Liberty Media’s MotoGP takeover requires scrutiny, says Formula E chairman Alejandro Agag

• European Commission told CVC to sell MotoGP in 2006 after acquiring F1
• Takeover will hand Liberty “very significant” power around media rights deals
• Agag reportedly approached Liberty to invest in Extreme E, but deal never materialised

Formula E chairman Alejandro Agag has called on the European Commission to scrutinise Liberty Media’s impending takeover of MotoGP.

In April, it was announced that the US-based media company would purchase the global motorcycling series in a €4.2 billion (US$4.7 billion) deal, which looks set to be wrapped up by the end of this year.

However, Agag (pictured above) is concerned that this will hand “very significant” power to Liberty Media when it negotiates new media rights deals with broadcasters.

“From the point of view of competition law, I think there are significant challenges,” Agag told the Financial Times. “The leverage that this merger will give the resulting entity in terms of negotiating with broadcasters will be significant and I think the European Commission will look very carefully at this deal.”

The Spaniard stopped short of calling for the takeover to be blocked. Instead, he said that there needs to be “proper remedies to guarantee fairness in the market”.

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Liberty Media and Formula E owner Liberty Global, which acquired a controlling stake in the all-electric series earlier this year, are both chaired by John Malone. They are entirely separate organisations, but the American businessman has significant voting rights in each group.

The Financial Times also reports that Agag held talks with Liberty Media to invest in all-electric off-road SUV championship Extreme E, which recently cancelled the remainder of its 2024 season, but no deal materialised. 

Liberty Media has owned Formula One since 2017, having acquired the series from CVC Capital Partners for US$8 billion. Notably, CVC owned MotoGP when it bought Formula One, but was forced to sell the former in 2006 after European Union (EU) competition regulators raised objections.

Formula E is also backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which holds a minority stake in the series, and serves as the principal partner for Formula E, Extreme E and powerboat championship E1 Series.

BlackBook says…

As Liberty Media’s deal for MotoGP edges closer to completion, it is not a surprise to see concerns being aired publicly by rival series around a potential monopoly.

Yet, the blurred lines in modern motorsport make this a difficult case to prove. It’s almost two decades since CVC was told to sell MotoGP after acquiring Formula One, and it is a very different market today.

After all, motorsport series are not just in competition with each other, but also with other sports and entertainment properties. Time is an ever-diminishing commodity in people’s lives as an expansion-at-all-costs philosophy drives those properties to capture as much attention as possible.

Plus, when compared to Formula One on the global stage, MotoGP is a challenger brand. Therefore, entirely different approaches to negotiating media rights deals will be required.