Catherine Bond Muir: From A Dining Table Dream To Formula 1

Last week the world of racing leveled up when the first-of-its-kind W Series and established juggernaut Formula 1 announced a partnership with one another that’s designed to increase the reach, influence and impact of women in racing. That one of the world’s premiere racing series has thrown its weight behind an all-women’s series that did not exist five years ago is incredible. What’s more astonishing is that the idea for it all started at a dining table in the not too distant past. 

In 2015, fresh off the birth of her son, Hamish, 45-year-old former solicitor and corporate financier, Catherine Bond Muir sat at her dining room table plotting on what was next for her. She had already had a wildly successful career that placed her in the midst of sports and gaming M&A deals and IPOs, including the sale of Chelsea Football Club to Roman Abramovich and the acquisition of Aston Villa by Randy Lerner. She could have absolutely rested on her laurels but instead she looked to the world around her for inspiration.

Muir recounts, “I sat and realized that at the very point at which more women were gaining visibility for playing soccer, cricket and rugby in Europe, that actually the situation in motorsport was getting worse. And in fact, in the previous years, if you looked at the numbers of women who were racing in single seater championships across the world, year on year, the numbers were diminishing. So I thought, ‘something had to be done.’”

And do something she did. Pretty much immediately Muir set out to develop and raise capital for what would eventually be dubbed The W Series, an all-women’s racing series with a mission to change the face of motorsport. Within a few years, Muir took W Series from an idea to full fledged business that has amassed $30 million in investments, 20 drivers and 6 Formula 3 races. 

To be clear, there was nothing easy about raising that kind of capital for women in sports. Muir had to convince people to believe in and support women; to give millions of dollars in a pre-MeToo world. That took a ton of hustle and tough skin. Even those who were generally supportive of the idea didn’t believe that she could bring it into fruition. People within and outside of the sports community had no problem sharing their opinions that there just wasn’t a market for women’s sports, that no one watched women play sports so they certainly wouldn’t watch them drive cars. In fact there were even some women who weren’t aligned with the idea. 

“Unfortunately, some former female motor racing drivers believe that if women and men could race together, there’s no need for a women’s series,” shares Muir. “But there is a need for a women’s series. Because we’re so underrepresented we had to create a platform to demonstrate that women are great at motor racing. We had to create a separate space because we weren’t being elevated in the broader racing world.”

Muir persisted in spite of the naysayers, eventually finding a generous believer. A single investor provided the initial seed money and promised to provide more if the W Series could reach certain KPIs (key performance indicators). In other words, support would grow if Muir and her team could prove that there was money to be made in women’s racing. Muir accepted the money and the challenge to quickly grow the W Series and make it profitable. In her quest for growth Muir surmised that the key to profitability would be to show that women could race in daring, exciting but safe races just like their male counterparts. 

As Muir explains, “In our first season we’ve been able to prove that the quality of racing is absolutely no different if there are 18 women on the circuit or 18 men. Our races are tough and hard. In fact, there was a lot of discussion about whether our courses were too difficult. People expressed concerns about things like whether the women would break too early into the corners. It caused me a great deal of angst. But you know what, they handled our courses with true talent and professionalism. Our women have truly produced a fantastic and entertaining racing series.” 

Apparently  people agree with Muir. In its inaugural (and only season to-date due to COVID-19) the W Series drew in crowds and supporters like gangbusters. In year one, the W Series was in 320 million households worldwide. In the UK, it was the second-most watched female sport and the second-most watched motorsport. In the US, it aired on NBC and was available via TV and terrestrial channels in the UK.

Whether those numbers were a result of curiosity at the novel idea of an all-women’s series or signs that the W Series will be a viable, profitable entity remains to be seen. Like other sports entities across the globe, the W Series made the tough decision to forgo a 2020 season. After much consternation, Muir had decided that out of an abundance of concern for the health of its drivers and in an effort to maintain the quality of the product, the W Series would resume in 2021. 

In the time since 2019, Muir and her team haven’t had time to sit back and merely celebrate the success of the inaugural season. The $30 million that they had raised would need to be replenished, and new partnerships would need to  be established. So the W Series has been working. In addition to the newly established partnership with Formula 1, Muir has been able to solidify partnerships with Rokit, Acronis, Puma, Hankook and more. Maintaining and growing these and other partnerships and sponsorships will be key to keeping the W Series afloat, in homes and on tracks across the world. 

The millions from investors, sponsors and partners has, of course, been spent on marketing, TV production and general operations. But the W Series is also spending money on its drivers in a way that many other racing series don’t—by fully funding the drivers’ seasons. In many other series, the drivers are responsible for getting a racing team together and finding the funding to maintain their cars and teams. That can be overwhelming for drivers and is often the cause of short-lived or unrealized dreams in racing. Muir was determined that money wouldn’t be the reason the women of the W Series couldn’t race. 

Muir shares, “Absolutely fundamental to our movement is our belief that we should pay all the expenses of the driver. Looking at the demographics of motorsports in the US, South America and Europe, I think there is a danger of the sport just becoming a rich boys’ sport. Many drivers who were going into the sport seemed to have rich fathers. When I looked at the reasons why a number of women had stopped competing, it was because they couldn’t raise the money, drive the sponsorship. I’ve had this very strong belief that if we were really going to be serious about promoting women and giving women a platform, money couldn’t be any part of it. So we made a very early commitment in the business plan to cover every single expense for the drivers. The only thing that our drivers have to do at any point is get themselves to their nearest international airport. From there on, they didn’t need to spend a dime.

That profound commitment to not allowing financing to stand in the way of women’s racing has also seemed to translate into making way for a racially and ethnically diverse population of drivers. And in a time when social and racial justice have permeated sports, that is not to be overlooked. Drivers in the 2019 and 2021 classes come from 16 nations, 5 continents and diverse ethnicities. In fact one driver, Naomi Schiff, transitioned from driving to the front office where she works as the W Series’ Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador in an effort to further increase the diversity within the series. 

As Muir looks forward to the 2021 season and beyond, inclusion, diversity, women, sports, business, racing, sponsors and profits are all top of mind. And they’ll need to remain there if the W Series is going to have longevity. In a world filled with sports leagues that are all vying for the same attention and dollars, the W Series’ success will depend on its ability to stand out from the crowd by providing quality racing that connects with people across the globe. If anyone is up to the task, it’s the woman who started a $30 million business from the comfort of her dining room table.