Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams told reporters this week he wants to own a Formula 1 team after his playing career ends. He joins a narrow cohort of active NFL players publicly discussing nine-figure alternative-asset ambitions before they clear $100 million in career earnings.
Williams is 23 and 17 games into his rookie contract, a four-year deal worth $39.5 million fully guaranteed. His fifth-year option vests in 2027. A franchise tag in 2029 would put his cumulative pre-tax career earnings near $85 million before any second-contract negotiation. F1 team valuations currently range from $700 million for backmarker outfits to north of $3 billion for constructor stalwarts like McLaren and Ferrari, per private-market broker chatter. Williams Esports—his existing gaming venture—reported $2.1 million in sponsorship revenue last year, according to filings reviewed by partners in that space.
The timing matters because F1 ownership is no longer a gentleman's hobby. Andretti Global spent 18 months and an estimated $30 million on a failed grid-entry bid, only to watch the FIA and commercial-rights holder Formula One Management reject the application in January 2024. Liberty Media, F1's parent, has made clear that new teams must add enterprise value, not dilute the existing $3.1 billion annual prize pool split among ten constructors. Michael Andretti stepped back from daily operations three months later; his father Mario remains on the advisory board. The anti-dilution stance effectively prices new entrants at the cost of acquiring an existing team outright, plus operational capital for at least three seasons of $150 million annual budgets under the cost cap.
Williams' public declaration does two things. It signals to endorsement partners that his brand strategy runs deeper than apparel deals—Bose, Nissan, and United Airlines already pay him an estimated $12 million annually in off-field income, per industry executives familiar with those contracts. And it puts him in the same conversational tier as NBA and European football stars who have quietly toured paddocks in Monaco and Austin, sizing stakes. Lewis Hamilton owns a 5% slice of the Denver Broncos; Tom Brady holds 3% of the Las Vegas Raiders after a two-year approval process. The NFL allows players to invest in other sports properties, provided no gambling or competitive-conflict issues arise. No active NFL player has yet crossed into F1 ownership, largely because the capital gates remain 10x higher than purchasing minority NBA or MLS stakes.
The path exists but narrows quickly. Williams would need either a passive minority position in an existing team—rare, since most constructors are family-held or backed by automakers like Mercedes-Benz and Red Bull GmbH—or a co-investment vehicle pooling LP capital with a lead sponsor. The latter structure is how Toto Wolff assembled his 30% stake in Mercedes-AMG Petronas before becoming team principal. Williams Esports gives him an operating entity and a tax-efficient holding structure, but not the Rolodex. His agent, Rick Arrington, does not rep motorsport clients. The logical first call is to someone like Zak Brown at McLaren, who has built a commercial-partnerships machine that brought in $405 million in sponsorship revenue last season, or to Michael Andretti's team if that group pivots toward selling infrastructure to a new buyer willing to navigate FIA politics.
The Bears, meanwhile, are 7-10 heading into the season finale. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired in November after nine games; his replacement, Thomas Brown, has coached Williams to 4 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions across six starts. Williams' adjusted EPA per play ranks 28th among qualified quarterbacks this season, per TruMedia. The front office will hire a new head coach and coordinator this offseason, the fourth staff regime to touch the franchise since 2021. Williams' next negotiation with Chicago begins in spring 2027, when the fifth-year option decision is due. If he continues at current trajectory, his second contract will likely settle in the $45-52 million per year range, trailing only the top five or six quarterbacks but ahead of mid-tier starters. That puts his age-27 net worth, assuming standard endorsement escalators and no catastrophic injury, near $200 million pre-tax. Still short of an F1 entry ticket, but enough to get the first call returned.
Watch for Williams in the Miami or Austin paddock during the 2025 season. Also watch whether his representation adds a motorsport specialist to the advisory team before the Bears' offseason roster decisions begin in March.
The takeaway
Williams is building endorsement scaffolding and signaling capital ambitions two contracts early, a rare move for an NFL quarterback.
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