EXCLUSIVE: MoneyGram's Greg Hall Discusses Las Vegas Grand Prix And Haas Team's Game-Changing Partnership

MoneyGram's partnership with the Haas F1 Team and active involvement in the Las Vegas Grand Prix signal a new era in sponsorship and global brand expansion for the team.

With Formula 1 building such huge momentum in the United States - a ripple effect from new-media marketing and aggressive expansion from new owners Liberty Media - it was important for Haas to latch on with all of their might and ride the wave to what could be incredible success for F1's only American team. 

So when team principal-turned-Netflix star Guenther Steiner revealed that MoneyGram was to become the team's new title partner for "the 2023 season and beyond", fans and pundits alike were able to take a deep sigh of relief.

You see, the North Carolina-based team had been struggling for a long time, hanging onto the sport as a satellite team to Ferrari. But while it showed immense promise on-track and with Netflix revealing the incredible personalities buried behind closed doors, it simply didn't have the funding to utilise its talents. 

This season, for the first time in the team's history, Haas was able to reach the budget cap. And this is all down to its partnership with MoneyGram. But a partnership is more than exchanging money for eyeballs, so I was keen to discuss with Greg Hall, MoneyGram's CMO, what value each party brings to the table while exploring the relationship between the sport and the United States. 

Alex Harrington: What unique opportunities does the Las Vegas Grand Prix present for MoneyGram, considering the city's iconic status and its distinctive audience?

Greg Hall: Among many others in the sport, we see the Las Vegas Grand Prix as another major opportunity to continue to grow the sport and create new opportunities for teams, fans, brands and so on. It’s already clear that this race is like no other event on the calendar thanks to the bright lights and excitement that Vegas is so well known for globally. We certainly expect it to be one of the most visually appealing races from a television perspective, and given the millions watching from around the world, that’s an important aspect.

One beautiful thing for us, along with other sponsors, is that Vegas is such a destination market. Therefore, it provides us with a great platform to build exciting experiences for customers and race fans. We’re using this opportunity to bring to life the biggest promotion of the year for us - “Drive Your Dreams to Vegas.” Back in September, we launched a contest giving away a once-in-a-lifetime experience with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team during the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend. In fact, we are hosting that winner, Sami, a software developer from San Francisco, along with his mom, as we speak. They’re incredible people and huge F1 fans.

We also conducted a unique watch party for the Japanese Grand Prix at Topgolf in Las Vegas in late September. This was a way to promote our Drive Your Dreams promotion, as well as introduce ourselves to F1 fans in Vegas. It was a major success and now we’re looking at replicating this idea in other markets.

AH: As this is the first Las Vegas Grand Prix, what are MoneyGram's expectations from this event in terms of audience reach, brand impact, and overall success?

GH: We are so excited for the race this weekend! As with any inaugural event, there will likely be a few factors that will need to be ironed out throughout the weekend and refined for next year, but ultimately, with the level of investment in this size of a market, we’re expecting this race to be a significant addition to the global race calendar and quite the experience for all involved.

In terms of brand impact and audience reach – since entering the sport, MoneyGram has already experienced a remarkable 9-point increase in brand awareness and more than a 100% increase in earned media impressions. And we are confident that Vegas will help us continue to over-deliver on results and reach new consumers globally.

AH: The Las Vegas Grand Prix is a significant addition to the F1 calendar. How does MoneyGram view the expansion of Formula 1 into new markets like America, and what opportunities does this present for your brand?

GH: While we are a global company with much of our business performed outside of the US, we’re headquartered here in the US, and it remains a vital market for MoneyGram. Highlighted by the fact that we chose to partner with the only American team on the track (of course, that was just one of the many reasons we partnered with Haas), we believe there continues to be major upside for F1 growth in the US.

Because of that, we’re thrilled that the US now has three races on the calendar. It’s certainly warranted given the growth of the fan base here. Both Miami and Austin pull in extremely large spectator bases and the races are heavily supported by the local markets.

Again, given that the US is one of our largest markets with US-based customers sending money to loved ones around the globe, adding another race here gives MoneyGram another chance to engage with our customers and bring new customers into our platform.

AH: With sustainability becoming increasingly important in sports, how does MoneyGram align its sponsorship with the sustainability efforts and goals of Formula 1 and the Haas team?

We are extremely proud of both the sport and team’s efforts around sustainability. (As I know you know) Formula 1 as a sport has a goal to reduce the CO2 emissions generated by its operations, events, logistics and cars to Net Zero by 2030. Further, in 2022, MoneyGram Haas F1 Team achieved the FIA’s 3-star accreditation for sustainability – the best you can receive, ahead of many other teams.

We will continue to work with the team to support their efforts in any way possible. This social impact element is important to us, as MoneyGram is fortunate to be in a position where our product is social impact. Our service - which gets money home to families and friends around the world who truly rely on those funds - matters and what we do makes a difference to the world.

And like F1, we’ve been very vocal about the need to continue to be the best we can for consumers globally - and we’ve led by example. It’s estimated that on average it costs a consumer about 6% of face value to send money home - but we’re proud to say that our average remittance cost to customers today is ~2.9% and even lower in the digital space, which already meets the UN Sustainable Development target of getting costs below 3% by 2030.

In the end, we’re in a world where sport brings people together, and our service also helps people separated by borders stay connected – so we feel very connected to the sport/team in that way.

GH: Are there any collaborative projects between MoneyGram and the Haas team that leverage technology for competitive advantage on the track? How does MoneyGram's expertise in financial technology potentially benefit a high-tech sport like Formula 1?

I love this question. Thank you for asking it. I’ll start by saying that MoneyGram has been in the business of cross-border payments, or remittances, for over 80 years. Over the course of that time, we as a company have built an unmatched global payment rails system powered by our leading cross-border technology.

In recent years, MoneyGram has evolved to a global fintech with plans to offer a range of innovative financial solutions to consumers. As an example, we partner with the Stellar Development Foundation to provide and on/off ramp for digital wallets on the Stellar blockchain – enabling consumers who deal in cash to easily access the digital economy if they’re interested. We also now partner with global aid organizations to get millions of dollars into the hands of those impacted by humanitarian crises.

I bring this up, because it shows the power of our global technology and some of its use cases other than traditional remittances. While we don’t have any plans in place at the moment to integrate our technology into race team operations, that’s not to say it’s out of the question - especially for global technology like ours in a global sport like F1.

From a branding, marketing and social media perspective, we are providing a clear benefit to the team, as we help each other grow. Our goal is to bring tech to people around the world and always put our customers at the center, and we are working with the team on collaborative projects in communities around the world to do just that. As an example, in advance of the US Grand Prix this year, the team made a pitstop in Dallas - where MoneyGram is headquartered - to join us at a local high school to chat about careers in F1 with students studying STEM. As F1 continues to make strides to introduce more women to the sport, STEM programs are seeing a rise in women, and this particular program in Dallas was actually 50% female. So, creative activations like this where we can tie those kinds of things together can provide a nice boost for the team.

AH: Does MoneyGram have any plans for direct involvement or sponsorship with the drivers of the Haas team? How important is driver personality and performance in your overall marketing strategy?

GH: The drivers are featured in much of what we do with our marketing via the team and sport. Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg, along with team principal, Guenther Steiner, are the face of the team. They’re an integral part of our success, as they’re who people want to meet.

We have an exceptional relationship with both drivers and have worked closely with them from the very beginning. They work extremely well together, and they’re engaging, thoughtful and gracious hosts to our guests. This has been a tremendous asset for us as one of our main areas of focus continues to be putting our customers and fans at the center of all that we do. Fans and customers relate to them, and it’s become clear that working with them in our campaigns boosts performance.

We’ll continue to explore new ways to incorporate Kevin and Nico into our activation plans, and we look forward to working with them closely again in 2024.

AH: As Formula 1 continues to evolve in its digital and media strategies, what role does MoneyGram see itself playing in this landscape? Are there specific digital initiatives or platforms that MoneyGram is keen to explore?

GH: We are keen on exploring a whole host of opportunities as the sport evolves its digital and media strategies. MoneyGram is for everyone, and we want to be seen and known by F1 fans as the best, fastest, safest and easiest way to send money. Therefore, we will be growing our presence in places where fans engage with their passion.

---

I want to extend a huge thank you to Greg Hall and his team for accommodating this interview. During a race week, it's no secret that we're all short on time, so providing such thoughtful and detailed answers is incredibly appreciated!