MotoGP CCO Dan Rossomondo emphasizes that Liberty Media does not want to treat MotoGP like Formula 1 – “The people at Liberty are very smart.”
After the EU Commission approved Liberty Media’s acquisition of 84 percent of MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports, the first restructuring measures began behind the scenes. Personnel changes were made primarily in the commercial and marketing departments. In the initial phase, Liberty Media will focus primarily on these two areas.
Following the completion of the transaction, members of Liberty Media’s executive board and management team, including Chase Carey and Sean Bratches, both of whom have previously worked in Formula 1, have joined Dorna’s board of directors.
There they will work alongside Carmelo Ezpeleta and Enrique Aldama, Dorna’s managing director for operational and financial affairs. The Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing the company and its strategic direction.
Dan Rossomondo has been Chief Commercial Officer at Dorna Sports for MotoGP since 2023. The American previously worked for the NBA basketball league and will continue in his current role as COO for MotoGP.
Until now, those involved have been unable to comment in detail on the Liberty deal because they had to wait a long time for the green light from the EU Commission. Concrete cooperation between Dorna and Liberty began in recent weeks.
As a new era begins for MotoGP, the question arises as to how the motorcycle world championship will change under its new owners. And whether strategies from Formula 1 will be adopted.
“They understand, and we understand, that the same script doesn’t necessarily work twice,” Rossomondo is quoted as saying by Blackbook Motorsport. “It has to be unique to our sport. We have a lot of stakeholders that are simply different from those in their sport.”
“The people at Liberty are very smart. They know they have something unique, and they don’t want to mess that up. I think they’ll spend a lot of time understanding the business and understanding who we are.“
”I don’t think they’re going to try to turn the sport into a commodity. They recognize certain patterns in the two businesses that would make sense and that we could leverage, but it can’t be the same thing.”
Liberty can open up new opportunities in the commercial sector
Nevertheless, Rossomondo notes that Liberty Media’s experience in Formula 1 could be helpful in the commercial and marketing areas to increase the popularity of MotoGP.
Greater fan interest would also make the sport more attractive to sponsors, investors, and new partners, ultimately increasing financial gains. After all, the Formula 1 boom has attracted many new sponsors.
“We really need to focus strongly on non-endemic partnerships,” says Rossomondo. “We’re doing a very good job, but we need to do a better job so that brands say, ‘I want to use MotoGP to market my product.’”
“Liberty can help us open doors, and they can provide us with really good case studies from what they’ve done with other platforms. But we also have to do our job.”
Currently, only 26 percent of MotoGP sponsors are endemic. That means they’re not directly connected to the motorcycle industry or motorsports. Endemic partners are closely connected, like motorcycle manufacturers, fuel companies, and so on.
Europe remains MotoGP’s core market
In recent years, the Formula 1 calendar has grown to 24 races. In the US, city races have been added in Miami and Las Vegas, alongside Austin. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the traditional venues in Europe.
MotoGP is also making minor changes to its calendar. Next year, Brazil will host a race for the first time since 2004. In Argentina, the race is moving from Termas de Rio Hondo back to Buenos Aires, where it will be held in 2027.
“We are always looking to expand our presence outside our core territory of Europe,” said Rossomondo. “We can bring the sport to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand—and next year to Brazil—and take it to these new places.”
“But there’s a different feeling in Europe. Do we want more markets where we can hold races? Absolutely. But we also have to make sure we get as much as we can out of the existing tracks.”
Europe will remain the heart of the World Championship in the coming years. In addition to the races in Asia, Dorna is currently pushing ahead with additional events in South America, as the examples of Brazil and Buenos Aires show. Liberty’s experience could make the decisive difference, especially in the difficult US market.
