Motorsport Images

What Motorsport Images does

Motorsport Images is a specialist motorsport imagery brand and curated collection within Getty Images, focused exclusively on licensing rights-cleared photography and video from professional motorsport events worldwide. The collection contains over 26 million images spanning racing history from 1895 to the present, covering all major series including Formula 1, MotoGP, Formula E, WRC, Le Mans, NASCAR, IndyCar, WEC, IMSA, and Extreme E. The archive incorporates work from renowned motorsport photographers and agencies such as Ercole Colombo, Sutton Images, LAT Images, Maggi & Maggi, and Rainer Schlegelmilch, providing editorial and creative customers with deep historical coverage alongside current race-day action.

The platform is built on Getty Images' digital image hosting and licensing infrastructure, with search and filtering capabilities that allow customers to browse, license, and subscribe to motorsport content. The technology stack includes a self-serve consumer interface, a developer-facing API for programmatic access, and integration with Getty's Media Manager enterprise digital asset management system. Recently, AI-powered features — including generative text-to-image and AI image modification tools — have been added to the platform, enabling commercially safe AI-assisted content creation and editing layered on top of the existing archive.

Commercially, the business operates a direct-to-consumer licensing model with both per-download transactional pricing and recurring subscription plans (Premium Access) offering up to 90% per-download savings. Revenue is supplemented by Custom Content services that leverage Getty's network of more than 340,000 creators for bespoke assignments. The primary customer segments are media outlets, publishers, advertising agencies, brands, and creative professionals requiring motorsport imagery for editorial, advertising, and creative use. The company is a sub-brand of Getty Images, a publicly traded visual content company, rather than an independently operating entity.

Name

Motorsport Images

Legal name

Getty Images

Website

https://motorsportimages.com

Company type

Public

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Motorsport Images is a specialist motorsport imagery collection within Getty Images, licensing rights-cleared photography and video spanning 26+ million images from 1895 to present across F1, MotoGP, NASCAR, Le Mans, and other major racing series to media, agencies, and brands worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Stock Photography

akta.pro primary industry

Motorsports Media Rights & Broadcasting (Series-Owned/Controlled) (MPAKAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Motorsports Events (F1, NASCAR, Rally, Moto) (MPAGAMAD)

Keywords

• Stock photography licensing
• Motorsport imagery archive
• Editorial image library
• Visual content licensing
• Race photography collection

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Image and Video Licensing: Customers license individual images or subscribe for ongoing access to editorial image collections. Revenue generated through per-download fees and subscription plans.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Motorsport Images is a specialist motorsport photography collection that licenses 26+ million images and videos spanning from 1895 to the present, covering Formula 1, MotoGP, Formula E, WRC, Le Mans, NASCAR, IndyCar, WEC, IMSA, and Extreme E. It is distributed through the Getty Images self-serve platform and API, with rights-managed, royalty-free and editorial licensing options, plus a custom photography assignment service for commissioned shoots.

Product overview

Getty Images' Motorsport Images is a comprehensive visual content platform offering over 26 million motorsport images spanning racing history from 1895 to present day. The platform operates as a unified ecosystem comprising core content offerings (Creative Images, Editorial Images, and Archives), enterprise solutions (Media Manager for digital asset management, Custom Content creation services, and Premium Access subscriptions), and AI-powered tools (Generative AI image creation and modification). The portfolio covers racing series including Formula 1, MotoGP, Formula E, WRC, Le Mans, NASCAR, IndyCar, Extreme E, IMSA, and WEC, with additional music and video content available through the broader Getty Images platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Getty Images Motorsport: The motorsport division of Getty Images offering editorial and creative imagery of racing events including Formula 1, MotoGP, Formula E, WRC, Le Mans, NASCAR, IndyCar, WEC, IMSA, and more

Products and services

• Motorsport Images Collection Licensed catalog of 26+ million motorsport photographs and videos spanning 1895 to the present, covering Formula 1, MotoGP, Formula E, WRC, Le Mans, NASCAR, IndyCar, WEC, IMSA, and Extreme E, distributed to media, brands, and creative professionals.
• AI Image Generation Generative AI tool that creates images from text prompts, offered within the Getty Images platform for creative professionals producing visual content.
• AI Image Modification AI-powered tool that edits and modifies images, including expanding or altering existing licensed photographs, available to users of the Getty Images platform.
• Creative Images & Video Royalty-free and rights-ready creative stills and video for use in advertising, marketing, social, and commercial campaigns, licensed to brands, agencies, and creative professionals.
• Editorial Images Rights-managed editorial photography covering news, sports, entertainment, and motorsport events, licensed to media outlets, publishers, and editorial producers for journalistic use.
• Archive Historical and archival photography spanning over a century, including motorsport material from 1895 onward, licensed to researchers, publishers, and production teams.
• Custom Content (Assignment Photography) Bespoke commissioned photography service in which a team of professional photographers is hired to capture custom imagery, including on-event motorsport coverage for sponsors, teams, and brands.
• Getty Images Music Licensable music catalog for use in advertising, social, broadcast, and commercial productions, offered alongside the visual content catalog.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• LAT Images: LAT Images is a specialist motorsport photography agency whose archive and contributor network are explicitly named as part of Motorsport Images' content base. It is the closest direct comparable as a motorsport-focused photography archive and licensing business.
• Sutton Images: Sutton Images is a long-running motorsport photography agency named in Motorsport Images' contributor lineup. It competes for the same editorial motorsport licensing demand and historically built a comparable archive of Formula 1 and other series imagery.
• Motorsport Network: Motorsport Network operates the leading motorsport media destinations (motorsport.com, Autosport) and serves the same media, brand, and fan audiences as Motorsport Images. Its editorial and commercial coverage of racing series overlaps directly with the demand pool that licenses Motorsport Images' imagery.
• Imago Images: Imago is a large European sports photography agency that licenses editorial imagery across motorsport and other sports. It is a direct competitor in the rights-managed sports photography market and supplies motorsport imagery to many of the same media customers.
• Icon Sportswire: Icon Sportswire (formerly Icon SMI) is a US sports photography agency distributing editorial imagery to media clients. It competes for editorial motorsport assignments and serves overlapping media and brand customers.

Broad incumbents

• Shutterstock: Shutterstock is a general-purpose stock photography and video platform with editorial and creative motorsport content. It is a broad incumbent that competes for the same creative and editorial customers, though motorsport is one of many verticals rather than its core specialization.
• Adobe Stock: Adobe Stock is the stock imagery service embedded in the Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem and offers editorial and creative motorsport content. It is a broad incumbent alternative for media and creative customers that may substitute for Motorsport Images on more general motorsport needs.
• Alamy: Alamy is a global stock photography marketplace with significant editorial sports content including motorsport. It is a broad incumbent that supplies comparable imagery to media customers, particularly in the UK and European markets where Motorsport Images is headquartered.
• WireImage: WireImage is an entertainment and event photography agency (now within the Getty Images family) covering celebrity, music, and sports events. It is a broad incumbent that supplies editorial imagery to overlapping media customers and competes for the same event-based editorial assignments.

Emerging players

• Formula 1 Media Operations: Formula 1's in-house media operation captures and increasingly distributes its own official F1 imagery and video. It is an emerging player that could displace third-party motorsport archives for the highest-value series, given its preferential track access and rights position.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MSI_Images
• Facebookfacebook.com/msimages
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/motorsport-images

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Motorsport Images