For or against? Your verdict on Liberty Media’s huge €4.2billion MotoGP takeover

We asked and you answered as you gave us your verdict on Liberty Media buying the rights to MotoGP.

After the news of Liberty Media’s purchase of the commercial rights to MotoGP was confirmed on Monday, we wanted to know what you made of the news and here’s what you said.

The majority of PF1 readers are against Liberty Media buying MotoGP

The main takeaway is that 54% of you are against Liberty Media purchasing the commercial rights to MotoGP. 25% of you meanwhile were on the fence while 21% were in favour.

As to why you were against the deal, the overwhelming consensus was that Liberty Media has not improved F1 and you were concerned they could have a similar effect on MotoGP.

Tony van Dongen, who watches every race, said he was “concerned they will make changes similar to F1, like focusing on the entertainment side rather than the racing.”

Barry Smith meanwhile was concerned that Dorna, who previously owned a majority of the rights, were “getting more and more out of touch with the ethos of the sport and failing to stand against certain issues and parties.

“The sprint races and the increasing number of venues makes risks to life and physical well- being unacceptable.” That last complaint was something we have often heard in F1 of later years…

Jojo, one reader who was undecided on the news, said they feared “big changes” could be made.

“I don’t want to see big changes to the way MotoGP currently runs, as it’s great,” they said. “I worry that any changes they make will be profit driven rather than for the betterment of the sport.”

Jojo did however point out that Liberty Media would help to make the sport more financially sustainable, something they achieved with F1.

“On the other hand, some of the teams may have been struggling more, Suzuki dropped out and I wouldn’t want teams to leave if it becomes uneconomical in the long term, so maybe the teams could be better off financially with Liberty Media running things,” Jojo said.

It was not entirely against though and of the 25% that voted in favour, Candelario Quiroz said: “They’ll make MotoGP even bigger, which will be a great thing.”

Gary Smith said: “They can invest more capital and grow the industry.”

Stanley Olkowski meanwhile was looking forward to “the opportunity to attend a weekend of F1 and MotoGP.”

We also asked you what your MotoGP watching habits were and while 38% of you said you watched every race, 43% said you watched the sport on occasion.

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As for the 17% who said they don’t watch, just 12% said they would start watching once Liberty Media took over. A further 24% suggested they may start watching.

In terms of what happens with the future of MotoGP, plenty feared a rise in ticket prices. Jojo said there will be “more publicity for what is a fantastic motorsport, however greater demand could lead to ticket prices increasing.”

Another fear was too many races, as we are seeing in F1, but a big concern was “silly gimmicks” being added.

“They might Americanize it and add some gimmicks to make it ‘better’ for casual viewers,” Forerunner919 said. “Though I’m not sure what more they can do other than sprint races.”

Overall then, it seems you are against the move but there are some at least that are approaching with cautious optimism.

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