De overname van MotoGP door F1-uitzender Liberty Media wordt onderzocht door de Europese Commissie. Die laatste vreest dat Liberty Media met de aankoop een monopolie kan creëren op de uitzendrechten van motorsporten, wat nadelig kan zijn voor kijkers in kleine markten.
Momenteel is de MotoGP in handen van Dorna Sports, de organisatie van Carmelo Ezpeleta. Dorna hield de laatste jaren de exclusieve rechten voor het FIM wereldkampioenschap MotoGP in handen en wordt daarmee door de Europese Commissie gezien als de enige echte concurrent voor Formule 1 van Liberty Media. Die laatste is marktleider als het aankomt op de verkoop van uitzendrechten voor motorsport content.
Volgens insiders komt het onderzoek van de EC rijkelijk laat, want uit onderzoek blijkt dat de verkoop van de uitzendrechten voor F1 en MotoGP in de meeste kleinere markten reeds gelijk loopt, vaak ook bij het gebrek aan grote nationale mediaspelers. Wat betreft België liggen de uitzendrechten voor zowel F1 als MotoGP bij de RTBF en VRT, tot onvrede van vele Vlaamse kijkers, want die laatste besluit niets te doen met MotoGP.
Volledig persbericht van de Europese Commissie:
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 competitionbetween 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, Mr. 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 14 November 2024. The Commission now has 90 working days, until 14 May 2025, to take a decision.
The opening of an in-depth inquiry does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.
Companies and products
Liberty Media, headquartered in the US, operates and owns interests in a broad range of media, sports and entertainment businesses. Those businesses are attributed to two groups: the Formula One Group and the Liberty Live Group.
Dorna Sports, headquartered in Spain, is active in sports management, marketing and media. In particular, Dorna Sports is the organiser and the holder of exclusive commercial and television rights of the MotoGP since 1992.
Merger control rules and procedures
The Commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving companies with a turnover above certain thresholds (see Article 1 of the EU Merger Regulation) and to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede effective competition in the EEA or a substantial part of it.
The vast majority of notified mergers do not pose competition problems and are cleared after a routine review. From the moment a transaction is notified, the Commission generally has 25 working days to decide whether to grant approval (Phase I) or to start an in-depth investigation (Phase II).
There are currently no other ongoing Phase II merger investigations.
More information will be available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.11539.