Peter Adderton (center) with his Boost Mobile sponsored Supercars drivers
Boost Mobile owner Peter Adderton said he had notified supercars owner Archer Capital of an opportunity to purchase the category.
Speedcafe.com believes Adderton was part of a consortium investigating a full takeover of Supercars from the Sydney-based private equity firm.
However, the telecommunications mogul has told Speedcafe.com that given the current structure of supercars, it has no interest at the moment.
He believes team owners have too much control over the business, which is at the expense of the organization.
“I got no further than sending a few signals to Archer [Capital]”Said Adderton to Speedcafe.com.
“As I said, there are a lot of strangers on the show. There should be some massive changes.
“If you can’t control it, run it, and don’t have the problems you’re having, I don’t think there is any point in buying it. It wouldn’t make sense.
“I’m too much of a control freak to be able to make decisions and try to do things and make the sport better and then I have to face a group of teams. I would not do it.
“I would like to take a look at it [buying] The category by and large but the problem you have is you can’t make it with the teams, ”he added.
“You have to own it and be able to run it, but you can’t do it with the teams who basically run a lot of other things.
“For me, that’s the fundamental thing that’s wrong with that. You need to be able to run the business and make decisions that are in the best interests of the sport but not in the best interests of the teams.
“Until you can control it, operate it and own it, I think it will be very, very difficult for anyone who buys it.”
Boost Mobile supports Erebus Motorsport (picture) and Tickford Racing in the Supercars championship
Archer Capital bought a majority stake in Supercars in 2011 from Tony Cochrane’s Sports Entertainment Limited (SEL).
This purchase cost Archer Capital a total of $ 137 million. At the time, Supercars had an enterprise value of $ 296 million.
However, in recent years, supercars have reportedly depreciated significantly.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, a quarterly report to investors showed that supercars had fallen below $ 35 million in value by the time the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020.
For Adderton, the company’s value is less daunting. Rather, his frustration with the structure of supercars has kept him from investing at the owner level.
Adderton compared the current set-up to that of a house where all residents have different opinions about what the garden should look like and ultimately nothing is done.
“I’m just not going to stick with the teams because at the end of the day they don’t seem to understand that a stronger, better series will bring more advertisers,” he said.
“I think I’d sit there and go, ‘Archer, what the hell did we buy?’ You’re buying a controlling stake in a company that you don’t really control, it doesn’t make any sense.
“For these things to work, you have to be able to make decisions,” he added.
“The NFL, NASCAR, IndyCar, they don’t go to the teams and ask for their advice. You don’t sit down with the teams over coffee and say, “What do you think of that?” And they say, “No, I don’t really like that,” they say, “Here’s the deal. Here you run. See you on the track. ‘
“This is how you build a sport, that’s how you build a company. They don’t let shareholders run the company. You appoint a board member in the company, but you appoint a CEO, and a CEO is responsible for running that company. If he doesn’t do a very good job, he’ll get fired. But he doesn’t sit there every day trying to get shareholders to agree.
“I feel for Sean [Seamer, Supercars CEO]. Running a business is a tough job, and it’s even harder when you can’t actually make decisions without basically trying to get everyone else, all of whom have their own self-interest, over the line.
“It doesn’t work and I would never buy it if they didn’t fix it. There are a number of things that don’t make sense. Good luck to the teams as they negotiated a lot with Archer, but ultimately it’s not a viable solution. Until they fix it, I don’t know anyone who would buy it. “
Peter Adderton
Adderton remains optimistic that supercars can be “one of the best sports in Australia” but said its current structure is holding them back.
He believes that supercars need their own dictator, similar to that of ex-Formula 1 supremo Bernie Eccelstone.
“Formula 1 has never been bigger than it was under Bernie,” said Adderton.
“For me, Alan Gow took the same approach with his British Touring Car Championship. Tony Cochrane when he took this approach with supercars.
“Again, I don’t know of any company in the world that is run by an ever successful committee that doesn’t implode and reorganize itself.
“Maybe that has to happen with supercars.”
