By Parminio
August 6 2002

The Dow Jones Industrials average here in the United States is starting to look like a layout plan for a rollercoaster ride...with a HUGE first segment going down hill. With the Dow hitting 7720 just last week, and on the brink of going that low again, a great many American companies are up against the wall. In the last year, two of the largest companies in the world have filed bankruptcy, and two CEO's have been criminally charged. Investors all over the earth are pulling out, fearing that more "book cooking" is going on. So what does this mean for Formula 1 and other sports? It means a great many companies, especially tech based companies who have been hit the hardest, are not going to have the money to spend on sponsorship at the level that they used to. Take HSBC, the number one Jaguar sponsor for instance. They are more worried about being able to cover all of the bad dept they have outstanding than making any other plans right now. How long can they keep shelling out the money to Jag? Hewlett-Packard are in a bit of a fix as well. Since the merger, their stock has fallen by the wayside quite a bit. Vodophone has lost nearly three quarters of it's value of 2 years ago in just the last 8 months...and it's getting worse. One thing is for certain. The people who invest in these companies will want to make money. It's going to be hard to justify losing money constantly while you watch tens of millions of dollars go around the track a few laps. Certainly other companies will line up to put their name on the sides of cars, but to what limit? With Prost gone, Arrows and Minardi barely staying afloat, and the end of the worst stock market year in 6 years onhand, what will happen will be anyones guess. My guess is that all of the teams will be doing it with much less, sooner than we all think.