Copyright © BusinessAMBE 2023

Liberty Media, the company that has owned Formula One since 2017, has bought an 86 percent stake in Dorna Sports, owner of MotoGP, among others. As a result, the American company now has a majority stake in the top tier of car racing and motorcycle racing.

"We are excited to expand our portfolio of leading live sports and entertainment assets with the acquisition of MotoGP," Greg Maffei, top executive of Liberty Media, said in making the announcement. "MotoGP is a global competition with a loyal, enthusiastic fan base, exciting racing and a financial profile that generates a lot of cash flow."

  • MotoGP is the queen class when it comes to motorcycle racing. Its racers reach speeds of up to 360 kilometers per hour on circuits.
  • The sport has been around since 1949 and has grown steadily in recent years. Currently there are 21 races on five continents. In each, 22 drivers from 11 teams participate. The current championship is two races. On April 14, the next race is scheduled in the United States.
  • Many fans find MotoGP more exciting than Formula 1 because the outcome is much less predictable. Last year, for example, as many as eight different riders live a race, something that barely happened twice in F1 over the past 30 years.

Dorna Sports

In addition to MotoGP,Dorna Sports also owns the lesser-known championships Moto2, Moto3, MotoE, Superbike and the new Women's Motorcycling World Championship. In Moto2, we also find a talented Belgian with young Barry Baltus.

  • Liberty Media takes over 86 percent of Dorna Sports, while the current management retains 14 percent. Carmelo Ezpeleta, who has been CEO since 1994, will remain on board and the headquarters will also remain in Madrid.
  • For that 86 percent stake, Liberty Media will pay $3.5 billion (3.25 billion euros). That brings the estimated value of Dorna Sports to $4.2 billion (3.9 billion euros). The sale should be officially completed by the end of this year.

Future?

It is well known that the arrival of Liberty Media has been a golden move for Formula One. By introducing a salary cap, teams have become financially healthier and even less wealthy owners can dream of (limited) success. Extending the season to new markets also increased revenues tremendously. In addition, Formula 1's popularity grew, thanks in part to the Netflix series Drive to Survive, gigantic, especially in the United States.

  • Recently, Liberty Media reportedly rejected a $20 billion bid from Saudi Arabia for F1. However, it paid only $4.4 billion itself in 2017.

Liberty Media will now try to repeat that same success with MotoGP. That sport is very popular in certain markets, such as Spain, Italy, France and Japan, but clearly still has a lot of growth potential.

© The Content Exchange, source News