MotoGP, motorcycle’s elite competition, is in advanced talks with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), the multinational media and entertainment giant, to move its US media rights to the network’s channels.
According to US media, MotoGP’s broadcast deal with NBC has expired, with the competition looking to agree on a partnership with WBD for 2024.
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As part of the reported proposed deal, all Saturday Sprint races and Sunday main races would be live on linear cable TV, however, it is not yet known which channel, with WBD owning the TNT, TBS, and TruTV channels.
The report suggests that MotoGP – through its parent company Dorna Sports – also held talks recently with Fox over broadcast rights.
WBD already currently holds rights to MotoGP in select territories outside the US, including the UK where TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is the competition’s main broadcaster.
MotoGP starts its 2024 season on Sunday (March 10) with the Grand Prix of Qatar at the Lusail International Circuit, which will be broadcast on NBC in the US as it has since 2020.
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By GlobalDataThese reports have emerged at the same time as some media has claimed that Bridgepoint, the UK-based private equity firm and largest shareholder in Dorna, is in advanced talks to sell the series.
Sky News, the UK media outlet, has reported that Bridgepoint – which bought its interest in Dorna from CVC Capital Partners in 2006 – has put a valuation of up to €4 billion (£3.4 billion) on the series.
Bridgepoint owns 40% of MotoGP, with Dorna and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) holding smaller stakes. CPPIB bought its holding in 2012.
Sky has also claimed that Liberty Media, which already owns the iconic Formula 1 motor racing series, is one of the frontrunners to take control of MotoGP, and that the process could potentially be concluded within weeks. An acquisition by Liberty would put that group in an extremely commanding position in the world of motorsport.
Aside from Liberty Media, the Expansion news outlet in Spain has reported that other parties interested in a deal with Bridgepoint include Apple, Disney, and Netflix.
Bridgepoint paid about €500 million to buy CVC’s 74-per-cent stake in Dorna 18 years ago, while the stake’s value when Bridgepoint transferred it from one fund to another in 2019 apparently came to €2.5 billion.
The private equity fund has made the motorcycling competition steadily more and more profitable and internationally recognizable during its time at the wheel.
