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The news the acquisition of the MotoGP byLiberty Media, the U.S.-based company that already bought the Formula 1 in 2016, has attracted a lot of attention, not only from a media viewpoint, but also from fans who are curious to know how the situation will now evolve. An 86% acquisition of Spain's Dorna, worth 4.2 billion Euros, which will be completed by the end of the year. Dorna will, instead, retain the remaining 14% of its share capital and will continue to be an independently managed company, headed by Carmelo Ezpeleta as CEO.
In an interview with U.S. broadcaster CNBC, Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, clarified some of the questions surrounding the acquisition.
Will the plan for the MotoGP be to follow the same one used for teh F1 in recent years, which has led to its growth?
"We haven't imposed predefined rules on ourselves," Maffei stated. "But I'd like it if some of the ideas that have helped the world appreciate the value and strength of the F1 will be used in the MotoGP, as well. It's something I'd call a 'recognition of a model' that works. The MotoGP itself is already an exhilarating sport, and I don't think that needs to be changed. on the contrary. It's our intention to show its true potential to the rest of the world."
An expensive acquisition worth $4.5 billion. A price many would consider very high for a sport that doesn't have much following in the United States. However, the same was said at the time of the F1 acquisition.
"The fact that it's not that followed is a big loss for everyone," the CEO continued. "You're all going to become huge fans. The whole world is going to become huge fans. It's a sport with a passionate fanbase, especially in Spain, Italy, and France. Our goal is to show the rest of the world how exciting the sport is."
This might have seemed a divisive move to shareholders, in relation to the possibility of buying titles in the Formula 1.
"We'll be creative in the short term, but with the possibility of managing both championships, the F1 and the MotoGP. We'll definitely buy more shares."
Will there be synergies between the two championships, or will they remain two separate entities?
"For the time being, the two championships will remain separate and will be run by the current management, independently. It's not so much a matter of sharing costs or profits, but of learning from the lessons learned in the F1 and using some of those ideas in the MotoGP. It's a sport that has a strong component of excitement and passion, which is already present in the current fanbase, and our goal is precisely to give development and have that passion embraced by a vaster audience worldwide, which is what we've already been able to achieve in some ways in the F1."
On the practical side, do you already have some details in mind?
"To start with, the MotoGP has only one race in the United Statesat the moment," Maffei responded bluntly. "The same situation that the F1 was in when we acquired it. I can't say with absolute certainty that we'll get to have three but, certainly, even in the rest of the world, there are many opportunities geographically. At the moment, there are twelve in Europe alone. We'll try to assess all these opportunities, but without further increasing the number of races."
Will you also have a Netflix product like "Drive to Survive"?
Laughing, he responded: "We haven' t talked about that yet, even if, for the F1, it's been instrumental in shifting the focus from cars to F1 stories. A lot of it also depends on the type of fans you target. There are those who are more interested in the technical details and those who are passionate about the riders or other elements. Our goal is to reach them both, wherever they are, and I think the opportunity is there. We'll work on social media, storytelling, fanzones, like we did for the Formula 1."
