Former Liberty Media boss predicts F1 could leave stock market within two years

Formula 1 could leave the stock market within two years, according to former Liberty Media chief executive Greg Maffei, who believes the sport’s rapid commercial expansion is becoming harder to repeat.

Speaking at Sportico’s Invest New York 2026 conference, Maffei was asked whether F1 would remain publicly traded two years from now. He predicted it would be gone from the market. His view comes as the series’ value and revenues have climbed sharply since Liberty Media acquired it in 2017.

F1’s commercial value has surged under Liberty

Liberty bought F1 from a consortium led by CVC Capital Partners in a deal worth about $8 billion. The Formula One Group, which now also includes MotoGP, has since reached a market value close to $28 billion.

F1 reported revenue of $3.222 billion in 2023 and $3.411 billion for 2024. Liberty’s 2025 results put the series’ full-year revenue at $3.9 billion, a 14 per cent year-on-year increase. Read more about Liberty Media’s revenue milestone.

The expansion has been attributed to several factors, including the cost cap introduced in 2021, growth in the United States, the reach of Netflix’s Drive to Survive and a calendar that grew to 24 races. The docuseries has helped broaden F1’s audience, with women accounting for roughly 40 per cent of global fans and around half of its Gen Z following. The film F1, directed by Joseph Kosinski, also passed $600 million at the worldwide box office and contributed to higher US live viewership and F1 TV sign-ups.

Team values have risen alongside the sport’s wider growth. By late 2025, the average active team valuation was $3.6 billion, up 89 per cent on 2023 estimates. Ferrari led at $6.5 billion, with Mercedes close behind at about $6 billion.

Maffei sees slower growth ahead

Maffei expects F1 to keep growing, but at a more measured pace. He pointed to the expanded calendar, a global sponsor roster of 10 and events in lucrative markets such as the US and Middle East as important drivers of the recent rise. In his assessment, there is less room to rely on those same levers for another comparable surge.

He said the sport’s EBITDA had tripled over eight or nine years, but did not expect another threefold increase over a similar period. Liberty’s ownership structure has also shifted: John Malone’s voting power fell from 48 per cent to three per cent after he exchanged enhanced-voting shares for shares with limited or no voting rights. Malone’s reduction in voting control means any offer for Liberty Media would now be for its board to consider, with directors responsible for acting in shareholders’ best interests.