Liberty Media officially completes MotoGP takeover
Liberty Media has officially landed its long-awaited deal to become the new owners of MotoGP and WorldSBK.
Update: Liberty Media has finally completed its takeover of MotoGP, which comes after the recent news that it had received full approval from the European Commission.
More than a year since it confirmed plans to buy MotoGP, Liberty Media was forced to wait as an investigation was carried out by the Commission, but that has since ended and Liberty Media has taken over 84 per cent ownership of the series, with Dorna Sports retaining the other 16 per cent.
The deal means that Liberty Media is now the owner of both MotoGP and WorldSBK, as they will be majority-owned by the same power figures that are currently in charge of Formula One.
“We are very happy that the European Commission has approved the transaction. This is an important milestone confirming the even brighter future that lies ahead,” said Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of MotoGP rights holder Dorna Sports a couple of weeks ago when the deal was cleared to go forward.
“MotoGP is one of the most thrilling sports on Earth, and we look forward to accelerating the sport’s growth and expanding its reach to even more fans around the world. Liberty is the best possible partner for our sport and the entire community, and we are excited to create even greater value for our fans, commercial partners and everyone competing.”
Liberty Media has helped take Formula One to new heights in terms of viewership and overall interest since it took over the role of owner of the series, and the hope is that similar results will happen with MotoGP and WorldSBK.
The deal marks a new era for MotoGP which, although extremely competitive over the last few years, has struggled to match the hype that's been going on in F1 over the last few years, much of which has been credited to Liberty Media's involvement, through things such as the Netflix series, Drive to Survive.
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After graduating with a sports journalism degree, Robert joined Crash.net to lead the WorldSBK coverage in 2021, while also providing MotoGP coverage. Fulfilling that role for over three years, Robert was able to put his knowledge about all things racing to the test.
