MotoGP owner Dorna responds to rumours of sale to Liberty Media
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Rumours are growing that Liberty Media wants to buy the commercial rights to MotoGP. The Formula 1 owner would then control the king class of two-wheelers in addition to motorsport's premier class. Dorna Sports, the current owner of MotoGP, responded to the rumours.
Dorna Sports is currently 39 per cent owned by British investor Bridgepoint, 38 per cent is owned by a Canadian pension fund and the rest is in the hands of current Dorna management, including CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta. He does not deny that a possible sale is a possibility.
MotoGP owner confirms possible sale Dorna
"I can confirm the rumours of a sale, but I would like to know who is spreading them. Every day I get two or three phone calls from credit institutions asking me if it is true that we are for sale, but the banks don't want to buy, they only offer themselves as intermediaries in the operation," he told the Italian La Repubblica.
"Anything can happen, at any time, but it hasn't happened yet. We definitely like the product and the formula with the Sprints works," he adds. In MotoGP, sprint races became a regular part of Grand Prix weekends in 2023. So, unlike in F1, motorbike drivers will run two races every race weekend.
Even if it were to come to a sale, it remains to be seen whether it will actually come to pass. In the past, former F1 owner Bernie Ecclestone also attempted to become rights holder of both F1 and MotoGP together with Luxembourg investment company CVC, but the deal was prevented by European regulations because it would give the parties too much power and make competition in the market more difficult.