Insane new sport that America’s richest sports stars are pumping MILLIONS into: ‘Real life Star Wars’

Lewis Hamilton versus Max Verstappen. Mercedes versus Ferrari. These are the battles that have become synonymous with racing. Now, it’s a matchup of Tom Brady versus LeBron James that’s making waves.

The pair are duking it out as team owners in E1, an all-electric power boating series dubbed the ‘Formula 1 of the water’.

Set amid the sun-soaked backdrops of the world’s most beautiful maritime locations, the sport has become a magnet for the rich and famous, with VIP hospitality rivaling F1’s star-studded Miami Grand Prix. 

The stars are there to see revolutionary RaceBird boats – which look like they were modeled after Star Wars’ X-wings – race on behalf of their celebrity-backed teams.

In January, under the searing heat in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, NBA icon James became the sport’s latest famous investor.

He joined the growing list of celebrity team owners, which includes seven-time Super Bowl winner Brady, former Chelsea F.C. striker Didier Drogba, tennis legend Rafael Nadal, cricket icon Virat Kohli, Grammy-winning artist Marc Anthony, DJ Steve Aoki and Hollywood star Will Smith. 

The series is now four races into its second season, and former NASA engineer-turned-E1 CEO Rodi Basso has teased that there is more to come.

‘We have nine teams now. We will get to 12,’ he told the Daily Mail, after unveiling James’s Team AlUla.

‘We’re not in a rush to get there,’ he added. ‘We want to make sure now that we have the caliber of the team owners and that the people backing the teams are aligned with our vision.’

Despite the seven Super Bowls, four NBA championships, 22 Grand Slams, Premier League titles and Grammy Awards to their names, the blockbuster fleet of owners are not mere figureheads – it is truly all hands on deck.

Racer Anna Glennon says the input of Team Miami owner Marc Anthony has been invaluable. ‘I’ve really bonded with Marc, especially over being in the spotlight,’ the former jet skier told the Daily Mail.

‘Here I am on TV racing boats, living my dream – that’s an emotional rollercoaster. But he’s done so much for me, even just telling me, “Don’t listen to what other people say. Focus on what you’re doing.”

‘For a man who is on tour 80% of the time in a different city every night to come to me as a human being and tell me things like that, it’s wonderful.’

Former ‘Champions of the Water’ Emma Kimiläinen and Sam Coleman, have an owner very familiar with the pressure of title defense. And somehow, in between juggling Fox Sports commentary and a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, Brady finds time to impart words of wisdom as they look to translate his success on the field to the water.

‘He is an integral part of the team,’ Coleman told the Daily Mail. ‘It’s not like he’s an owner that sits above everything. He’s really focused on being part of the team. It’s not a level of pressure he brings. It’s a level of confidence.

‘One of our core results last year, qualifying in Monaco – we thought we could have been a bit better. He was there with us, and he gave us the belief that we knew that we could come back better the next day. The pressure is very different to confidence, and he drives that throughout the team. We trust ourselves and we just keep delivering.’

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Scottish wonderkid Oban Duncan called former soccer star Drogba ‘family-oriented’ when it comes to his team.

Sara Price, who is a stuntwoman on the side, admits that she accidentally blinded Will Smith with champagne on the podium while celebrating a win with the team owner in Lake Como last year.

‘We want eyes on E1,’ Price said. ‘And the best way to do that is to get people [involved] who already have a bunch of eyeballs on them.’

The circuit inked a multi-year agreement with streaming platform DAZN earlier this year, granting it global broadcast rights (Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, Japan and more) for the final race of each grand prix weekend.

CBS already held the rights in the US, while viewers in the UK can catch the series on ITV.

The celebrity team owners also arm E1 with an arsenal of followers.

‘We were pleased last year with the results,’ Basso said. ‘We had something like between 150 and 200 million views of the videos per race. By adding LeBron James, we have a measurable reach of 1 billion people through socials.’

Born of the genius of Basso and former Spanish politician Alejandro Agag, E1’s RaceBirds, resemble a fighter jet crossed with a space rocket. The futuristic electric hydrofoil boats silently cut through water producing zero emissions. They are specifically designed to minimize disruption to life below the surface.

Running on batteries and electric motors charged by power banks, the RaceBirds can reach a speed of 57 mph, guaranteeing a fast-paced aquatic action.

Every team is composed of two pilots – one man and one woman. The concept has been a core value of E1 since its conception, ‘naturally fitting with our ethos,’ Basso said.

Each crew operates one RaceBird, with the pilots alternating as they both compete in the qualifying, group and final race stages of each grand prix. Their combined times contribute to their team’s overall result.

Conditions inside the boats require a surprisingly high level of cardio and exercise training in addition to mental preparation.

‘It’s incredibly hot. It’s like racing in a sauna,’ Coleman said. ‘It takes a lot of mental capacity. It’s an insane challenge.’

Along the edge of the glistening crystal water of Obhur Bay, Saudi Arabia, the Jeddah competition opened to a sold-out crowd. The 4,500 spectators were enthralled as the race boats whipped across the waves in a series of collisions and overtakes that resulted in a last-gasp victory for Aoki Racing Team.

Aoki, the international DJ, took in his team’s victory from the high-end Ocean Club, among the throngs of VIPs seeking solace in the oasis of air conditioning and five-star catering.

E1 is pairs the glitz and glam of luxury sports with the exhilaration of high-energy racing.

And while the celebrity-backed venture may now have the circuit on the right tack, it wasn’t always the intended route.

‘My initial idea was to go to all the manufacturers and replicate the McLaren fighting with Ferrari in the yacht industry,’ Basso explained. ‘But we had a few doors slammed in our face.

‘We gave up on that, and we thought of the idea to go even broader. To not focus on motorsport, but get celebrities that are recognized worldwide, involved in lifestyle, sport, entertainment and so on. At first, we approached them and we got a few in, like Rafa Nadal. Then others contacted us.’

E1 is no longer scraping the barrel. Instead, as Basso claimed, it is continuing to field requests from other celebrities and even countries as the circuit plans to expand across the globe. 

As for those yacht manufacturers that turned it down? Now, they’re the ones knocking. 

At the time of our interview, Basso said delegations from China and Japan were on the ground in Jeddah amid discussions about hosting races, while Oman and the UAE were vying for the final slot on the Middle East swing.

‘In five years’ time, we want to have around 15 races, roughly five in Asia, five spread out between Europe, Middle East and Africa, and five across North and South America,’ said Basso.

‘We are working on building another set of powerboats to spread them across different regions of the world. This way, we will be able to maybe race in Miami and two weeks later in Singapore. We don’t have to fly the freight, which is, of course, an added value pollution- and cost-wise.’

It appears to be all plain sailing but, according to Basso, there’s still one key ingredient missing: A female touch.

‘We have many conversations ongoing. We have people from football, athletics, singers. I confess I would like to have the Queen of E1,’ admitted Basso, who has previously floated Dua Lipa’s name. ‘We need to find a woman representing a team.’

While it has yet to crown its first female owner, the competition’s current roster of talent blended with its F1-style luxury and the promise of more to come is enough to keep E1 afloat.