Liberty Media’s made a successful business of racing on four wheels. Now, it’s time for two wheels.
owner Liberty Media is finally set to complete a deal to take control of motorcycle racing series MotoGP after receiving approval from the European Commission.
Liberty Media said Monday the “unconditional” approval was the last step in completing the deal to buy 84% of Spain-based MotoGP rights holder Dorna Sports. It values Dorna at 4.3 billion euros ($4.97 billion), Liberty said.
“MotoGP is a highly attractive premium sports asset with incredible racing, a passionate fanbase and a strong cash flow profile,” Liberty Media president and CEO Derek Chang said in a statement.
“We believe the sport and brand have significant growth potential, which we will look to realize through deepening the connection with the core fan base and expanding to a wider global audience.”
Liberty said the deal, which was in April 2024, could go through by July 3.
The process was held up in December when the European Commission opened what it called an “in-depth investigation” into whether the agreement would hike the cost of broadcast rights for motorsports events.
The European Commission said its investigation found F1 and MotoGP are “not close competitors for the licensing of broadcasting rights for sports content” in national markets, and that broadcasters would be able to choose from other sports with similarly large audiences.
“Therefore, the transaction will not remove important competitive constraints between Formula 1 and MotoGP,” the commission said in a statement.
Liberty Media immediately transformed how F1 was run when it took over in 2017. The U.S. company installed its own people in key positions to end decades with Bernie Ecclestone in charge.
This time, it’s keeping key staff in place.
MotoGP management keeps a minority stake and long-time Dorna chief executive Carmelo Ezpeleta remains in charge of MotoGP. But Liberty said he will be joined on the Dorna board by Chase Carey and Sean Bratches, two veterans of in 2017. They were part of its efforts to grow and modernize F1 as a business, especially in the United States.
Since then, F1 has attracted a new audience through the Netflix docu-series “Drive To Survive” and expanded its calendar to a record 24 races, including lucrative new showpieces in locations like Miami, Las Vegas and Saudi Arabia.
MotoGP is running a 22-race calendar this year. It includes events in markets where F1 has either never raced, like Indonesia, the Czech Republic and Thailand, or hasn’t raced in years, like Argentina and Malaysia.
Four of the MotoGP races are in Spain, with only one in the U.S., at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in March. The Circuit of the Americas is one of five tracks which host both F1 and MotoGP this year.
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