Sports
How Taylor Swift’s F1 concert helped save the United States Grand Prix
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An earlier version of this article misidentified the manager in 2015 for Taylor Swift as Scooter Braun.
As Formula One returns to Austin, Texas, for this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, one of the sport’s other American venues is also occupied with a major event.
Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, the centerpiece for the grand prix held at the start of May, will be used for three nights of Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour, which begins its final stretch of North American dates this week.
Both F1 and Swift have experienced extraordinary surges of popularity in recent years in very different realms. But eight years ago, they shared top billing at the Circuit of The Americas.
The 2015 event, at which Swift played a concert on the Saturday night after qualifying, proved to be critical for the future of the United States Grand Prix, a race that has since been the cornerstone of F1’s rapid American growth.
“It was a big-dollar commitment at the time, and it paid off,” COTA chairman Bobby Epstein told The Athletic. “We’re grateful to Taylor for taking the chance.”
F1’s current foothold of three American races would have been unthinkable a decade ago when holding one grand prix stateside was a considerable achievement. There had been a five-year absence for F1 in America between the final event at Indianapolis in 2007 and its return in 2012 at COTA, the first purpose-built facility for the sport in the United States.
COTA quickly became one of the drivers’ favorite tracks thanks to its challenging, undulating layout, and it was popular with fans. The first year pulled in a Friday to Sunday race weekend attendance of 265,000 — which looks small compared to the 2022 record of 440,000, reported by F1 — as crowds flocked to see the sport’s return to the United States. Even with a calendar fixture toward the end of each season, giving the potential of seeing a race that could influence the crucial part of a championship battle, there was a struggle to build greater interest. The weekend figures dropped to 250,000 for 2013 and lower still to 237,000 in 2014.
But the 2015 race left serious doubts over the future of the grand prix in Austin. As Hurricane Patricia brought record rainfall and high winds to Austin, FP2 was canceled, and qualifying was postponed to Sunday morning after three hours of rain delays. After long waits at the track hoping to see some on-track action, the disappointed fans had to contend with the grass parking lots turning into mud baths, making getting in and out of the track challenging.
Sunday’s grand prix went ahead on schedule as Lewis Hamilton clinched his third world championship, but weekend attendance dipped to a low of just 224,000, leading to concerns about the event’s popularity.
Hurricane Patricia made the 2015 U.S. GP a dour affair. (SIPA USA)
There was also a fresh challenge to fund the United States Grand Prix. In the weeks after the race, Governor Greg Abbott’s office announced it would cut $6 million in state funding for the grand prix. Bernie Ecclestone, then F1’s CEO, admitted at the time that it looked challenging to see a future for the race in Austin.
It left Epstein and his team looking for new ways to boost the event’s fortunes if they wanted to help secure the long-term future of F1’s only American grand prix.
“We had a lot of people very upset about the experience they had with the rain and the mud, and we needed to make it up to them,” Epstein said. “We put in a lot of sidewalks, and we paved a lot of parking lots, and we got a lot more buses. But on top of it, we wanted to do better and offer more.”
That is where Taylor Swift came into the picture.
Austin’s reputation as a music city meant adding concerts to the race weekend offering had always been a big part of COTA’s identity. Kid Rock and Elton John were among the first headliners, but as plans came together for 2016, Epstein and his team looked for the biggest star possible.
Epstein contacted Swift’s team, wanting to see if she would be interested in being the 2016 race headliner. Swift had no performances scheduled for the year, having spent the entirety of 2015 on her “1989” album world tour.
If any diehard Swifties were desperate to see her in concert that year, they would have to go to the F1 race. Suddenly, a United States Grand Prix ticket became much more valuable. A three-day general admission ticket started at $150 and would include access to the concert.
“We remember the massive amount of criticism we took from the race fans when we said we were going to bring in a performer like that, that it was taking attention away from the racing,” Epstein said.
Ecclestone was among those to share some concern, semi-jokingly asking Epstein if he should even bother to bring the F1 cars to COTA.
After watching Hamilton lead a Mercedes front row lockout in qualifying on Saturday, 80,000 fans stayed well into the evening at the track to watch Swift’s show from the infield, making it — at the time — one of her highest-attended shows. The 15-song set mainly featured songs from “1989” and “Red,” and there was no new material, but it did have a first performance of “This Is What You Came For,” a song that Swift wrote for Calvin Harris and Rihanna.
The concert received rave reviews. Billboard called it a “knockout performance,” while Rolling Stone said, “it showed no drop off or rust from a star determined to remain one of the biggest names in music for a long time to come.” How true that would prove.
Swift closed out the set with “Shake It Off,” which fit the mood of COTA’s weekend. After all the struggles of the previous year, it had drawn a record crowd of almost 270,000 fans who enjoyed good weather and good music on top of the racing action. It was an important bounce-back after the 2016 washout, proving that F1 had a bright future in Austin.
It also helped draw in a very different demographic of attendees as younger fans, more women and more families attended. “When we look back, we feel validated for the vision that this group had to do that and offer more to the race fan and allow them to bring family members,” Epstein said. “You can give a very full amount of entertainment, and not at all compromise the quality of the on-track action. You don’t have to take anything away from the race by giving more to the fans.”
The change in F1’s fan demographic to become younger and more diverse has been a core part of its recent growth, particularly in the “Drive to Survive” era. But Epstein felt COTA had been ahead of the curve thanks to its off-track offerings.
“I don’t know if we’re given any credit for it, but we’ll take it because it’s true,” he said. “We started (it), we did. We got a much younger audience starting to watch and pay attention to that, because of Taylor, Justin Timberlake (the 2018 headliner), and Ed Sheeran (2022).
“You start looking at some of those, and that’s who was paying attention to those artists, with Instagram and things that people post on, it very quickly reaches that demographic and that generation.”
Fans explored the track during qualifying as they waited for the Taylor Swift concert. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
COTA’s model of having a huge headliner perform on a race weekend has become common in F1. Under Liberty Media, which completed its acquisition of F1 in early 2017, grands prix have now been turned into multi-day events where the off-track entertainment is a big part of its offering to fans.
However, even with the addition of new American events in Miami and Las Vegas, each of which has its own appeal, the concerts have remained a big part of the United States Grand Prix’s identity in Austin. Sting will headline on Friday before Eminem performs on Saturday night. Like Swift in 2016, it will be his only live show of the year.
Epstein expected that with changes made at the track to allow even more fans to attend, it would likely break Swift’s record at COTA and draw in a crowd of 100,000 people.
“It’s a fun event to play, just the way that the whole setting is,” Epstein said. “I think the agents and the performers know about it now. It has credibility, and it’s something that they want to be named the headliner for the United States Grand Prix.
“Playing at the halftime of the Super Bowl is a pretty well-recognized honor for performers. I think playing the US Grand Prix is also an honor.”
With more than 12 months until the 2025 race — which will mark 10 years since F1’s low point in Austin, when the future of the sport in the United States looked to be in doubt once again — Epstein is already engaged in conversations about the next headliners. He said getting a big name was “somewhat expected of us.”
“I know the conversations we’re having for 2025,” he said. “I’m pretty excited about it.”
Top photo: Sipa USA
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ATLANTA — The FBI and Atlanta Police Department are getting ready for a massive security operation ahead of the World Cup semifinals between England and Argentina at Atlanta Stadium.
Both agencies have used drones to search for potential threats on the ground and in the sky. The FBI is enforcing the Federal Aviation Administration’s Temporary Flight Restrictions around the venue.
The FBI has confiscated more than 600 drones nationwide since the World Cup began. Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Atlanta Field Office Marlo Graham said 86 of those drones were seized in Atlanta.
Graham said the FBI uses a “mechanism” that allows agents to see unauthorized drones in restricted airspace. Agents then work to mitigate the threat posed by unknown drones.
“We’ve been able to safely land drones that have been unauthorized in the flight restricted area,” Graham said.
The FBI has confiscated more than 600 drones at World Cup events since the tournament started. (FBI Atlanta)
While the FBI treats every drone as a potential threat, Graham said the threat level can increase depending on the size of the drone and how close it gets to the stadium.
“Obviously, the closer to the venue, the larger the crowd. We are fortunate here in Atlanta that we have a closed dome stadium,” Graham said. “We don’t want the game to be impacted because a hobbyist couldn’t control their drone, and it lands right when one of our star players was getting ready to score a goal.”
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The Atlanta Police Department’s Drone Unit has helped the FBI track down people suspected of flying in restricted zones.
Sgt. Kindu Franklin said most of the people caught flying drones around World Cup venues are hobbyists with no intent to harm the crowd of soccer fans below.
“In some cases, they just recently bought a drone just for FIFA to get some of the cool footage that they want to put up on their social media,” Franklin said. “There are different ways that you can weaponize these drones. So, we’re operating in a proactive manner.”
The Atlanta Police Department’s drone mission at the World Cup focuses on surveillance. (FOX)
The Atlanta Police Department’s drone mission is focused on surveillance. Officers are looking for potential threats, traffic issues and people the FBI suspects are flying drones illegally.
“So, what we want to do is give our command staff a view that they can’t get from the ground,” Sgt. James Cunningham with APD’s Drone Unit said.
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Cunningham’s unit can launch drones remotely from handheld controllers. Other drones are launched from docking stations strategically placed across the city, and officers control them from the back of an SUV using a computer and a PlayStation controller.
The Atlanta Police Department launches some drones from docks strategically placed across the city. They are controlled by a computer and a PlayStation controller. (Fox News)
The drone docks are used year-round to help the police get an aerial view of emergency situations before officers arrive. The computer shows the drone pilot where all the police body cameras and vehicles are in the area, allowing them to communicate better with officers on the ground.
For the World Cup, the drone docks let the department have more eyes in the sky and respond to emergencies faster.
“It’s going to cut down time. We’re going to get there quick. And then you’re going to get an aerial perspective of what you can’t see on the ground,” Cunningham said.
The Atlanta Police Department launches some drones from docks to get more eyes in the sky and respond to emergencies faster. (Fox News)
Cunningham said the drone unit has completed more than 1,400 flights and logged more than 550 flight hours since the beginning of June.
“Some people haven’t even done that in years or haven’t even reached those numbers in the life of their drone unit,” Cunningham said.
“We train for the environment. We live here, so we know what to expect,” Anais Paredes, an APD drone pilot, said.
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The FBI is asking that hobbyist drone pilots know the Temporary Flight Restrictions in their area before taking off.
There is a one-mile restriction around World Cup stadiums on non-match days, and a three-mile restriction on game day.
LAS VEGAS — From the time Austin Reaves joined the Lakers in 2021 as an undrafted prospect, his basketball life centered around playing with a savant in LeBron James.
That no longer will be the case.
Reaves re-signed with the Lakers on a four-year, $180-million deal, but James decided to move on as he prepares to play an unprecedented 24th season.
Reaves was stunned when he heard about James’ decision while playing golf in Lake Tahoe. Nearly two weeks later, Reaves says he still is trying to process the development.
“I kind of was thinking about it last night when I got here,” Reaves said Monday in his first news conference since re-signing. “Starting the season without him being on the team is going to be different for me. He’s kind of all I’ve ever known. Just him being around, joking around, acting like he’s 15. But that’s his decision and like I said in Tahoe, anytime I’ve talked about it, I got nothing but love and respect for him and yeah, let’s play some golf soon.”
The contract Reaves signed was the richest in NBA history for an undrafted player. At 28 and entering his sixth season, Reaves wanted to stay in L.A.
“I wanted to be a Laker the whole time. We had that period from when the season ended until the first [of July] to get something done and we figured it out before then,” he said. “My heart was in L.A. the whole time.”
Reaves will become one of the de facto leaders of the Lakers along with Luka Doncic. The two once again will be one of the most dynamic backcourts in the NBA.
“Obviously my relationship with the guys that were on the team last year,” Reaves said of why he wanted to stay. “And then Luka. I mean, he’s one of my best friends on this planet. Talk to him almost every single day. He sends me videos of his golf swing and asks me what he can do to get better and I tell him I’m not a coach.”
The Lakers have overhauled the roster: All the players who started alongside Reaves in the playoffs last spring are gone. With the signing of former Brooklyn Nets forward Ziaire Williams on Monday, the Lakers have eight new players, all of them arriving either via trades, free agency or the draft.
“They’re good,” Reaves said of the moves. “Obviously, I’ve been with the guys that are leaving for a couple years and with Bron for five years and I hate to see guys like that go. But the pieces that are coming in, I’m very excited about and I’m happy to get started today and see where it goes.”
Walker Kessler dunks during a game between the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers on March 23.
(Rob Gray / Associated Press)
One of those new players is Walker Kessler, a 7-foot-2 center the Lakers felt fit best around Doncic and Reaves because he’s a lob threat, rim-protector and good defender and is developing his three-point shooting.
The Lakers got him from the Utah Jazz in a trade and then signed him to a four-year, $130-million contract. The Lakers sent out two unprotected first-round picks (2031, 2033) and two first-round pick swaps (2028, 2030).
Kessler, who played only five games last season after having surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, is aware the Lakers paid a big price to get him.
“It definitely makes you feel a certain way when you know an organization believes in you,” Kessler said Monday in his introduction. “And I think what they’ve invested, they’re showing that belief in a monetary value, not just with money, but like you said, assets. And for me, I’m somebody that if I know that they have that belief in me, I’m gonna run through a brick wall for them. That’s just how I’ve been wired my whole life and it definitely makes it a lot easier to go out there and compete for a team.”
Power forward Sandro Mamukelashvili could become a fan favorite, in part because of the tattoo he has on his lower left leg — a No. 24 in honor of Kobe Bryant.
Mamukelashvili, who signed a four-year, $52-million deal, averaged 11.2 points last season with the Toronto Raptors and shot 52.3% from the field, including 38.9% from three-point range.
“I got a Mamba Mentality tattoo. I just love his mindset,” Mamukelashvili said. “Growing up, I used to always say, “Mah-moo Mentality!’ So, I know it’s a little far from each other. But we are getting closer.”
When guard Collin Sexton, another new Laker, was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018, James left and signed with the Lakers. When Sexton signed a two-year, $19-million deal with the Lakers this month, James left again.
Sexton could only laugh about missing out on playing with James.
“He’s just leaving every time I arrive,” Sexton said, laughing. “That’s what it is. No, but one of the other coaches made the same joke yesterday. It’s cool, I know. I’ve always wanted to team up with him for sure, but it’s definitely cool knowing him and just having normal conversations and stuff, so that’s cool.”
Sexton averaged 15.4 points and shot 48.5% last season with Chicago and Charlotte. He’s ready for whatever role coach JJ Redick and the Lakers want for him.
“They believe in me,” he said. “And I just feel like at the end of the day, whenever a coach believes in you and like he said, he’s going to be hard on me and yelling and screaming at me. So, I like that. I think that’s what gets the best from me.”
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WWE will swing for the fences for the second straight year when it hosts one of its major premium live events of the year at a Major League Baseball ballpark.
The company announced on Monday that Survivor Series: WarGames will take place at Daikin Park in Houston – the home of the Astros – on Saturday, Nov. 28. It follows up the success of last year’s Survivor Series: WarGames event, which took place at Petco Park in San Diego – the home of the Padres.
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Roman Reigns lands a Superman Punch on Brock Lesnar during Survivor Series at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif., on Nov. 29, 2025. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
“Houston is the perfect host city to celebrate this milestone chapter in Survivor Series’ storied history, and we look forward to partnering with Houston First and the Houston Astros to deliver an unforgettable event,” WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque said in a news release.
WarGames is a highly anticipated match, which has taken place yearly among wrestlers on the WWE roster since 2022. The premium live event has also seen some dramatic returns.
Stephanie Vaquer enters the ring during Survivor Series at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images)
In 2023, CM Punk came back to WWE at the end of the show and shocked the entire sports world. Randy Orton also made his in-ring return during the match. Last year, a mystery attacker interrupted the WarGames match and gave the win to The Vision and company.
It’s unclear what is in the cards right now for the 40th edition of the event.
“We are proud to be able to help bring one of the world’s premier entertainment brands to Houston for what promises to be an unforgettable holiday weekend,” said Michael Heckman, President and CEO of Houston First, which partnered with WWE to bring the event back to Houston.
Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio celebrate their win during Survivor Series at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
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“Hosting WWE Survivor Series will bring thousands of passionate fans to our city and generate a significant economic impact for community. Houston has earned a reputation for delivering world-class entertainment events, and we look forward to welcoming the WWE Universe to our destination.”
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