Marco Bezzecchi
Liberty Media have received unconditional approval from the European Union to take over MotoGP. It’s a takeover that insiders hope will lead to a surge in the sport’s popularity.
EU regulators had concerns about a potential monopoly because Liberty also hold the commercial rights for Formula 1. But there was growing confidence that the deal with Dorna Sports would go through, and confirmation arrived earlier this week.
The US conglomerate have spent just under £3.4bn on acquiring the rights. They paid a similar fee to take control of F1 just under a decade ago.
MotoGP underwent a rebrand at the end of the 2024 season as part of its efforts to reach a wider audience. That followed the introduction of Sprint races at every Grand Prix.
Fonsi Nieto says Liberty must bring back the fans that were lost when Valentino Rossi retired. The charismatic seven-time champion left the sport at the end of 2021, though he remains involved through his VR46 team.
Valentino Rossi will welcome potential MotoGP ‘Drive to Survive’ series
According to The Race, Liberty are ‘likely’ to commission a MotoGP equivalent of ‘Drive to Survive’ sooner rather than later. This could be the centrepiece of a revamped marketing operation.
The Formula 1 documentary has perhaps been the biggest contributor to the sport’s enormous growth in recent years. It divides the preceding season into a number of storylines, covering them through race clips, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.
Other sports have tried to emulate the success already. Golf series ‘Full Swing’ landed on Netflix in 2023, four years on from DTS’ debut, while tennis’ answer was called ‘Break Point’.
Dorna’s yearly documentaries, entitled ‘There Can Be Only One’, have followed a similar format. Amazon chronicled the 2021 season for ‘MotoGP Unlimited’, but Dorna scrapped a proposed second instalment.
“Formula 1 is funny and I think that it can be good for MotoGP fans that can understand better what’s happening behind the pit box,” Rossi said when that series was announced, via Autosport. “But it’s also good for people who don’t know MotoGP very well, and they can understand the way [it works].”
Will Jack Miller get the MotoGP rule change he wants under Liberty Media?
MotoGP fans may be divided if Liberty go ahead with this proposal. Many will be wary of the sport losing its unique identity should the new owners bring multiple ideas from the F1 paddock.
Ultimately, they will be most interested in what happens on the circuit. They will want to see better racing, particularly on Saturdays.
Marc Marquez has won all but one Sprint this year, and the format of the half-distance events arguably needs a shake-up.
Many of the riders will hope that Liberty’s plans drive up the teams’ revenues as they have done in F1, improving development budgets and salaries in the process. Jack Miller says MotoGP newcomers are poorly paid, and has already spoken to Dorna about a minimum sign-on fee.
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