John N
Indeed, the best things in life don’t come easily, especially in the competitive world of Formula 1. And as Miami stages its first Grand Prix this week, Miami Grand Prix Managing Partner Tom Garfinkel is already aware of that hard fact of a racing existence.
In fact, Garfinkel earned his spurs and took his knocks as he became well-versed in the vagaries of several high-powered sports on his way to this crucial point. Clearly, a man who relishes challenges, he mixes his role as Managing Partner of the Miami Grand Prix with others as Vice Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the Miami Dolphins in the NFL and the Hard Rock Stadium.
And his working experience also includes serving in baseball as President and Chief Executive Officer of the San Diego Padres; Chief Operating Officer of the Arizona Diamondbacks; and Executive Vice President of Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR IndyCar and Grand-Am racing teams.
Prior to working in sports, he distinguished himself in different leadership roles in sales, marketing and branding with the Miller Brewing Company and Texaco, Inc; having graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and earned his MBA at the University of Michigan.
Since joining the Dolphins, he’s led the turnaround of the business, highlighted by creating a plan to privately fund a $550 million renovation of the 27-year-old stadium. At the same time, other developments he’s spearheaded within the business include a partnership with Endeavor to bring the Miami Open tennis tournament to Hard Rock Stadium, with the 2019 debut event setting record attendance numbers and increasing total revenue by nearly 25%, and pulling off the winning bid for both the 2020 Super Bowl and 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium. As if everything else isn’t enough, he’s currently involved in talks to bring the 2026 World Cup to Miami.
The Grand Prix deal is for ten years, but it took five to overcome numerous hurdles strewn in the project’s path. The political infighting and obfuscation demanded patience and an open-minded approach before the deal could be finessed to everyone’s satisfaction.
“The process started back in 2017,” he explains. “I was talking to Chase Carey and Sean Bratches [F1’s former Chairman and CEO, and Managing Director of Commercial Operations, respectively], and at that time, we were investigating the possibility of putting the race on in downtown Miami.
But the reality was that there were too many constraints to have a good racetrack there with excellent racing. You have restrictions around the roads downtown that don’t allow you to construct a track with many opportunities for overtaking. Secondly, getting people in and out of that area downtown is difficult, particularly with this many people.
There were some issues with the port and other businesses that presented challenges. After investigation, we can do this around the stadium here in Miami Gardens. I took Chase around the path of the stadium, walked around, and put cones around the racetrack. Then he could see from the top of the stadium where the racetrack would be.
“I took him on a golf cart around a potential racetrack and just gave him a vision for what we could accomplish. We had already had the Miami Open tennis tournament in early 2019. By that time, he could see that we could create a campus environment that felt unique and different and almost like a permanent road course.
“Then it took some time to manage, see that through, do the due diligence on what it would take to pull it off. Then right when we were close to finalizing that, the pandemic hit, which took another year. Then when Stefano [Domenicali] was hired, he picked up the ball, and he and I were able to very quickly put a deal together that made sense for both of us. I give Chase and Stefano a lot of credit for having the vision and bringing the race here to Miami.”
His duties as Managing Partner embrace an overall perspective. “Overseeing the big picture of the event, if you will,” he says. “The vision of the race, getting the deal done with Formula 1 in the first place.”
And Garfinkel is convinced that, together with the existing race in Austin, and the forthcoming event in Las Vegas from 2023, F1 can regain the strong foundation it enjoyed at venues such as Watkins Glen and Long Beach from the 1960s to the early 1980s. But exactly what benefits does he envisage the race brings to the city of Miami in the first instance and the US on a broader scale?
“Having worked in auto racing for a big chunk of my career, I appreciate and recognize how unique Formula 1 racing is. These drivers, the teams, the technology, the competition, and introducing that to new fans here in the United States is special for me.
“I think we’ve got an excellent presentation and relationship with Formula 1, and they want to grow this sport here in the United States, and we want to be a big part of that with them and work together to do that. Liberty Media has done a fantastic job during its ownership tenure in growing the sport globally, trading competitive parity, and telling the great stories in Formula 1.
“We’re just honored to race here, be a small part of helping trow the sport, tell those stories, and give people their experiences – and what we think will be great racing here, most importantly.”
With the Las Vegas Grand Prix announcement for 2023, Garfinkel is excited about the prospect of three races in North America (and not forgetting Canada’s hugely popular race in Montreal) and sees the sport having an excellent chance of generating a solid long-term established a base there shortly.
“What’s happening with Formula 1 in the United States last year is quite a phenomenon. It is on people’s minds that they weren’t formula one fan. They’re engaged. They’re excited.
“It’s cool for young people. The technology, the unique nature of these cars, how they’re sustainable now, what these engines do on a small amount of fuel, these drivers, the g-forces that they take, the skills they employ, and the competitiveness required. The fact is that the more you educate people about Formula 1 racing, the more they become fans, and they understand that it is a team sport, with the driver as a hugely important part. And the more they understand it, the more they fall in love with it.”
Garfinkel convinces you he’s a card-carrying race fan. It’s in my history. It’s in my blood. I love it!” he laughs.
His job is to attract others to share that love, others from America’s much-revered stick and ball sports or race fans who believe more perhaps in NASCAR and IndyCar. Is there something specific he and his team have been doing to attract those two disparate kinds of spectators?
“I’ve never watched a race with someone on television and turned them into a huge race fan,” he admits. “I’ve almost always been able to take people to a race and educate them about racing on-site, and then they become fans and watch it on TV afterward. What we’re trying to do here is attract people to a great event.
“It’s almost a Disneyland-like campus, with so many opportunities for great experiences with friends, whether that’s through music, drinks, all kinds of different things, that when people come out and enjoy those experiences, there’s going to be the world’s best auto racing going on around them. I think educating them about auto racing and giving them that experience will quickly turn them into Formula 1 fans. F1 sells itself.”
He’s certainly right on that, as even the most jaded critics of F1 tend to change their tune when they start getting up close and personal with the sound and the aura of an endeavor that simply can’t be ignored.
Garfinkel and his team are finally on the brink of placing the product before the consumers. And the signs are that the project’s success will last a great deal longer than the fight to bring it to fruition. There’s no doubt, for F1’s future, this is one of the most important new races in years.
