In 1974, the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA) was founded in order to increase commercial organisation of Formula One for the benefit of the racing teams. Bernie Ecclestone became the executive of FOCA in 1978, and fought the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) for control of the commercial rights. Disputes were settled by March 1981 when the Concorde Agreement gave FOCA the right to negotiate TV contracts, shifting away from previous arrangements where TV contracts were risky and not very lucrative.
The Formula One Group comprises several subsidiary companies which control the various rights, management, and licensing operations of the Formula One World Championship. The commercial rights of Formula One are controlled by Formula One World Championship Limited (FOWC), which received the rights to Formula One for a period of 100 years from the FIA. Formula One Management (FOM) is the main operating company of the group, and controls the broadcasting, organisation and promotional rights of Formula One.
The second Concorde Agreement was agreed in 1987. The fourth Concorde Agreement, signed in 1995, granted Formula One Administration (managed by FOM) the commercial rights of F1 for a 14-year period in exchange for an annual payment from Ecclestone. The corpus details that with FOM having exclusive rights to team names like McLaren, Williams, and Tyrrell, the aforementioned teams protested by rejecting a subsequent Concorde Agreement in 1997, but a compromise was reached and a new Concorde Agreement was signed by all teams in 1998.
In 1996, SLEC Holdings was created as the holding company of the Formula One companies. In 1999, the European Commission announced it would investigate the FIA, Formula One Administration (FOA) and International Sportsworld Communicators for abusing dominant position and restricting competition. In 2000, Hellman and Friedman purchased a 37.5% share of SLEC for £625 million. In 2005, CVC Capital Partners announced it was to acquire the shares of Bambino and BayernLB in SLEC.
In 2017, Liberty Media acquired the majority of the Formula One Group for $4.4 billion. Chase Carey became the chief executive of the Group, and Ross Brawn was appointed to the newly created role of managing director, Motor Sports and technical director. In September 2020, Stefano Domenicali became the new chief executive of the Formula One Group.
The Formula One Group also owns the rights to various other companies, including Allsport Management, which manages the sale of almost all Formula One trackside advertising, and Formula Motorsport Limited, which runs various Formula One feeder series. MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group, acquired by Liberty Media in 2025, is responsible for promoting MotoGP and Superbike World Championship.