McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown believes that all F1 teams now carry a value ‘well north’ of £1 billion – or approximately $1.2 billion.
Over the decades, Formula 1 has evolved into a truly global sport with a massive fanbase. By the end of the 2024 season, teams and drivers will have visited 21 countries in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia.
Grand Prix racing's sustained growth in recent years and its global appeal have logically benefitted its participants, with all teams now comfortably operating in the black.
This combination of factors has turned Formula 1 into a highly lucrative and sought-after business, which in turn has boosted the valuation of each individual franchise, a fact confirmed by recent investments into the Alpine and Aston Martin teams.
Last year, a consortium of investors led by Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds injected $200 million into Alpine at a valuation of $900 million. More recently, Aston Martin sold a minority stake to private equity firm Arctos Partners which reportedly valued the team at $1 billion.
Speaking at a Bloomberg event in Jeddah last week, Brown contends that all teams are now worth “well north” of £1 billion, noting the impact that F1’s commercial rights holder Liberty Media has had on the sport since its $8 billion takeover of the sport in 2016.
“Half the grid is profitable,” said Brown. “They weren’t five years ago.”
“What Liberty is wanting to do is protect the value of the ten teams that exist. We’re now in a position where pre-Liberty you had teams falling away.
“Now [in the] post-Liberty era, there are teams lining up that want to get into the sport. So I think Liberty is just seeing how, when and if they want teams to enter.”
As it seeks to maximise the value of existing team, Liberty’s protectionist stance has seen it reject a highly publicized bid from Andretti Global to join the grid, although the US outfit hasn’t giving up on its efforts to join the fray at some point in the future.
In relative terms, $1 billion isn’t an excessive valuation in the world of sport franchises, with NBA or NFL teams in the US commanding estimates of four or five times that amount.
Brown reckons that the sport’s territorial expansion will further boost valuations in years to come.
The McLaren Racing boss sees rotating races as key to enabling access to new markets while keeping the length of F1’s season within the current limit of 24 races.
“If we needed to dial up a few more races, I’d say Asia is an important territory,” said Brown.
“If we had more markets to go into, I’d say a race in Asia, India, South Africa. That would really give us a global footprint.”
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
