WhatsApp enters sports in deal with F1 team Mercedes. Channels feature to offer exclusive content
WhatsApp has chosen the Mercedes Formula One team for its first entry into sports sponsorship
LAS VEGAS — WhatsApp has chosen the Mercedes Formula One team for its first sports sponsorship, a multi-year agreement that will give followers of the eight-time world champion exclusive team content and in-race updates through the Meta-owned private messaging service.
The deal announced Friday is the first of its kind for WhatsApp, which connects over two billion people globally and is heavily used outside of the United States. While Americans tend to use iMessage through their Apple phones, WhatsApp is utilized most everywhere else and had become the main tool of communication for the Mercedes team.
Team principal Toto Wolff told The Associated Press it is not unheard of for him to receive messages in WhatsApp group chats from Mercedes board members questioning strategy during races.
“I'm trying to turn the phone upside down so I'm not seeing the board members texting me, ‘What the hell is the strategy department thinking?’” Wolff told AP. “It's quite fun. Sometimes.”
The partnership will highlight the new WhatsApp Channels broadcast feature, which Mercedes began using in September. The team has amassed 656,000 followers ahead of Saturday night's Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“We’ve been amazed at how the Mercedes team relies on WhatsApp to keep the organization running," said Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp. «I’m proud we’ll work together to reveal how WhatsApp brings their team together and fans closer to the action.”
The broadcast feature enables Mercedes to share behind-the-scenes experiences and insights, in-race updates and content that highlights drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell that cannot be found elsewhere.
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