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Reports have emerged in the Spanish press this week suggesting Formula 1 owner Liberty Media is looking to diversify its motorsport presence by trying to buy a controlling stake in MotoGP promoter Dorna.

As first reported in Spanish business and economics publication Expansion, Liberty is said to be in secret talks over a takeover of Dorna.

At face value, that doesn't come as a big surprise. There's been open speculation for some time that Dorna has been quietly placed on the market by current owner Bridgepoint Capital, while Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta hasn’t exactly been silent on the prospect of a sale in the coming months.

"The signs are always there," Ezpeleta told Italian newspaper Repubblica when asked about the prospect of a sale in December. "I confirm the rumours, but I would like to know who is spreading them.

Also because every day I receive two or three phone calls from credit institutions: they ask me if it is true that we are for sale. But the banks don't want to buy, no: they present themselves as intermediaries in the operation.

"I can only say one thing: we are ready."

There are other hints about the way that the business has quietly restructured financially in recent years that also suggests Bridgepoint has been preparing for a sale. The company has taken on substantial debt in the form of loans to pay out dividends to the currency owners - a standard business tactic ahead of a potential sale.

It’s also backed up by an industry opinion that says MotoGP is something of an undervalued property, especially compared to the way in which Liberty has turned F1 into a massively profitable venture in the years since its takeover, which has included an aggressive expansion strategy and the huge success of Netflix documentary Drive to Survive.

Dorna is currently 39% owned by investment fund Bridgepoint, with Canadian public pension fund CPPIB owning a further 31% (sold to it by Bridgepoint in 2012) and the Ezpeleta family the majority owners of a further 20% of the business held by a collection of current and former employees.

But given the very manner in which Bridgepoint acquired Dorna in 2006 - in a sale forced through by the EU’s competition regulator - it seems unlikely that the rumours of Liberty’s involvement stand to be anything substantially more than a sales tactic right now.

The controlling share of Dorna has been owned by Bridgepoint since then, when previous owner CVC Capital Investment was forced to sell it by the EU’s competition commissioner. That was part of the process for receiving approval for its efforts to buy the 71% stake in Formula 1 that CVC would go on to sell to Liberty in 2016.

"When the two most popular motorsport events in the EU, Formula 1 and MotoGP, come in the hands of one owner, there is a risk of price increases for the TV rights to these events and a reduction in consumer choice," competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said at the time.

"I am satisfied that the commitments given by CVC [to sell their share of Dorna] will eliminate this risk."

It’s hard to see how that position has substantially changed in the intervening years, however, especially as MotoGP and F1 have grown closer together, particularly in terms of partnerships, broadcasters and host circuits.

That doesn’t mean that there’s no smoke without fire, however. And if a sale in the coming months is being eyed up, it’s in the best interests of MotoGP’s current owners to see conversations about a potential sale being floated in the business pages as a form of soft advertising.

And, perhaps ironically, while Liberty is unlikely to be allowed to step in to take over at Dorna, there could nonetheless be familiar faces involved in any potential sale, with former owner CVC hinting around the time that it sold F1 that it was keen to retain a foothold in motorsport.

At the time that didn't involve making any inroads into a MotoGP return, but should Dorna be placed more formally on the market in the coming months CVC seems likely to be one of the parties looking closely at the series' possibilities.

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​​​​​​​MotoGP is reportedly set to switch to a new TV broadcaster in the United States.

The motorsport series is in “advanced talks” with Warner Bros Discovery to move onto their channel this year, Sports Business Journal reports.

The move is an attempt from MotoGP to “look for growth in America”.

MotoGP has been broadcast in the US by NBC since 2020 but the report claims that their partnership has expired.

The deal in negotiations with Warner Bros Discovery would mean all Saturday sprint races and Sunday grands prix would be live on linear cable TV.

Warner Bros Discovery own TNT, TBS and TruTV.

Warner Bros Discovery and MotoGP are already TV broadcast partners in other territories including the UK.

TNT Sports, owned by Warner Bros Discovery, broadcast MotoGP to the UK audience.

MotoGP also held talks in the past few weeks with Fox, the report states.

Fox is separately in talks to pick up broadcast rights in the US to IndyCar from 2025.

MotoGP’s switch in TV partner stateside is an “effort to gain a greater foothold in the US”.

But it comes at a time where Bridgepoint - the majority shareholder in MotoGP rights holder Dorna - are in talks over a sale.

Sky News report that Bridgepoint are seeking £3.4 billion and a sale could be agreed “within weeks”.
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Liberty Media, the owners of Formula 1, are among the parties in talks.

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The new MotoGP season begins this weekend with the Qatar Grand Prix, as Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia embarks on a campaign to defend his title for a second time.

America is a major market for MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports, with it welcoming former NBA chief Dan Rossomondo as chief commercial officer last year.

In 2024, MotoGP will also feature an American-owned team on the grid, with Trackhouse Racing expanding its NASCAR operation to compete as Aprilia's satellite squad with Miguel Oliveira.

As MotoGP pushes to gain a further foothold in the United States, it announced on Thursday afternoon that it has partnered with TNT Sports – part of Warner Bros Discovery - to broadcast the entire 2024 season across the country.

In a statement released by MotoGP, it says "truTV and Max's B/R Sports Add-On will show every race of this record-breaking MotoGP season live, including top quality pre-race coverage.

"Max's B/R Sports Add-On will also stream every session for every grand prix class across all three days of track activity, including the MotoGP qualifying shootout and the grand prix races for Moto2 and Moto3."

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Originally posted by P250UA5:
GP Coverage movgin from NBC to truTV

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The new MotoGP season begins this weekend with the Qatar Grand Prix, as Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia embarks on a campaign to defend his title for a second time.

America is a major market for MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports, with it welcoming former NBA chief Dan Rossomondo as chief commercial officer last year.

In 2024, MotoGP will also feature an American-owned team on the grid, with Trackhouse Racing expanding its NASCAR operation to compete as Aprilia's satellite squad with Miguel Oliveira.

As MotoGP pushes to gain a further foothold in the United States, it announced on Thursday afternoon that it has partnered with TNT Sports – part of Warner Bros Discovery - to broadcast the entire 2024 season across the country.

In a statement released by MotoGP, it says "truTV and Max's B/R Sports Add-On will show every race of this record-breaking MotoGP season live, including top quality pre-race coverage.

"Max's B/R Sports Add-On will also stream every session for every grand prix class across all three days of track activity, including the MotoGP qualifying shootout and the grand prix races for Moto2 and Moto3."

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Originally posted by cfiore:
Anyone know if they will show replays on Max?

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Originally posted by Prefontaine:

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Originally posted by cfiore:
Anyone know if they will show replays on Max?

Checked this for you today. Answer is yes.

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Originally posted by cfiore:

Thank you very much! It was great to watch Moto GP again without having to buy the seasonpass. My son is now hooked on F1 and Moto GP. Good times. As a long time Ducati fan from the pre Stoner era it is good to see the Duc's back on top. Have not seen the past couple season's but still kept up by reading the news.

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Liberty Media has reached an agreement to take over the commercial rights to the MotoGP series, adding it to its ownership of Formula 1 within its racing portfolio.

The global motorcycle racing series is promoted by Dorna Sports, S.L. (Dorna), with Liberty acquiring the commercial rights holder from Bridgepoint and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The deal represents enterprise value of $4.5billion (€4.2bn), as Liberty will acquire 86 percent of MotoGP, with MotoGP management retaining approximately 14 percent. The deal will see MotoGP added to Liberty’s Formula One Group tracking stock.

Existing Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta will continue to run the business from its Madrid headquarters, with Liberty Media president and CEO Greg Maffei saying he sees “significant upside” to the deal.