Rory McIlroy Joins Premier League Soccer Star And World Heavyweight Boxer As Alpine F1 Team Investors

McIlroy is reportedly one of several high-profile investors in the Alpine F1 team

Rory McIlroy during the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth
Rory McIlroy has invested in Alpine F1 team
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Mike Hall
By Mike Hall
published

Four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy is reportedly branching out into the world of motor racing with an investment in the Alpine F1 team.

Per The Guardian, the 34-year-old is one of several high-profile co-investors in the team from the world of sport, along with England soccer star Trent Alexander‑Arnold, Spanish soccer player Juan Mata, heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua, German tennis player Alexander Zverev and Kansas City Chiefs NFL players Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

The athletes have reportedly stumped up a $200m (£173m) in the team as part of a syndicate created by the Otro Capital group that already includes actors and co-owners of Wrexham soccer club Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, and Hollywood star Michael B Jordan.

Four of the sports stars - Alexander-Arnold, Joshua, Mata and Zverev - have joined as part of Portugal-based Apex investment group, an entity that also has a stake in TMRW Sports group, founded by 15-time Major winner Tiger Woods and McIlroy and which is behind the forthcoming made for prime-time TV arena-based golf competition, TGL.

Apex group chief executive officer António Cacorino explained the appeal of F1 for investors. He said: “We have all seen growth in the sport over the last six or seven years and over the last two and three it has been really sustained growth.

“It has changed the sport for good, we believe F1’s momentum is here to stay and this was the perfect deal. F1 has gone beyond diehard petrolhead fans, it’s a sport for the masses. All over the world people are watching it and few sports have that.”

Along with the other athletes, McIlroy is expected to attend F1 races and help drive the team’s commercial strategies, drawing on his experience from the world of golf.

The investment is the latest link between golf and F1 following the success of Netflix docuseries Full Swing, which was made by the same people as the hit series Formula 1: Drive to Survive and a collaboration, announced last week, between TaylorMade and another F1 team, Oracle Red Bull Racing, on a limited edition golf collection.

Last season, Alpine finished fourth in the F1 constructors’ championship. As for McIlroy, his last action came in Team Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup challenge at Marco Simone. His next appearance is expected to come at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in November.

Mike Hall
Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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