- Forbes estimated average F1 team valuation at US$3.6bn, much lower than NFL (US$7.1bn) and NBA (US$5.4bn)
- Elis Wyn Jones points to scarcity value and return on investment as key reasons why F1 teams are being undersold
Formula One teams are still trading at a “material discount” compared to clubs in the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Premier League, according to a former Goldman Sachs analyst.
Speaking at the Autosport Business Exchange, Elis Wyn Jones, who previously headed up the investment bank’s global sports advisory, acknowledged that “there’s always a limit in terms of how much someone’s willing to pay and what they see as a return”, but argued that the global motorsport series has not yet reached this point.
Jones’ comments come at a time when Formula One team valuations are skyrocketing. Most recently, Mercedes chief executive and team principal Toto Wolff sold part of his stake in the team at a US$6 billion valuation, which was a new record for a Formula One team, surpassing the reported UK£3 billion (US$4.06 billion) achieved by McLaren Racing in September 2025.
For context, Ineos purchased a 33 per cent stake in Mercedes for UK£208 million (US$273 million) in 2022, which would have given the team a valuation of just over UK£600 million (US$800 million).
With the sport experiencing both revenue and audience growth, Jones does not see the rising value of Formula One teams slowing down anytime soon.
“There are 32 NBA teams, 30 NFL teams, 20 Premier League football teams, of which five or six are premium within that,” he said. “There are 11 Formula One teams, and the potential for 12, and that’s it.
“The scarcity value is going to drive a lot going forward, point one. Point two, from a valuation perspective, without getting into too much detail, these teams still trade at a material discount to NFL football teams which are 13, 14 times [revenues].
“The LA Lakers sold for high teens [revenue multiple] last year, Boston Celtics at 13 times revenue and, depending on how you cut it, [Formula One] has gone from one-times revenues back in 2020 to somewhere in the order of six [times revenues] … depending on which numbers you use.”
Last year, Forbes estimated that the average Formula One team was worth US$3.6 billion, while Sportico came in slightly lower at US$3.42 billion on average. This is still far below the average valuations for the NFL (US$7.1 billion) and the NBA (US$5.4 billion).
According to Jones, “that in itself tells you there’s a discount”.
“There’s two elements to this,” he continued. “One is you can actually make money, so your ability to actually get a financial return is there and you can be underwritten, and you wouldn’t say that with a lot of sports. Point two, the value of being part of a Formula One team or a motorsport institution who perhaps have teams in multiple different motorsport classes … can be enormous to your other businesses.”
Indeed, there are a growing number of multi-class groups operating across several motorsport series. For example, TWG Global, the company behind the new Cadillac Formula One entry, also operates the Andretti teams in IndyCar and Formula E, as well as Spire Motorsports in Nascar. Another example is McLaren, who will have teams entered in Formula One, IndyCar, and the World Endurance Championship (WEC) by 2027.
Jones also highlighted the global reach of Formula One, which has expanded its calendar in recent years, particularly in the Middle East and the US, as another reason for its rising value to investors.
“The fact that the circus travels around the world for 24 weekends of the year and gives you the ability to be in those different locations, to advertise your products, to engage with your local partners, to raise LP capital – I think that is the added limb that other sports don’t necessarily have,” Jones added.
“We talk all about it in terms of the Super Bowl: 120 million people watch the Super Bowl live, tickets are US$20,000 on the black market. Well, Formula One’s already doing that 24 weekends a year, and it’s not saturated and it’s not diluted.
“So taking these arguments together, a long way from ‘wall of capital’, it’s a matter of time and also education. A lot of investors need that education to understand the sport because it is unique in how you have to understand to be successful, but also how to get it on the tyres and drive it forward – from what was something that people poopooed 20 years ago as a loss-making exercise to where we are today.”
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