MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

The EU Competition Commission has launched a so-called Phase II investigation of Liberty Media's purchase of Dorna Sports. The Commission raised concerns over the market power the proposed purchase would give Liberty over broadcasting rights in the national TV markets in a number of EU member states.

The concern of the Commission is that the acquisition could allow Liberty to raise prices for the broadcasting rights of MotoGP and F1 in some countries. The Commission noted that F1 and MotoGP are each other's most direct competitors, and Liberty having control of both would reduce competition by not allowing broadcasters to choose between one or the other, or both. 

The FIM and Dorna have announced the provisional WorldSBK calendar for the 2025 season. The calendar has a familiar look, with 12 races, kicking off at the end of February at Phillip Island. 

The Australian round is the only race outside of Europe once more. Though there are persistent rumors that Dorna is working on other races outside of Europe, they have been unable to sign contracts for them just yet. The WorldSBK series will visit the Balaton Park Circuit in Hungary for the first time this year, though they were scheduled to go in 2024 and that round was canceled.

The Balaton Park circuit in Hungary is to be added to the MotoGP and WorldSBK calendars for their 2025 seasons. The circuit, located at the eastern end of Lake Balaton and some 90km southwest of the Hungarian capital Budapest will be scheduled to host the WorldSBK series from 25th-27th of July 2025, and MotoGP from 22nd to 24th August.

It is not the first attempt to stage a world championship motorcycle race in Hungary, however. The Balatonring Circuit at the western end of Lake Balaton was scheduled to join the calendar in 2009, but the global financial crisis of 2008 saw its main investor go bankrupt as a result of the collapse of the Spanish real estate industry. That circuit was never completed, and the Motorland Aragon circuit took its place.

The FIM and Dorna have announced that Dorna is to keep the rights to run the MotoGP series until 2060. In a press release, Dorna says that the length of the agreement - another 36 years - allows them to continue to build the long-term future for the sport.

Although 36 years is a very long time, it is not entirely unprecedented. The FIM has always worked with long-term contracts with Dorna, an important factor in being able to create a stable infrastructure and a stable environment around motorcycling's premier class. Although the length of the previous was never made officially published, the agreement has been incrementally extended over the years, the latest date being 2043.

The agreement does not just cover MotoGP, but all of the championships run by Dorna. That includes WorldSBK, the FIM Junior Championship, MotoE and the WCR Women's Championship.

The press release appears below:

The Cathedral of Speed is to remain on both MotoGP and WorldSBK championship calendars through the 2031 season. The iconic Dutch track today announced an extension of their contract which will see the Dutch TT round of MotoGP, and the Dutch round of WorldSBK at the circuit for the foreseeable future.

The contract extension is not really a surprise. Assen is the longest-running circuit on the MotoGP calendar, and before that, on international racing calendar, with a history that stretches all the way back to 1925. The race only stopped running during the Second World War, and for the Covid-19 hit 2020 MotoGP season. The track is a firm favorite with riders, and attracts massive crowds for both the MotoGP and WorldSBK events, with over 105,000 fans at the Dutch TT last year.

Widely rumored, and now official. Today, April 1st, 2024, Liberty Media announced they have acquired 86% of the shares in Dorna S.L., the company which owns the rights to the MotoGP and WorldSBK world championships, as well as other series.

The announcement means that Liberty have bought out both Bridgepoint Capital and the Canadian pension fund CPPIB. But they also appear to have acquired a small part of the shares held by senior Dorna staff.

The details of the purchase can be broken down as follows:

The final round of the 2024 WorldSBK championship has been moved back a week. The event will now take place on the weekend of October 18th-20th. The change was made at the request of the Jerez circuit, to avoid clashes with other events in the region.

The rest of the calendar remains unchanged. The full and updated calendar can be found here.

The press release announcing the date change for Jerez appears below:

New dates for 2024 Prometeon Spanish Round

Jerez will once again play host to the final of the 2024 WorldSBK season, with an adjustment to the initially slated dates.

Responding to the dynamic demands of the local events calendar and the request of the township of Jerez de la Frontera, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and WorldSBK agreed to delay this year's curtain closer by one week.