Advanced Television

EC to investigate Liberty Media, MotoGP deal

December 20, 2024

By Colin Mann

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Dorna Sports by Liberty Media. The Commission has preliminary concerns that the transaction could lead to higher prices for the licensing of broadcasting rights for motorsports events hosted by both parties.

Liberty Media and Dorna Sports are both international media companies. Liberty owns the Formula One Group and holds the exclusive commercial rights for the FIA Formula One World Championship. Dorna Sports holds exclusive commercial rights for the FIM World Championship Grand Prix (MotoGP) as well as other motorcycle racing championships.

The Commission’s preliminary concerns

The Commission’s preliminary investigation indicates that the transaction may reduce competition between Liberty Media and Dorna Sports in the licensing of broadcasting rights for motorsports content. In particular, the transaction may remove important competitive constraints on Liberty Media and Dorna Sports, which may strengthen their position vis-à-vis broadcasters of motorsports content and could ultimately lead to higher prices.

More specifically, the Commission found that:

• The transaction raises serious competition concerns in potential narrow national markets for the licensing of broadcasting rights for motorsports content in the European Economic Area (EEA), where Formula One is the clear market leader in all European countries and MotoGP is most often its only competitor.

• The transaction may remove important competitive constraints between the parties on some potential wider national markets for the licensing of broadcasting rights for all sports content or possible segments of such markets. In particular, this is because it appears that Formula One and MotoGP compete closely.

The Commission will now carry out an in-depth investigation into the effects of the proposed transaction to determine whether its initial competition concerns are confirmed.

During its in-depth investigation, the Commission will also further investigate whether Liberty Media’s and Liberty Global’s largest shareholder, John Malone, is able to exert decisive influence over both companies. If confirmed, the transaction could also give rise to concerns that Liberty Media may foreclose rival broadcasters in countries in which Liberty Global is active, namely in Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The proposed transaction was notified to the Commission on November 14th 2024. The Commission now has 90 working days, until May 14th 2025, to take a decision.

The opening of an in-depth inquiry does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.

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