023.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been part of the Formula-1 tournament since 2016. This year, Baku will host the fourth round of the royal races. According to the previous agreement, it was agreed to hold the Azerbaijan Grand Prix until 2020. In 2019, the race will be held on April 28-30.

Our interviewee is the head of the Marketing and Communications Department of the Baku City Circle (BCC) Nigar Arpadarai. She will tell us about the innovations and surprises awaiting fans in Baku this year.

Let's start our conversation with the new agreement. The extension of the Grand Prix was somewhat unexpected...

As you know, the first contract covered a period of five years, until 2020 inclusive. After that date, the parties could revise the terms or terminate the agreement. We decided to revise some of the conditions and extend the contract before the expiration date. Thus, Formula-1 in Azerbaijan will be held until 2023.

Why exactly for three years?

This is a condition of our partners from Liberty Media.

What has changed since Liberty Media became the host of Formula-1?

We expect a number of innovations. New leadership plans to expand the coverage of Formula-1 and to implement a series of online projects. Currently, our main audience are people aged 25 years and older. They try to attract more young people to this sport.

This year Formula-1 will be held for the fourth time. What are the main goals of the Baku City Circle in this season?

First, we are trying to sell more tickets. Our goal is to further promote Formula-1 among fellow citizens, and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix abroad. So far, Baku hosted three stages of the tournament, two of which were acknowledged as the best in the world. We are happy to see great interest of foreign fans in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. By increasing ticket sales, we are trying to attract more tourists to the country. The management also changed its approach to a number of points. Starting from 2019, local companies can also cooperate with us. In previous years, they could not sponsor Formula-1. Now they can participate in the project through partnership agreements.

In other words, you expect the decrease in expenses of the operating company this year.

Of course. During the first years, we spent more money on PR. Now these costs will be reduced as unnecessary. Also, we have necessary infrastructure, as we do not need to change tarmac surface or install facilities and equipment. All this money is no longer needed.

Who will be the star ambassador this year?

No star ambassador this year. But concert events remain valid. Negotiations are currently underway. Upon their completion, we will know which stars will arrive to Baku.

Which countries show more interest in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in terms of ticket sales?

We observe the greatest interest in Russia, followed by the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Finland.

What has the operating company achieved during the four years?

We note a growing interest in the Grand Prix every year. When we first started the tournament in Azerbaijan, people did not have enough information about Formula-1. Today we have a much bigger fan pool. Last year, the number of fans increased by 31%. At the same time, 77% of tickets were sold to our citizens. We also gathered experience.

In recent years, we have observed a significant increase in the tourist flow to Azerbaijan. I think one of the reasons is Formula-1. Our guests often visit Azerbaijan to watch the race, and then choose Azerbaijan again to spend holiday vacation with their families. Foreigners now know our culture and history better than before. Last year we had a strong wind blowing on the day of racing, but bad weather did not prevent the audience from watching the race live. This means that Formula-1 is interesting to people.

Azerbaijan hosts many prestigious international competitions. How would you compare Formula-1 to other competitions in terms of attractiveness?

I think football leads the race in this case. Azerbaijanis love football very much. But Formula-1 is also in the top three. In recent years, our citizens follow the races in other countries too. In general, the biggest advantage of Formula-1 is propaganda. 83 million people from all over the world watched the Azerbaijan Grand Prix live. This is a very large audience. In addition, popular TV channels broadcast news and reports about the race.

The next Grand Prix is going to take place very soon. How are your preparations going?

We are right on schedule. The construction of the pit-building is over; we are working inside the building now. Concrete fencing along the motor-road continues, and starting from the next month, we'll start the construction of the stands. All the works will be completed before the start of the racing week. Since the track passes through the city centre, we cannot block roads before the start of the competition. We do works mainly in the night time so as not to disturb the citizens.

We apologize in advance to the residents of our city for the inconvenience during the racing week. Grand Prix brings great dividends to the country. Therefore, we ask you to treat temporary difficulties with understanding.

By the way, our hashtag, #AzerbaijanGrandPrix, has been ranked the first for two consecutive years on Twitter. Can you imagine how many people were writing posts and sharing information about our Grand Prix? That was an awesome feeling!