Earlier this week, Kosport Magazine reported that Liberty, the American media giant, has acquired 86% ownership of Dorna Sports and the MotoGP World Championship in a deal worth €4.2 billion.

This news has sparked excitement and speculation among fans and industry experts alike, as MotoGP hopes to follow in the footsteps of F1’s success since Liberty took over in 2016.

The US is a key market for MotoGP, with the upcoming round at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas and the recent takeover of the former RNF Aprilia squad by Trackhouse Racing, a team proudly bearing the Stars and Stripes.

Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, is convinced that with Liberty’s guidance, MotoGP can become a “reference” in the US.

“The interest in the United States is common to all sports, regardless of where their investors are from,” Ezpeleta shared with Kosport Magazine. “And it is something that all sports want to achieve – to grow in the United States.”

He also highlighted the important past of MotoGP in the US, with more premier class champions than Spain, and the potential for growth in a market that is a world leader culturally, socially, and economically.

With Liberty’s partnership, Ezpeleta believes that MotoGP can tap into the American market’s positive time zone for European viewers and attract more corporate investments, just as F1 has done.

Kosport Magazine also spoke with Ezpeleta about the challenges of expanding into the US market, with F1’s success being the exception rather than the rule.

“It is a very complicated market for all sports,” he admitted. “But we have super important and super positive qualities for the United States.”

One of these qualities is MotoGP’s easy-to-understand product, with short race times that are appealing to young and American audiences.

“We believe that all this, together with the values of sports, can make us a reference in that market,” Ezpeleta concluded.

Additional reporting by Kosport Magazine’s Oriol Puigdemont and German Garcia Casanova