Liberty Media’s purchase of the MotoGP World Championship from Dorna is reported to be set for an intensive investigation by the EU.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that Liberty Media would purchase 86 per cent of Dorna Sports, the exclusive commercial rights holder of MotoGP.

Liberty Media purchase MotoGP

Dorna Sports was bought out by Liberty Media, with confirmation of the deal being made public in early April 2024, who spent some €4.2 billion to add the illustrious motorcycle racing championship to its portfolio, by way of spending cash and shares of Series C Liberty Formula 1 stock.

This followed on from Liberty Media purchasing the commercial rights of Formula 1 from CVC Capital Partners in 2016, meaning the top classes of car racing and motorbike racing would be under one umbrella – Liberty Media’s.

However, from the get-go of the MotoGP deal, it was clear that there would be hurdles to clear before Liberty’s acquisition of MotoGP would be cleared by the EU, due to laws being in place against monopolies. Previously, CVC was made to sell the rights to MotoGP in 2006 by the European Commission based on similar grounds.

Liberty Media suggested the deal to purchase MotoGP would be completed by the end of 2024 “subject to the receipt of clearances and approvals by competition and foreign investment law authorities in various jurisdictions.”

However, an obstacle has been raised by new antitrust chief Teresa Ribera, who will lead an in-depth European Union probe into the deal in an escalation of a big merger case, according to a report by Bloomberg.