WhatsApp Enters Sports in Deal With F1 Team Mercedes

LAS VEGAS—WhatsApp has chosen the Mercedes Formula One team for its first sports sponsorship, a multi-year agreement that will give followers of the eight-time world champion exclusive team content and in-race updates through the Meta-owned private messaging service.
The deal announced Friday is the first of its kind for WhatsApp, which connects over two billion people globally and is heavily used outside of the United States. While Americans tend to use iMessage through their Apple phones, WhatsApp is utilized most everywhere else and had become the main tool of communication for the Mercedes team.
Team principal Toto Wolff told The Associated Press it is not unheard of for him to receive messages in WhatsApp group chats from Mercedes board members questioning strategy during races….