Every sport is a business, but few are as closely connected to their budget lines as Formula One: Wipe away the oil and the champagne, and you see an entire economic world — one The Athletic will map out in Business of F1, our series all about this increasingly important element of a booming sport.
AUSTIN, TX — Rory McIlroy and Anthony Joshua couldn’t help the smiles that stretched across their faces when talking about why they love motorsports.
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“I think the two best things to watch in sport are probably the first round of a boxing fight and the starting grid going into the first corner of a race,” McIlroy said during a roundtable that included The Athletic. “That’s where it’s edge-of-your-seat. I’m not very nervous when a soccer match kicks off or other sports that I follow. But whenever at the start of a fight or the start of a race, you’re nervous.”
Now, the duo are a part of the sport they enjoy. McIlroy and Joshua say their joining Otro Capital’s investment group, which bought a 24 percent stake in Alpine this summer, is more than a business move. The pair said it’s a move to offer proper support however the F1 team needs them to.
“I’ve always had an interest in Formula One. I’ve always been a fan,” McIlroy said. “It’s always been really big in Europe, but the boom of Formula One in the United States, off the back of the Netflix show and everything else, the popularity, it just felt like a really good time to do something like this. From a fund standpoint, it’s an investment, and with every investment, you’re trying to make money from (it), but it’s a purposeful investment.
“Instead of investing in some business (where) I don’t really know anything about it, I can actually relate to this. I feel like I might be able to help in some way.”
A direct relationship
Alpine’s investors, which also include Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, offer more than just a sporting point of view, with insight into the human elements like confidence and bouncing back. These investors can also help increase Alpine’s brand exposure beyond the normal F1 fanbase. The new group reaches into the golf, NFL, boxing and soccer worlds as well.
According to Otro Capital’s press release, “the new investors will help drive global awareness for Alpine F1 and will further complement Otro Capital’s contributions in areas such as media, sponsorship, ticketing, hospitality, commercial rights management, licensing and merchandising.”
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But the investment should also benefit the numerous athletes backing Alpine. Take Mahomes, for example, who also has minority ownerships in MLS’s Sporting KC, NWSL’s Current and MLB’s Royals. McIlroy remembers reading an article where Mahomes said he one day wants to own an NFL team when he retires from the NFL.
“Sports stars have become a lot more savvy about what they do with their money,” McIlroy said. “We’ve learned a lot from the pitfalls of the past. There’s a ton of stories out there of sports stars earning a lot of money and not spending it wisely. All of a sudden, at the end of their career, they’re left with nothing.”
McIlroy focuses his investing strategy less on “trying to squeeze every single dollar out of every single opportunity,” he said. “There has to be a fun element to it and a sense of purpose and a sense of the journey and partnering with good people. And that’s really what we tried to do here.”
As for Joshua, meeting the team was a big reason why he chose to invest in what he called a “unique” opportunity. The boxer has been a fan of F1 for some time, but now with the investment opportunity, he says he’s become a fan of a specific team — Alpine.
“Nothing changes other than you have a direct relationship with the team,” Joshua said about moving from fan to an investor. “It’s what you want to drive, isn’t it? You want to create a following, which is basically supporting Alpine, and that’s what we’re trying to create.”
Fans may wonder what exactly this mix of athletes (plus Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney) brings to the table. They are a wealthy bunch, but it’s more than throwing money at a team that wants to be in the regular mix for podiums.
Asked what he offers during a roundtable that included The Athletic, Joshua reframed the question. “It’s not what I bring to the table,” Joshua said. “The table is open, I’ll do whatever is needed. I’ll go and source whatever’s needed.”
🤜 @anthonyjoshua 🤛 #Alpine pic.twitter.com/ozzB8RdE7s
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) October 26, 2023
Why now?
A behind-the-scenes look at F1 drew both Joshua and McIlroy in, just like many of the sport’s newest fans. Docuseries continue to increase in number and focus on the sports world. Netflix is filming season 6 of “Drive to Survive,” and the golf-focused series, ‘Full Swing,’ will film a second season.
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“Content is king,” McIlroy said. “You can create so many great stories around Formula One or on golf, very authentic stories. I don’t think it has to be contrived in any way. Sport is such a wonderful storytelling platform.”
F1’s popularity boom opens doors to storytelling methods outside of the traditional media approach, and it’s made F1 more accessible. Newer fans seek different avenues to learn and engage more with the sport – especially through social media, given that the content creator economy has bloomed since the pandemic.
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In the past few years, as F1 has broken into markets it long struggled to reach — the U.S. and the younger generation — the teams’ valuations have increased. F1’s audience is more diverse than ever before, making the global sport more attractive to sponsors and brands. Investors, then, see a growth opportunity, creating a cycle.
“I want to try and bring all of my audience over,” Joshua said. With all eyes on F1 as people wonder whether the interest will plateau or continue to grow, it makes sense the likes of Reynolds, Joshua and Kelce are investing now.
It’s seizing the moment and simultaneously focusing on what’s around the next corner.
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(Lead image: CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP, Dan Istitene – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images; Design: Eamonn Dalton/The Athletic)
The Business of F1 series is part of a partnership with Michelob ULTRA. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
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