MotoGP, The future of MotoGP under Liberty: Learning from

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Motorcycle manufacturers, teams, organizers, team members, reporters, sponsors, the accessories industry, and, last but not least, fans and spectators are looking at Liberty Media's activities and plans with curiosity and a certain amount of suspicion. Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta is now conducting the important and delicate negotiations with the eleven MotoGP teams regarding the new five-year contracts for the 850cc era from 2027 to 2031, in close consultation with Liberty managers.

The factories are demanding more say, including in the allocation of MotoGP slots; they want a Concorde Agreement like in Formula 1 and, of course, significantly more money. But MotoGP team bosses must be aware: even after Liberty Media takes over the commercial rights, MotoGP won't be a bed of roses.

The sales, profits, and unit sales of car and motorcycle manufacturers are not comparable, even with the best will in the world. F1 newcomer Audi sold approximately 1.9 million vehicles per year in 2023, while Ducati reported sales of 58,224 two-wheelers in the same year. KTM will sell 150,000 bikes in the best case scenario in 2025, while Aprilia's unit sales are in the mid-four-digit range. Output is expected to rise to 8,880 motorcycles by 2030.

Therefore, the financial expenditure of Formula 1 teams is not comparable with that of MotoGP. For example Dorna reduced the number of paddock passes for the MotoGP factory teams during the 2020 pandemic to 45. That's how many passes an average F1 team requires for the truck drivers alone. Dorna distributed approximately €80 million to the 47 teams in the four classes - MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3, and MotoE - in 2023. In Formula 1, the ten teams in the only major automotive world championship category were compensated with approximately $1.2 billion (!) in 2023. This figure represents roughly 45% of the total F1 revenue, distributed through a descending percentage scale based on constructor standings, with an additional bonus structure to account for overall revenue growth.

In MotoGP, Dorna sometimes awarded valuable team slots freely. When funding was scarce due to sponsorship failures, the slots were taken back by Dorna, withdrawn or swapped among the teams, as was the case between Jorge Martinez and Petronas-Yamaha after 2018. The Formula 1 World Championship, on the other hand, was considered a closed society. Potential newcomers such as the US team planned by Michael Andretti were vehemently rejected by Liberty Media for years, even though the US market, with three Grand Prix events (Miami, Austin, Las Vegas), as well as Mexico and Canada, made the participation of a domestic racing team seem sensible for a variety of reasons (TV rights, GP naming rights, signage, spectator revenue, etc.).

But Liberty Media, owner of commercial rights for Formula One, only reached an agreement to add General Motors' Cadillac brand as the 11th team on the grid for the 2026 season, after Andretti agreed not to take on an operational role. The new team will be run by TWG Motorsports, not directly by Andretti Global, after Liberty initially rejected the Andretti-Cadillac bid in 2024 - despite the powerful support of General Motors. While Michael Andretti's initial bid was vetoed, the final approval involves a change in ownership and a commitment from General Motors to manufacture an F1 power unit to become a "works" team, ensuring value for the sport.

The probes by the United States government into why Andretti was approved by the FIA but rejected by Liberty Media were expected to shift into high gear at the Las Vegas F1 GP in November 2024, with FBI officials expected to attend. Congressional inquiries, senatorial action and a department of justice antitrust investigation were still in play - predicting Liberty CEO Greg Maffei's decision to step down from the organization that owns F1. Given the severity of the allegations of cabal-like behaviour also involving high-profile Formula 1 team bosses, the reports in November 2024 suggested that Andretti may ultimately be permitted to enter the sport as planned in 2026.

In parallel, the European Commission, led by Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, has been reviewing the situation. "Based on the limited information available to the Commission regarding the alleged barriers to enter into Formula 1 for new teams, the Commission cannot assess whether these barriers result from anti-competitive behaviour and violate European laws," Vestager declared in a statement last year. "Therefore, the Commission does not currently intend to consider any measures or investigate the impact of the alleged barriers on innovation, employment, and competitiveness in the automotive and motorsport sectors within the EU. However, we remain ready to examine any evidence of anti-competitive conduct that stakeholders may bring to our attention."

While in MotoGP, team positions were sometimes awarded or swapped freely, Andretti was originally supposed to pay an entry fee, also known as an anti-dilution payment, of $200 million. This amazing amount would then have been distributed pro rata among the ten existing F1 teams.

In my humble opinion, the attractive MotoGP championship will develop in a positive direction in the coming years if the Liberty managers don't turn everything upside down, learn from the mistakes of their prominent predecessors, and understand that the clocks tick differently in two-wheel racing than in the four-wheel department.

After years of power struggles between the motorcycle manufacturers and teams, none other than the successful former Formula 1 circus director Bernie Ecclestone supported the motorcycle GP teams and the then IRTA chairman, Michel Métraux, in deposing the amateurish FIM world governing body in the winter of 1991/1992.

The IRTA team association finally wanted more money from the revenues of the GP organizers and the FIM, as well as Grand Prix racing on permanent and safe racetracks, professional race management, higher standards for emergency vehicles and the track medical centre, and a fixed number of contracted teams and riders per GP class.

Métraux and Ecclestone threatened to establish a pirate championship called the "World Series" until the volunteer and clueless FIM officials capitulated and sold the commercial rights to GP racing to Dorna for 6 million US dollars a year.

Businessman Ecclestone founded the company "Two Wheel Promotions" with an investment of 25,000 pounds and, in return for his efforts, secured the rights to design the 1992 GP calendar and collect the event fees from the GP organizers. No organizer was found for the Hockenheim event, so Bernie organized the German GP on his own account - and lost more than 1 million euros.

No wonder: Dorna, IRTA, and Ecclestone had removed the 80cc and sidecar classes from the GP program, but still doubled the ticket prices. Thus, only 17,000 spectators turned up at Hockenheim, while in 1991 the German Grand Prix was sold out with 120,000 spectators - thanks in part to the three German round winners: Ralf Waldmann, Helmut Bradl, and Bohnhorst/Hiller. But the clever Ecclestone still exited motorcycle racing after a year with a handsome profit - he sold the TWP company to Dorna for $52 million.

GP promoter Dorna responded by adding additional series to the support program. In some countries, this included the Sidecar World Championship, then the 600cc four-stroke Thunderbike Trophy, and in 1995, temporarily, the 125cc European Road Race Championship (with youngsters Rossi and Cecchinello), and the German Pro Superbike Championship, which even made guest appearances at Salzburg and Brno as part of the GP event. In 2007, the program was supplemented by the Red Bull Rookies Cup.

Over time, the teams, factories, riders, and event organizers have come to know Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta as a prudent partner, who, admittedly, learned from Ecclestone that sometimes only a decisive statement will achieve the goal and that the wishes of every participant cannot always be taken into account.

Thus, against fierce resistance from some teams, he replaced the two-stroke machines with four-strokes; first in 2002 in the "premier class," then in 2010 in Moto2 and 2012 in Moto3. In 2009, standard tyres were introduced in MotoGP, followed by standard electronics in 2016. Claiming Rule bikes and the Open Class were introduced to fill the MotoGP starting grid. Then came concessions to make it easier for newcomers or winless factories to catch up technically. While once there were often only two factories competing in the "premier class," by the time Suzuki withdrew at the end of 2022, six factories were competing, including three European ones: Ducati, Aprilia, and KTM.

Dorna lost a large portion of its revenue during the two Covid seasons, but compensated the teams and factories with unprecedented and unusual generosity, despite the ghost races without spectators and the reduced number of GPs. When, after the Covid era and Rossi's retirement, even in Misano and Mugello, spectator numbers left much to be desired, Saturdays were significantly enhanced by the 3 p.m. Sprint over the half-distance. Most riders railed against this. Ezpeleta was not deterred, and the critics quickly fell silent. Today, the Sprints are often more attractive, exciting, and varied than the Grand Prix on Sunday.

How much Liberty will transform a MotoGP weekend after a certain observation period remains to be seen. Liberty Media acquired the majority stake from Dorna for €4.2 billion, and Ezpeleta continues to hold a 14 percent stake. Liberty will naturally strive to generate higher revenues and profits in the future to keep investors happy.

Marketing, communications, social media presence, and TV coverage are to be improved and modernized step by step. How much the GP programme will be overhauled after a transition period remains to be seen.

The embarrassing MotoE World Championship was dealt with quickly. It will not take place any more in 2026; no one will shed a tear for it. The goal of charging the batteries of all motorcycles with renewable energy has not been achieved even after seven years; the power always came from a single socket, even though a few solar panels were sometimes placed on the roofs of the charging stations, whose cables led nowhere, to create a deceptive effect. European automobile companies have fallen far behind in E-mobility, with billions in losses even at the VW Group, Stellantis and other car manufacturers commonplace. Nevertheless, Mercedes is currently pursuing a Formula 1 project with a total of up to 2,500 employees and three customer teams.

We are curious to see how radically the Liberty managers will shake up the MotoGP series in the years to come. Since it was announced that the Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup (in Texas and at five events in Europe) will be presented as a new attraction for GP fans in 2026, some experts have been somewhat skeptical about the future. What these two-wheeled heavyweights, laden with huge transport cases, are doing on a GP track is something only the Dutch, who once held car races with attached caravans on the F1 track in Zandvoort and on the EuroCircuit Rallycross track near Valkenswaard, understand.