Liberty Media, the people who currently own the controlling interest in Formula One, GP2, and GP3, have bought—or perhaps that should be they are hoping to buy—Dorna Sports, the people who own MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3, and WorldSBK.
Since the announcement, the motorsport media has been awash with articles, conjectures, rumours, and generalised mutterings, all based on the press releases.
Dorna and Liberty are holding a “Special Press Conference” on Thursday (11th April 2024) at 12:00 Texas Time (UTC -5) from the Circuit Of The Americas, which will be broadcast live and free of charge on motogp.com.
According to the press release, Liberty Media paid a whopping 4.2 Billion Euros, for which they will get an 86% stake in Dorna and all it controls (evidently).
For that amount of money, Liberty Media will have a solid plan for the future. As to whether they will share any of the details at the press conference, I’ll have to tune in to find out.
Edit: I did tune in. It was a waste of time. The body language between the three participants was massively negative. Not one of them appeared to want to be there.
Voting Shares
I’m a lot more interested in motorcycles than I am in buying companies, and even if I had the money, I would have no idea of what is involved. However, I’m told the percentage of the shares you own is one thing, and voting shares is another.
You could, for example, own 40% of the shares but only have one vote.
What happens next for MotoGP in terms of venues, marketing, TV hosting rights, and all of the other things that have been discussed in the media will depend on the voting rights that go with the shares – or so I’m told.
Yet, for 4.2 billion Euros, you would expect Liberty to have the biggest voice when it comes to decision-making.
Then there is the question of how “leveraged” Dorna is, which I’m told is Stock Market speak for how much has been borrowed against future revenues.
The concept of someone trousering four billion euros and riding off into the sunset isn’t what is happening, but there will be some happy people.
Liberty Media Monopoly
The one question that I can’t find an answer to is whether the deal between Liberty Media and Dorna has been blessed by whatever Government Department needs to say it is OK or if that is even a consideration.
Some articles say the EU Commission needs to give its blessing. Others say there are American AntiTrust laws to satisfy, and a third suggests the whole thing will be done in Switzerland, and everyone can get over themselves.
The rock in the road is that this deal could give Liberty Media – buy owning 86% of Dorna – an unfair advantage when negotiating with Circuits and TV companies.
Liberty Media would have a commanding position if it controlled MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3, the FIM Enel MotoE World Championship, the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, and the new FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship, plus everything that Formula One has under its umbrella.
Whether the takeover is allowed will become clear over the coming weeks, as owning something isn’t automatically bad.
Liberty Media is in the money-making business, and for that, it needs us. It doesn’t make money if they create a product we don’t want to watch. Liberty Media didn’t cough up €4.2 billion without a plan to expand the sport.
The Racing
On average, a MotoGP main race lasts around 40 minutes. Two days of practice sessions and qualifying, with a sprint race on Saturday, aim to make the 40-minute main race the weekend’s climax.
Yet, if one person wins most of the races in dominant fashion, the spectacle the weekend has been building towards turns into a drab affair, leaving fans unfulfilled.
We all remember the Rossi passes on Stoner and Lorenzo more easily than Marques winning by ten or more seconds.
More Than Forty Minutes
Those forty minutes are mostly a one-time deal. They happen, and the results are all over the world within minutes. We now have to wait for the build-up to start again.
We dream of close racing with unpredictable outcomes to sustain us through the wait, but that alone won’t get us through the gate when the circus comes to town.
The TV is a much better viewing option if it is just the racing you want to watch. The TV talking heads can be interesting, but most of the content is overly sanitised for fear of the (so-called) backlash they would receive for anything even mildly controversial, and the pre-recorded interviews are typically an exercise in corporate messaging.
Yet to watch the racing, the TV coverage is by far the best way to consume it.
Bums On Seats
Attendance at racing meetings appears to be falling. Looking at the empty seats in the ironically named “stands” at the Catalunya round of World Superbikes was disappointing and partly attributed to the Portuguese MotoGP race being held at Portimão on the same weekend. But I’m not so sure.
I skipped MotoGP even though it was shown on free-to-air TV and watched World SBK, as the racing in 2024 has so far been epic. Last year was pretty good, too.
WorldSBK is shown on Eurosport—live and on-demand—and for less than £40 for the whole year. Plus, I get British Super Bikes, too.
I have no idea what will happen in 2025. Like Liberty Media, TNT Sports didn’t buy the sports channels without a plan.
In the UK, the official MotoGP Season Video Pass – not TNT Sports – costs 200 Euros. Interestingly, it is sold for 140 Euros in the USA, Vietnam, Mexico, Latvia, and most other places worldwide.
But MotoGP doesn’t interest me enough to justify the fee. I couldn’t extract 200 euros worth of entertainment from it. Perhaps Liberty will fix that or lower the price so it’s on par with WorldSBK. [I’ll buy the drinks if that happens: Ed.]
Catch-22
The advertisers generally prefer free-to-air coverage, as this exposes their brands to the widest audience and is something they will pay a premium for.
Subscription TV reduces the audience but makes more money for the commercial rights holder.
If the teams can’t attract sponsors or, more importantly, their money in sufficient quantity because of the lack of free-to-air TV time, then the commercial rights holder is typically found sharing some of its larger profits with the teams to help them stay racing.
Racing appears to have a natural balance. Companies are willing to invest a certain amount of money, and there is a cost to racing. The two figures are equal, and the money flow is typically enabled by the commercial rights holder.
It will be fascinating to see how Liberty Media strikes that balance while also moving the sport of motorcycle racing forward.
Silverstone – British GP
There is a general feeling that Silverstone isn’t a track that benefits the spectator. The track may be challenging from a rider’s perspective, but for those watching, the action is a bit too far away.
To help solve this problem, circuits install giant screens for us to watch. Is it just me who sees the irony in going to a circuit to watch the racing on a giant outdoor TV?
There is also often talk of jacked-up ticket prices and rip-off refreshments at Silverstone. The Brits never seem to match the value of the same events in Europe, where coffee tastes like coffee and costs 3 euros rather than something from a portable vending machine, the cost of which makes my wallet wince.
That said, I could be tempted to visit Silverstone this year, having just looked at the ticket prices.
A roam anywhere ticket, including some of the covered grandstands, on Friday is £30, and something similar on Saturday is £60, including the evening concerts.
There are also deals for three-day tickets at £110, which match the prices at Le Mans and Assen. The cost of staying for the weekend is a wide-ranging topic, although I did spot some “trackside” accommodation for £160 a night.
Compared to a music concert, that is outstanding value. I’ll have to go, even if it is only for one day, to see if the atmosphere matches the chilled-out, enjoyable day with like-minded people that European races can create.
And Parking, the subject that irritated so many people in earlier years … a car costs £10 to £20, depending on the day, while motorcycle parking is FREE. Yes, FREE, as in nothing. Nice …
Translations
We need to translate some of the terms used in the article for those unfamiliar with conversational English.
Whopping – something that is very large.
Leveraged – This is where a company or individual has borrowed against projected future earnings.
Trousering – slang for the amount of money, generally in cash, you receive for something without needing to pay any debts.
