Dolphins Owner Nearing Deal to Sell 20% Stake in Miami F1 Race

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is in advanced talks to sell a 20% stake in Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix to private equity firm Otro Capital, Front Office Sports has learned.

No deal is finalized, a source familiar with the matter tells FOS. Two sources say the potential buyer is Otro Capital, and three sources say the discussions are for a 20% stake in the race. Ross has no plans to sell the entire race, one source says. 

The Miami Grand Prix is part of Ross Sports & Entertainment, an entity that was formed in August to hold the Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium, the Miami Open (Ross acquired a roughly 45% stake in the tennis tournament last year), and the Precision Drive Club, a private, invite-only driving club located at Hard Rock Stadium. 

The current deal talks involve only the Miami Grand Prix, not the Dolphins or any other assets held within Ross Sports & Entertainment, sources tell FOS. It was not clear what a deal might value the race at.

In December, Otro Capital agreed to invest in a new corporate entity being formed by the University of Utah to manage revenue-generating athletic operations. That agreement was finalized in June. Otro’s portfolio also includes a stake in the Alpine Racing Formula One Team.

A representative for Ross Sports & Entertainment declined to comment, and a representative for Otro Capital did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ross, 86, has been chairman and owner of the Miami Grand Prix since 2021. The race has seen five consecutive sellouts, and it has grown from a single Sunday race to a weeklong event that takes place across Miami and South Florida.

The founder and non-executive chairman of real estate firm Related Companies, Ross acquired majority control of the Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium in 2009 through a $1 billion deal. Ross has a net worth of about $21.5 billion, according to Forbes.

In late 2024, he sold 13% of the Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium, and the Miami Grand Prix in a deal valuing the assets at about $8.1 billion. Under that deal, Ares Management acquired 10% of those assets, and Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai acquired 3%. The Ares deal was approved in December 2024. It was one of three private-equity minority investments in NFL teams that represented the first such deals to be green-lit after the league implemented a policy allowing limited PE investment in August of that year.

In 2024, Ross reportedly rejected an offer valuing all of his sports assets at $10 billion. The Dolphins currently have an estimated valuation of $10.4 billion, according to Forbes. Last March, Chinese American technology entrepreneur Lin Bin, cofounder of consumer electronics giant Xiaomi, reportedly purchased a 1% stake in Ross Sports & Entertainment at a $12.5 billion valuation. 

The discussions with Otro come as the 2026 F1 season is more than halfway over. This year’s Miami Grand Prix was held in May. It was won by Kimi Antonelli, who sits in first place overall and drives for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team.

The schedule for next year was recently announced. It will open in the Middle East and include a record-tying 24 races. The 2027 season opener will be held March 12–14 in Bahrain. Saudi Arabia will host the second GP the following week. The Miami Grand Prix will be the sixth race of next season, held April 30 to May 2.

The league has been owned by Liberty Media since 2016, when it bought Formula One from a group led by CVC Capital Partners. There have been rumors over the past few years that F1 could go on the market.

Formula One has experienced significant growth in recent years. Revenue rose from $3.2 billion in 2023 to $3.9 billion in 2025. In the first half of 2026, it posted revenue of about $1.38 billion, which is down 15% from the same period last year, although Liberty Media said the decline was due in part to three fewer races.

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