The US group combines MotoGP and Formula 1 under one roof

As soon as the billion-dollar deal for the motorcycle world championship became known, the first critics came forward, disguised as guardians of an honest and down-to-earth motorsport. They asked, only half ironically, whether under the rule of Liberty Media, in addition to the popular Netflix documentary “Drive to Survive,” there would now also be a “Ride to Survive” from the two-wheeler scene.

In fact, Liberty Media’s planned takeover of the MotoGP racing series looks like a blueprint for what the American Hollywood group did with Formula 1 in 2016. The strategy behind it: buy in, observe the practice for a while, set new marketing goals, make targeted changes to the management in order to then upgrade the racing series and its marketing – and collect money on behalf of the shareholders.

The successful development of Formula 1 has probably strengthened the Liberty Media owners in their desire to bring a second top motorsport racing series under their own roof. There are enough parallels, as well as opportunities.

The Ezpeleta family is expected to retain 14 percent of the shares

What was once Zampano Bernie Ecclestone in the premier class on four wheels is now in MotoGP the Spaniard Carmelo Ezpeleta, who has been running the various classes of the Motorcycle World Cup since 1992 with the marketing agency Dorna, then the Superbike and MotoE World Cups contracts that have been in place for decades.

Unlike Ecclestone, who was quickly demoted to breakfast director after the takeover by Liberty Media and ultimately left the paddock rich but indignant, Ezpeleta and his son Carlos, as sports director, will continue to run the day-to-day business of the sometimes very idiosyncratic motorbike leagues. The family will retain 14 percent of the shares. This type of executive action could also please the European Union’s Competition Commission, which is expected to approve the deal by the end of the year.

The plan to own both premier classes of top motorsport is not new. In 2006, however, the investment company Capital Partners CVC had to get rid of its stake in the Motorcycle World Championship after taking over Formula 1 in addition to MotoGP.

Liberty Media is now paying 4.2 billion euros to Dorna’s main investor Bridgepoint Capital for 86 percent of the MotoGP series, which represents a huge increase compared to the 500 million euros for which CVC had to sell its shares in 2006 at the behest of the competition watchdog. The sum seems even more impressive when compared to the 3.93 billion euros that were due eight years ago for the acquisition of the Formula 1 rights. However, Liberty Media had also taken on debts amounting to 3.2 billion euros at the time, so the actual purchase price paid for the racing car series was significantly higher.

Liberty Media Manager Greg Maffei is clear that he has to change MotoGP carefully and cannot prioritize pure profit for his own pocket. “That can only go hand in hand,” he promised in a conversation with investors on Monday. In Formula 1, the value of one’s own company increased primarily because the audience base was first broadened.

First, enthusiasm for the sport must be aroused so that demand increases and with it the viewer revenue, which drives everything. That worked in Formula 1, said Maffei, and he also had a good feeling about the motorcycle series: “It’s an incredible product with tremendous excitement, that’s why we don’t want to change the sport at all.” That sounded like a clear rejection of street races, which Formula 1 is increasingly organizing in order to succeed in the big cities and thus in the most lucrative markets.

The growth hasn’t hurt the sport so far

When it comes to the excitement and racing action, the leading motorcycle series don’t have to shy away from comparison with Formula 1. As far as the monetization of sport is concerned, yes. In 2022, the promoter Dorna Sports generated sales of 474.8 million euros; Formula 1 is reporting record revenue of 2.99 billion euros for 2023, which means another increase of 25 percent compared to the previous year. The distributions to the Formula 1 teams alone are three times as high as Dorna’s total sales.

The desired development of the MotoGP series should therefore be clear, and of course it will be about synergy effects. Under Liberty Media, Formula 1’s social media presence has exploded; The growth rate among women is in the strong double-digit range, and interest among young people is also growing rapidly. With the exception of the Spaniard Marc Márquez, MotoGP currently also has a personnel problem; for too long they have relied solely on Valentino Rossi as an attraction.

MotoGP has already made its first attempts at approaching the important and long-neglected US market, and this will certainly now be intensified. But in order to achieve global and growing significance, the Motorcycle World Championship needs a strong partner like Liberty Media, who will primarily drive forward the profitable television business and partnerships with global brands. Something similar happened after the takeover of Formula 1, and its growth has so far not harmed anyone – not even the sport.

The Liberty Media managers have already made it clear that the broadcasting rights for two- and four-wheeled sports will not be negotiated together as a package. They still have many ideas about how the reach of MotoGP can be significantly increased in a changing media landscape.

The deal should have been announced at the start of the season at the beginning of March, but apparently the contract poker was not yet concluded at that time. Qatar’s investment fund and entertainment company TKO, which owns the UFC martial arts league, also showed strong interest. The timing of the takeover is good: the next race on the Motorcycle World Championship calendar is the US Grand Prix in Austin on April 14th – a home race for Liberty Media.