Why Revolut Are Investing In F1: Antoine Le Nel (Ep.101)

Jan 6, 2026

Antoine Le Nel, Revolut’s CMO who built its global sports strategy, explains why the brand is investing heavily in F1 and other major sports. He discusses moving from performance marketing to brand building. Short takes cover how Audi Revolut F1 came together, splitting global and local sponsorships, using sport to reach new markets, and activating partnerships through product integrations and experiential reach.

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INSIGHT

Brand-Led Growth Pivot

Revolut shifted five years ago from pure performance marketing to investing in upper-funnel brand building.
The NBA partnership proved sport could deliver measurable ROI, unlocking further sports investments.

ADVICE

Use A Two-Layer Sponsorship Strategy

Split sponsorships into global IPs to scale and local teams to drive cultural relevance.
Use your market footprint to 'divide the cost' of global deals across territories to make top-tier rights affordable.

INSIGHT

F1 Requires Go-Big Or Go-Niche

F1 demands deep commitment and activation beyond logos; mid-tier exposure often underdelivers.
For Revolut, the choice was either go very small with product integration or go very big as a title-level partner.

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What does it cost for the biggest brands to sponsor the biggest sports? Why do they do it? How do they choose what to put their name to?

The money behind sport is a primary feature of the show, but it’s normally from the perspective of the sports property. How big a sponsorship can Liverpool attract and what does it do to the bottom line. So to kick off the new year, we thought we’d change that. Antoine Le Nel is the Chief Marketing Officer of Revolut, the global challenger bank now investing millions into multiple sports properties, most notably as Audi’s new title sponsor for their debut F1 season.

The reasoning behind this move, a look at how brands recognise value, how they justify spend; this was all part of a fascinating insight into the inflows of sport business. And it’s not just F1: women’s football, rugby, NFL, they’re all part of the growing portfolio Revolut are leveraging to develop the business in multiple markets. Antoine’s key explanation here is telling us why sport is such a powerful way for them and other top brands to do this.

On today’s show we discuss:

Why Revolut Went Big in Sport:

How the Audi Revolut F1 partnership came together and why F1 is a “go big or go home” sponsorship environment.
How Revolut’s growth strategy shifted five years ago from pure performance marketing to building a global brand.
Why sport became a critical upper-funnel lever to build credibility, open new segments, and compete with traditional banks.
The NBA partnership as the proof point that sport could deliver real ROI, not just awareness.

Global vs Local Sponsorship Strategy:

Why Revolut splits its sports portfolio into two layers: global IPs to differentiate at scale, and local teams to drive cultural relevance.
How operating in 39 markets gives Revolut a structural advantage when sponsoring truly global sports like Formula One.
Why most competitors simply cannot afford global sponsorships and how Revolut “divides the cost by 20” internally.

The Future of Sports Sponsorship:

Why teams must evaluate partners beyond cash, focusing on long-term IP growth and innovation.
How tech brands like Revolut and Spotify are reshaping how clubs think about sponsorship.
Why modern sponsorship is about partnership, product and shared growth, not logos and cheques.

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show:

Gemini Sports

We empower the most confident sports organisations on Earth https://geminisports.ai/