MotoGP

MotoGP send F1 owners Liberty Media a warning

Liberty Media took over MotoGP in 2025

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 26 December 2025 23:11

F1 and MotoGP's owners Liberty Media have been warned about trying to copy Formula 1 by the motorcycle series' sporting director Carlos Ezpeleta.

Liberty Media became a majority owner of MotoGP earlier this year, after they bought out a majority of Dorna Sports' shares.

The group became the majority owners of F1 back in 2017, and have taken the sport to new heights, attracting bigger audiences in the Americas, as well as bringing a new generation to the sport via the Netflix documentary Drive to Survive.

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F1 is booming, particularly in the USA, where ESPN recently revealed that the average audiences for the races throughout 2025 hit an all-time high for an American broadcaster showing F1.

And there is hope that the group can do something similar with MotoGP, but Ezpeleta has suggested that they should not try and copy what has worked with F1.

"Our reality is clear. We have always said that expectations must be managed, because Formula 1 is unique. The expansion and penetration it has achieved, especially in a market as unique as the United States, is something no other sport has achieved. Not even football, with its billions of euros, has achieved it.

"As an employee and as a MotoGP executive, I share the strategic vision of Liberty's shareholders. But that doesn't change the fact that our ambition for growth is enormous. We simply need to limit our paths and timelines, adapting them to our reality.

"Formula 1 is a unique and exceptional case in the history of sport; we shouldn't try to emulate it. We see that MotoGP has many advantages in some aspects, but not in others."

How will Liberty Media seek to grow MotoGP?

Liberty Media's initial aim was to give the two-wheeled motorsport similar treatment to F1, which skyrocketed in popularity since it was acquired by the company in 2017.

Projects like Drive to Survive and the F1 movie earlier this year were spearheaded by Liberty Media, with former CEO Greg Maffei instrumental in making the hit Netflix F1 docuseries a reality.

Maffei's successor, Derek Chang, will no doubt have a similar avenue of growth in mind for MotoGP, which is capable of producing highly marketable athletes, with stars including the legendary Valentino Rossi and current star Marc Marquez evidence of that.

With a tried and tested formula that significantly grew F1's global audience and entertainment value, Liberty Media will try to apply their expertise to expand MotoGP’s fan base and reach around the world.

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