How Ferrari Sells $400K Cars to 25-Year-Olds (While the NFL Can't Sell $50 Streaming Subscriptions)
An data driven analysis of why a luxury car brand understands Gen Z better than America's biggest sport
I just pulled data that's going to fundamentally challenge how every sports executive in America thinks about their business.
Ferrari—yes, the company that makes $400,000 supercars—just revealed that 40% of their buyers are now under 40 years old. Meanwhile, the NFL can't convince anyone under 40 to pay for a $50 Sunday Ticket subscription.
As someone who's been to Maranello, watches every F1 race at ungodly hours, and has actually driven a 488 at Fiorano, I'm deeply embedded in the Ferrari ecosystem. But this isn't about my passion for the Prancing Horse. This is about Ferrari understanding digital marketing and generational wealth transfer better than the biggest sports league in America.
And after analyzing the data, the NFL deserves to get lapped.
The Ferrari Transformation: Data That Defies Logic
I went deep into Ferrari's investor documents—the same ones I read quarterly because understanding luxury brand economics is part of what we do at The Jonas Agency. The transformation is remarkable.
According to Ferrari's 2023 Capital Markets Day presentation:
Average buyer age is dropping yearly
Order books are at record levels (18-month wait for an SF90)
Revenue per car increased 19%
Stock price doubled since 2022
They're not discounting to attract younger buyers. The Purosangue starts at $400,000 and has a three-year waitlist. They're getting more expensive while getting younger customers.
Meanwhile, the NFL is practically begging people to watch Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime.
The Demographic Disaster: NFL vs. F1
Let's examine the NFL's "young fan problem"—and after watching Formula 1 explode in America, this comparison is particularly damning.
NFL viewership demographics:
Average viewer age: 50 years old
Under-35 viewership: Down 23% since 2016
Sunday Ticket subscribers under 40: Less than 30%
Compare that to F1's US growth:
500K average viewers in 2018
1.4 million average viewers in 2023
Average viewer age: 32 and dropping
The NFL has been America's dominant sport for decades and they're hemorrhaging young fans. F1 just arrived and they're capturing them in droves.
The Identity Economy: Products vs. Belonging
Ferrari figured out what Liberty Media understood when they bought Formula 1: Young people don't buy products. They buy identities.
Ferrari isn't selling cars. They're selling:
The legacy of Enzo Ferrari and 75 years of racing heritage
30 million Instagram followers worth of lifestyle content
Gaming presence that creates brand imprinting from childhood
Carbon neutrality (yes, the V12 company went green before the NFL)
The NFL is selling:
The same jerseys from 1995
$14 beers at stadiums
TV packages nobody under 40 wants
Fantasy football (which they didn't even invent)
Ferrari builds culture around the Prancing Horse. The NFL milks nostalgia while wondering why it doesn't resonate with people who weren't alive for Joe Montana.
The Digital Traffic Reality
Using SEMrush data—the same tools we use at The Jonas Agency for client analysis—the contrast is striking:
Ferrari.com:
15.8 million monthly organic traffic
Hypebeast covering their fashion drops
Hodinkee featuring their watch collaborations
Every automotive and lifestyle outlet covering the 12Cilindri launch
NFL.com:
45 million monthly traffic (impressive, right?)
But 80% is just checking scores and fantasy lineups
Zero lifestyle integration beyond game day
No cultural relevance in fashion, art, or broader culture
When Ferrari unveils a car, Architectural Digest covers it. The NFL's creative peak is teams making actually impressive videos... to announce when they're playing the Jaguars.
The Marketing Spend Paradox
This is where the data becomes almost insulting to traditional marketers:
The NFL spends $100+ million annually on marketing.
Ferrari? Maybe $10 million on traditional marketing. Their Formula 1 racing program IS the marketing.
But look at engagement rates:
Ferrari social posts: 5.2% average engagement
Charles Leclerc alone: 14 million Instagram followers
NFL social posts: 0.6% average engagement
Most NFL players: Unknown outside fantasy football rosters
Ferrari spends 10x less for 8x more engagement because racing creates content. The NFL creates commercials people skip.
The Gaming Gateway: Building Fans from Age 8
Every child who's ever played a racing game has driven a Ferrari. I learned what a 250 GTO was in Gran Turismo. I memorized the F40's specifications before I could legally drive.
Ferrari's gaming strategy:
Gran Turismo: Teaching Ferrari history to millions
Forza: Where kids learn every model
F1 games: Where you become Charles Leclerc
Mobile games: Constant brand presence
Cost to Ferrari? Licensing deals that likely generate profit.
Result? Brand familiarity from childhood that converts to purchases decades later.
The NFL's gaming presence:
Madden: A monopoly everyone despises
No innovation in 20 years
Same game with updated rosters
How does Formula 1 have better video games than American football? Because one treats gaming as brand building, the other as a revenue line item.
The Values Revolution
Ferrari—maker of V12 supercars—achieved carbon neutrality in 2023. They're developing hydrogen combustion technology. They're investing in synthetic fuels to preserve the combustion engine sustainably.
Why? Because even Ferrari enthusiasts care about the planet's future.
What Ferrari understands:
You can love performance AND sustainability
Heritage can coexist with innovation
Exclusivity doesn't mean exclusion
Fans want leadership, not just products
What the NFL misses:
Young fans demand values alignment
Social responsibility matters more than wins
Access beats exclusivity
Tradition without evolution becomes irrelevance
The Revenue Reality Check
Here's the metric that should keep NFL executives awake at night:
Ferrari generates $600 per fan. The NFL generates $60.
But the real story is customer lifetime value.
Ferrari's 40-year customer journey:
Age 8: Playing Gran Turismo (free brand imprinting)
Age 15: First purchase ($50 Ferrari hat)
Age 18-25: Gaming and merchandise ($500)
Age 25: Ferrari driving experience ($2,000)
Age 35: First car purchase (used 458 for $300K)
Age 45+: Collection building (millions)
The NFL's customer journey:
Watch games
Buy jersey
Maybe season tickets
Get priced out
Ferrari plays a 40-year game. The NFL plays for next Sunday.
The F1 Blueprint: How Racing Conquered America
Want proof this strategy works? Look at Formula 1's American expansion.
When Liberty Media acquired F1, they implemented Ferrari's playbook:
Netflix's Drive to Survive: Creating identity content
Miami and Vegas races: Experiences over tradition
Social media: Drivers as accessible personalities
Gaming and esports: Building young audiences
Result? F1 went from irrelevance to selling out Las Vegas at $2,000 per ticket.
The NFL had every advantage—home market, established fanbase, unlimited budget. F1 had to explain what DRS meant. Guess which sport is growing?
The Jonas Agency Perspective
At The Jonas Agency, we study brands that understand generational wealth transfer and identity marketing. Ferrari gets it. Formula 1 gets it.
The NFL? They're still running television commercials and wondering why TikTok exists.
The playbook is visible to everyone:
Build identity, not just viewership
Create content through your product (races ARE content)
Treat gaming as marketing, not licensing revenue
Stand for something beyond winning
Think lifetime value, not Sunday revenue
Ferrari transformed car ownership into cultural identity. Formula 1 turned racing into must-see entertainment. The NFL turned football into an expensive cable subscription.
The Bottom Line
I'll be at Circuit of the Americas for the US Grand Prix. Paddock Club tickets cost more than NFL season tickets. They're sold out. To people under 40.
Ferrari doesn't sell cars. They sell the dream of being Ferrari.
The NFL sells access to watch a game.
In 10 years, one of these models will thrive while the other becomes a cautionary tale about refusing to evolve. And it won't be the one with the Prancing Horse that fails.
The data is clear: When a company selling $400,000 cars better understands young consumers than a sport giving away content for free, the problem isn't the market. It's the marketing.
Want to build identity-driven marketing that creates lifetime customer value? Contact The Jonas Agency to discuss how we can transform your brand from product to identity.
