BSB: Rich Energy OMG Racing saga explained

By now, You have probably heard about Rich Energy and its turbulent high profile sponsorship dealings in Formula 1 and now in the British Superbike Championship.

You may be as exasperated like the rest of us about the constant messy way William Storey goes about terminating relationships so openly that causes at best, public humiliation and at worst, reputation damage of the poor old race team that dared to get involved.

And maybe you might think that the thirst-quenching, refreshing energy drink doesn’t even exist, maybe it’s all just a front for something more nefarious? I mean have you seen a can in a shop lately?

I’m happy to report, that’s not the case, the drink is real, it does exist!! It’s actually made by a company in Austria called Starzinger https://www.starzinger.com/en/private-labeling/flexible-contract-bottling and Starzinger offer companies like Rich Energy a white-label generic energy drink complete with their own branding, made to look and give the impression as though it’s all been made by Rich Energy themselves, It’s a good way for ambitious young brands to grow quickly without the costs of building a drinks factory.

So if you’re just as confused as everyone else as to what’s been going on here’s some recent background info…

In 2020, OMG Racing Entered into an agreement with Rich Energy, as the press release at the time said; Storey “this wide-ranging partnership will also see the team become a major platform for the brand and driver of new distribution”

So what went wrong?

Behind the scenes, In November 2020 William Storey’s company Lightning Volt Limited (Previously called Rich Energy Limited) was under threat and facing a winding up order from the court of the company, the one which entered into the agreement with OMG Racing. https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00003410921

In March 2021 the company was liquidated and it’s infamous trademark was cancelled when Lightning Volt Limited owned by William Storey was unable to save it, owing creditors an estimated £54 million pounds.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09791667/filing-history/MzMzMTgyNTc2NWFkaXF6a2N4/document?format=pdf&download=0

Earlier in March 2020, A separate company (Rich OMG Ltd) was set up by the BSB championship leaders for the purposes of the sale and distribution of the product, the drink Rich Energy.

On the face of things, it seems as though neither Rich OMG (The race team) or William Storey can lay claim to having the rights to use the intellectual property (the brand known as Rich Energy) because the trademark now belongs to the liquidators and it has now been cancelled.

So why all the confusing press releases?

Well, To give the hard working championship leaders at OMG Racing the benefit of the doubt, when they entered into the agreement it was probably done in good faith that they would have the permission to use the trademark/brand ‘Rich Energy’ for the duration of the agreement, and to their credit, they probably have structured things so that William Storey nor his now former company technically ever directly sponsored the race team, as they stated this week, the sponsorship comes from their own company which they set up (RichOMG) for the sales and distribution of the drink called Rich Energy.

So what’s all the fuss about?

Well, it’s not known exactly why William Storey decided now to issue his recent series of tweets and interviews, but much like his previous saga and involvement with F1 team HAAS, he’s not happy with the current arrangement.

The BSB championship leaders OMG have probably been caught off guard and blindsided by this recent announcement, they believe they have the rights to sell the drink and use the trademark ‘Rich Energy’ for this purpose.  As mentioned above, William Storey and his former company no longer own the trademark due to the company being in liquidation and its unclear whether RichOMG will be allowed to continue trading using the brand for much longer.

So what happens next?

Well, if both sides are sensible they will both go their own way and OMG Racing will find an exciting new sponsor for 2023 and try and put this entire affair behind them….but if both sides continue to argue so publicly, the general consensus is that things will end up in court where probably both parties will lose.

I think we both know we haven’t heard the last of this…

All information correct at time of publishing