Liberty Media CEO Reveals Lewis Hamilton's Interest In This Sport Away From F1

Chris Ladd | Sep 12, 2024

2024 Bahrain Test, Day 3 - Lewis Hamilton / Jiri Krenek/Mercedes

According to Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion has shown interest in purchasing a MotoGP team. Liberty Media's acquisition of an 86% stake in Dorna Sports, which owns MotoGP, positions them to apply their expertise in transforming sports, as they have done with Formula 1 since 2016.

In a report by Motorsport, Liberty's takeover of MotoGP, valued at $4.2 billion, provides them with the opportunity to enhance the sport's global appeal and revenue streams, potentially mirroring the massive popularity Formula 1 has achieved in recent years. In August, Liberty confirmed it was selling a $825million stake in Formula 1 to fund the purchase. Given his stature in motorsports, Hamilton's interest could bring even more visibility to MotoGP and may mark a significant crossover between the two. Liberty's strategy could attract top-tier talents and investors, ushering in a new era for two-wheeled racing.

“When we announced [the acquisition on MotoGP], it's a great example, we had immediately people call up and say, ‘I want to buy a team’, including people like Lewis Hamilton,” Maffei told the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference.

“Why? Because they saw what had happened in Formula 1, and they want to follow. We had, major distributors call and say, ‘We want to be involved’. And unfortunately, I had to tell them we really can't talk about [that] until we get EU approval, but we'd love to talk once we get it.

“I think there's an opportunity when you're at the league level to take advantage of those changes that you can make. When you're at a team level, in general, teams don't cash flow as well. Not absolutely true. NFL teams cash flow pretty well, but in general, it's really big multiples of cash flow, and we're still too traditional in wanting that cash flow.

“But in addition, your ability to change the dynamics, to set the stage and do the things that you want are far better, far easier, more manageable. Still takes time, but you can get it done at the league level. In a way, it's very difficult at the team level.”

Liberty Media's success with Formula 1, particularly in expanding its fanbase in the United States, serves as a blueprint for their ambitions with MotoGP. Under Liberty's ownership, Formula 1 has seen significant growth in viewership, with the Drive to Survive series playing a pivotal role in attracting younger audiences and fans from new regions, especially the U.S.

CEO Greg Maffei’s intention to implement similar strategies for MotoGP suggests that Liberty is keen to tap into the sport's potential to reach untapped markets and audiences. This could mean increased media exposure, more engaging content, and potentially new races in key locations, similar to Formula 1's expansion into cities like Miami and Las Vegas.

“I think MotoGP is, to start with, it's an unbelievably exciting product. I don't know if many of you have seen the racing, but to see people driving motorcycles, 220 miles an hour, six inches from each other, it's wild, and the overtaking there is incredibly impressive,” he said.

“It is, unfortunately, one that is too little known here in the United States and around the world. There's interest in Asia and other places, but the real heart of it has been in Spain and Italy, to some degree, France.

“I think the opportunity to expand it…we saw what we were able to do with Formula 1 by telling the stories, making them humanised, making the story larger than just about the car, the technology, but also about what the drivers were doing, what was going on behind the scenes, telling those stories, making sure the world understood the breadth of what was going on.

“But also we did a lot to improve things like improving what you can see on the screen, making our fans understand the story better. All of those are things that can be helped here.”