Episode 32 - Learning from an F1 Failure

Changing the Game, Innovation in Sport

In 2020 I tried to buy a Formula 1 Team. There were two big lessons in that process.

1. Being early is hard... the difficulty in getting any potential investors to back a bit was amazing. We were consistently told it was a money pit, no chance of building valuation etc. That the new terms of the concorde agreement were known and Drive to Survive was bubbling away had zero impact. It's scant consolation that we have been proven right.

2. As we went through diligence and management presentations it was remarkable to find that every team effectively operated on the same commercial model. And when you looked at benchmarking you realised it was no different to the professional football clubs who also shared the same model... so if you are not Ferrari or Man Utd (or a true premium brand) then you are effectively competing on price and making yourself a commodity... which just makes no sense to me.