Why Sponsors Sometimes Prefer Motorsport Behind a Paywall
Alan Gardner of OMG Racing provides insight during a podcast appearance
In his recent appearance on the Chasin’ the Racin’ podcast, Alan Gardner, team principal of OMG Racing, delivered more than just insight into the team's dramatic withdrawal from this year’s British Superbike Championship (BSB) and their shelved Isle of Man TT campaign due to a last minute withdrawal from a sponsor. He offered a rare and unfiltered look at the commercial reality powering, or, in some cases, paralyzing, modern motorsport.
The conversation, at times raw and deeply personal, touched on Gardner’s own past and journey to becoming one of the sport’s most high-profile team owners. But it was his candid take on sponsorship and broadcasting that deserves the wider attention of anyone trying to understand the commercial mechanics of professional sport in the streaming age.
While fans were still reeling from the BSB’s move behind a paywall on TNT Sports, a decision that sparked not just disappointment but outright anger, Gardner laid out a hard truth: free-to-air might feel like a moral imperative, but in many cases, it’s a commercial mirage.
“[I’d love] it to be free for anybody to want to watch the telly. I'd love it to be free for people to come in but that's not economically viable for the circuits … from a sponsor's point of view it's a really difficult thing”
It was what he said next that should have every sports executive, marketing professional, and even casual fan paying close attention.
“So, does a sponsor want a customer who expects everything for free? Or do they want a customer who’s willing to pay £350 a year just to watch the sport??
“From a sponsor’s point of view, I don’t particularly like that model, and that’s what I’m saying here. But I can look at it objectively, and I do accept, in fact, I actually agree with, the business model.
“Because, for a sponsor … whether it’s Samsung, Airwaves, or Tenner for Men,’ if they’re going to throw serious money in, they want to know that the people watching have a certain level of disposable income. If you’re spending £30 a month to follow the sport, that tells them you probably do. They see that as a signal: you’ve got more disposable income.”
As I have written before regarding the myth of Free-To-Air TV being the route to success, this cuts straight to the heart of a widespread misconception about value in media. There’s a persistent myth that making something freely available increases its reach and thus, its value to sponsors. But unless those free viewers number in the tens of millions, a scale rarely seen outside of global events like the World Cup or the Olympics, advertisers aren’t necessarily going to bite.
This is not just a motorsport issue- it’s a truth that stretches across the entire spectrum of modern media. In a world flooded with free content, true commercial value now lies in scarcity, loyalty, and commitment. And Gardner’s point mirrors a well-worn axiom in business: one customer who buys ten times is more valuable than ten customers who buy once. In other words, volume alone doesn’t sustain an ecosystem; sustained engagement does.
In that context, the BSB's move to a subscription-based platform begins to make a different kind of sense. It’s not just about short-term revenue, it’s about signaling quality and value, not just to viewers, but to the brands who keep the sport alive. For that to happen you need to interact with people who are in the spending mood
But that’s cold comfort for fans priced out of the sport they love. This is where the tension lies. Passion for motorsport runs deep, but it's often matched by fragility, fragile margins, fragile sponsorships, fragile loyalty in a world with more options than ever.
In OMG Racing’s case, a last-minute reprieve came in the form of Nitrous Competitions, whose sponsorship allowed the team to field reigning BSB champion Kyle Ryde after all. But one sponsor stepping in doesn’t fix the structural imbalance.
What Gardner’s podcast appearance revealed is not just the inside story of a team in crisis, but a cautionary tale for the wider motorsport community. The paywall may be unpopular, but it could also be the only thing keeping the lights on.
Free-to-air may feel righteous, but behind the scenes, the ledger tells another story. And until fans, sponsors, and organizers can find common ground, expect the battle between access and sustainability to rage on.