Former Liberty Media boss makes striking prediction for F1 future

Former Liberty Media chief executive Greg Maffei has predicted that Formula 1 could disappear from the stock market within the next two years, citing the sport's rapid commercial growth since the American company's 2017 takeover.

Liberty Media acquired F1 from a CVC Capital Partners-led consortium in a deal worth around $8 billion. Since then, the sport's commercial value has soared, with the Formula One Group, which now also includes MotoGP, carrying a market value of close to $28 billion.

F1's financial growth has been reflected in its annual results. The sport generated $3.411 billion in revenue for the full 2024 financial year, up from $3.222 billion in 2023.

That growth continued into 2025, with Liberty Media reporting full-year F1 revenue of $3.9 billion, a 14 per cent year-on-year increase.

Analysts have pointed to several factors behind F1's commercial expansion under Liberty Media, including the introduction of the cost cap in 2021, expansion into new US markets, growing digital reach through Netflix's Drive to Survive, and the enlargement of the calendar to 24 races.

The docuseries has also been credited with broadening F1's audience, helping push the sport's female fan share to roughly 40 per cent globally, with women making up around half of its Gen Z following.

Apple's theatrical film F1, directed by Joseph Kosinski, added a further boost this year, surpassing $600 million in worldwide box office and contributing to increased US live viewership and F1 TV signups.

The growth has also pushed up the value of individual teams. By late 2025, the average valuation of an active F1 team had risen to $3.6 billion, an 89 per cent increase compared with 2023 estimates, with every team now valued at no less than $1.5 billion.

Ferrari was rated as the most valuable team at $6.5 billion, closely followed by Mercedes at around $6 billion after a private minority equity transaction.

Liberty Media added MotoGP to its portfolio in 2025, buying it from Dorna Sports in a deal worth an estimated €4.3 billion in enterprise value, leaving the American company well placed to cash in on the growth of its motorsport holdings.

However, Maffei does not see that rate of growth continuing, making a remarkable claim when speaking at Sportico's Invest New York 2026 conference.

When asked whether Formula 1 will still be on the stock market two years from now, he replied: "I'll say F1 is gone."

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Why does Maffei think that?

Liberty announced recently that John Malone would step down as chairman emeritus. His voting power has also fallen from 48 per cent to three per cent after he exchanged shares carrying enhanced voting rights for shares with limited or no voting rights.

Any offer for Liberty Media would now be a matter for its board. Maffei said directors would have a fiduciary duty to consider what was in shareholders' best interests if a bid came in.

Maffei expects Formula 1 to keep growing, though at a much slower pace. Under Liberty, the series has expanded its calendar, increased its roster of global sponsors to 10 and staged more events in lucrative markets such as the United States and the Middle East.

In Maffei's view, there is now less scope to drive growth through those same measures.

"The easy money’s been made," he said. "The EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation] is up 3x in eight or nine years.

"It's not going to go up 3x again in the next eight or nine years."