The commercial chief of the Aston Martin Formula 1 team has made a bold prediction, stating that F1 teams are on a trajectory to become as valuable as the most elite franchises in American sports like the NBA and NFL.
The Closing Valuation Gap
Jefferson Slack, the commercial boss for the Aston Martin F1 squad, pointed to recent multi-billion dollar transactions as evidence of this rapid ascent. He highlighted that a minority stake sale in the Mercedes F1 team this month valued the operation at a staggering $6 billion (£4.6 billion).
This follows a similar high valuation in September, when a reshuffle of investors saw the McLaren F1 team valued at approximately $5 billion (£3.8 billion). While these figures are still overshadowed by the titans of US sport, such as the Dallas Cowboys and Golden State Warriors, which are valued in excess of $10 billion (£7.6bn), Slack believes the gap is closing fast.
Revenue Multiples Point to Future Growth
Slack explained the financial mechanics behind his optimism in an interview with BlackBook Motorsport. He noted that F1 teams currently trade on revenue multiples of five to seven times, whereas NBA teams command multiples of 10 or 12.
"There shouldn't be big differences in that, so I think we can get more to that multiple," he stated. "There's no reason why we can't be worth [as much as] an NFL team. I think Mercedes now is worth more than a few NFL teams, but that should be where we're going."
According to a recent ranking by Forbes, Ferrari remains the most valuable F1 team with an estimated worth of $6.5 billion (£4.9bn), further cementing the sport's financial prestige.
Liberty Media Credited for F1's Financial Boom
Industry observers anticipate that the Mercedes and McLaren deals will have a ripple effect, lifting the valuations of every team on the grid and potentially triggering a wave of further partial sell-offs.
This remarkable growth is widely attributed to the strategic direction of F1's owner, Liberty Media. Slack credited the American company for transforming the sport's financial viability.
"This is a sport where, 20 years ago, you'd pay $1 and then you'd lose a lot of money," Slack added. "It's a testament to lots of things. Liberty has done an incredible job – the budget cap, Drive to Survive – all of these things that have come together that have made the sport valuable."
The combination of global expansion, the popular Netflix series 'Drive to Survive', and the introduction of a strict budget cap has created a perfect storm, making Formula 1 one of the most attractive commercial properties in global sport.
