Liberty Buy-Out of Dorna Reveals $92 Million Dollar Loss Basically Since Rossi Retired
by Dean Adams
Monday, July 7, 2025
Liberty Media made some of Dorna's internal books a matter of public record when they finalized the deal to buy MotoGP; this coincided with European Commission's approval on June 23, 2025.
Perusing the documents revealed:
1: Currently Dorna has suffered four consecutive years of losses totaling 86 million Euros ($92 million US dollars). Coincidentally, Valentino Rossi retired at the end of the 2021 season. There is no mention of a business plan that details a path to profitability.
2: MotoGP is a highly leveraged operation with 1 billion Euros in debt.
3: MotoGP revenue growth has been stagnant over the last 3 years.
4: It's no surprise to anyone that MotoGP is primarily a European Operation with 83% of the Media Rights based in Europe. Also, their only U.S. media partner is FOX, a network that a portion of the U.S. market doesn’t consume. There is no mention of a plan to expand beyond Europe. A new, giant package showing MotoGP races on Amazon would help.
5: One of the 4 key Dorna Executives is related to their current CEO. Is he he truly the best person for the job, or is nepotism at play? Real investors would want to know.
6. Seemingly the options are for Liberty to extract more revenue from existing markets or hold races in new markets; presumably the United States. However, as has been stated here numerous times, any US racetrack that could be made safe for MotoGP is going to require serious capital investment. The former Miller Motorsports Park in Utah could be made MotoGP-ready. Moreover, Laguna Seca isn't any less safe than Mugello, but lacks garages, etc.
But MotoGP ain't going back to Indy: Roger Penske now owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For 40—50 years he has been anti-motorcycle, aside from very occasionally riding a Harley-Davidson to Indy Car races. There will not be a MotoGP race at Indy.
In short, Liberty Media didn’t just buy a racing series—they kinda bought a rescue mission. MotoGP has prestige, global reach, and passionate fans, but it’s also burdened with debt, stagnant growth, and a management structure that might not hold up under investor scrutiny. If Liberty applies the same formula that turned Formula 1 from niche to mainstream, there’s hope. But if not—if the same old habits persist—then the next set of financials could make this info pack look like the good old days.
WILLY IVINS
Pedro Acosta was supposed to be, according to some, Valentino Rossi's heir apparent.
1: Currently Dorna has suffered four consecutive years of losses totaling 86 million Euros ($92 million US dollars). Coincidentally, Valentino Rossi retired at the end of the 2021 season. There is no mention of a business plan that details a path to profitability.
2: MotoGP is a highly leveraged operation with 1 billion Euros in debt.
3: MotoGP revenue growth has been stagnant over the last 3 years.
4: It's no surprise to anyone that MotoGP is primarily a European Operation with 83% of the Media Rights based in Europe. Also, their only U.S. media partner is FOX, a network that a portion of the U.S. market doesn’t consume. There is no mention of a plan to expand beyond Europe. A new, giant package showing MotoGP races on Amazon would help.
5: One of the 4 key Dorna Executives is related to their current CEO. Is he he truly the best person for the job, or is nepotism at play? Real investors would want to know.
6. Seemingly the options are for Liberty to extract more revenue from existing markets or hold races in new markets; presumably the United States. However, as has been stated here numerous times, any US racetrack that could be made safe for MotoGP is going to require serious capital investment. The former Miller Motorsports Park in Utah could be made MotoGP-ready. Moreover, Laguna Seca isn't any less safe than Mugello, but lacks garages, etc.
But MotoGP ain't going back to Indy: Roger Penske now owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For 40—50 years he has been anti-motorcycle, aside from very occasionally riding a Harley-Davidson to Indy Car races. There will not be a MotoGP race at Indy.
In short, Liberty Media didn’t just buy a racing series—they kinda bought a rescue mission. MotoGP has prestige, global reach, and passionate fans, but it’s also burdened with debt, stagnant growth, and a management structure that might not hold up under investor scrutiny. If Liberty applies the same formula that turned Formula 1 from niche to mainstream, there’s hope. But if not—if the same old habits persist—then the next set of financials could make this info pack look like the good old days.
A D V E R T I S M E N T
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