Liberty Media – Syndication Server

Liberty Media confirms antitrust investigation by U.S. DOJ

Liberty Media says it is facing an antitrust investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over its rejection of Andretti Global’s Formula 1 bid. Liberty Media told investors that it “has received notification from the Department of Justice, …

Liberty Media says it is facing an antitrust investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over its rejection of Andretti Global’s
Formula 1 bid.

Liberty Media told investors that it “has received notification from the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division that an investigation has been opened with respect to Formula 1’s conduct concerning the application by Andretti Formula Racing to enter the FIA Formula One World Championship.”

Liberty Media President and CEO Greg Maffei addressed the investigation discussed during a quarterly earnings call earlier this week.

“We intend to fully cooperate with that investigation, including any related request for information,” Maffei said. “We believe our determination or F1’s determination was in compliance with all applicable U.S. antitrust laws. And we’ve detailed the rationale for this decision vis-a-vis Andretti in prior statements.

“We are certainly not against the idea that any expansion is wrong. There is a methodology for expansion that requires approval of the FIA and F1, and both groups have to meet and find the criteria met. And we’re certainly open to new entrants making applications and potentially being approved if those requirements are met.”

A group of six senators led by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Lee (R-UT) requested the investigation in May in a letter addressed to Jonathan Kanter, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, and Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission. The senators’ actions followed Mario Andretti visiting Washington to lobby congressional support for a congressional response to Liberty’s decision to reject Andretti’s application.

Andretti, which applied to join the F1 grid as early as next year, with a longer-term plan to partner with Cadillac — a move that would bring GM into the world championship as a new manufacturer — was signed off by the FIA but blocked by Liberty, which controls the sport’s commercial side, in January. Liberty justified its decision by saying that it did not believe Andretti could become competitive within such a short timeframe, and questioned the value that its involvement would bring to the sport.

The response to Andretti’s plans from existing teams was mixed, with several voicing opposition on the basis that under the current commercial agreement, an additional team would dilute everyone else’s income.

The next Concorde Agreement, which governs F1’s commercial relationship with the teams, will run from 2026 to 2030.

Mario Andretti claims Liberty CEO personally threatened to block team

Mario Andretti has claimed Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei personally threatened to block Michael Andretti’s attempts to enter a new team in Formula 1. The Andretti Global entry was originally approved by the FIA as part of its analysis of which …

Mario Andretti has claimed Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei personally threatened to block Michael Andretti’s attempts to enter a new team in Formula 1.

The Andretti Global entry was originally approved by the FIA as part of its analysis of which prospective new entrants met the governing body’s criteria, but then was knocked back by Formula One Management (FOM) when it came to joining the grid in 2025 or ’26. FOM stated it would be more open to accepting Andretti Cadillac if and when General Motors delivers its own power unit in 2028, but the initial deferral has led to members of U.S Congress and Senators taking an interest.

Mario Andretti was present when members of Congress held a press conference in Washington D.C. ahead the Miami Grand Prix, following a letter being written to Maffei asking for clarity over the lack of an entry for Andretti Cadillac.

Speaking to NBC News, the 1978 Formula 1 world champion says he was at an event in Miami and speaking to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali about his presence in Washington when Maffei approached him.

“I was asked to go there (to Washington),” Andretti is quoted as saying. “And just as I was trying to explain that to Stefano, Greg Maffei, Mr. Maffei, broke in the conversation and he said: ‘Mario, I want to tell you that I will do everything in my power to see that Michael never enters Formula 1.’

“I could not believe that. That one really floored me. … We’re talking about business. I didn’t know it was something so personal. That was really — oh, my goodness. I could not believe it. It was just like a bullet through my heart.”

However, a source close to Liberty Media told RACER that the situation had played out differently, and that it had been Andretti who approached Maffei to discuss the matter.

There is understood to be skepticism within a selection of the sport’s stakeholders regarding the validity of Andretti’s claims that he did not bring the situation to the attention of Congress, with Andretti telling NBC “I did not initiate that” and suggesting it was a Red Bull show run on Pennsylvania Avenue earlier in April that caught they eye.

Since then, U.S. Senators have called on the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission to investigate what they describe as “the exclusion of Andretti Formula Racing, LLC from entering the Formula One Championship series,” despite FOM’s stance regarding an entry in 2028.

F1 revenues up 45%, exceed $500m in Q1 results

Liberty Media’s financial results have shown that Formula 1 revenue increased by 45% to over half a billion dollars in Q1 compared to the same period last year. The increase is driven in part by the difference in the calendars, with 2023 featuring …

Liberty Media’s financial results have shown that Formula 1 revenue increased by 45% to over half a billion dollars in Q1 compared to the same period last year.

The increase is driven in part by the difference in the calendars, with 2023 featuring just two races in the opening quarter of the year, while this season there was an extra round that fell in Q1 as Australia took place on March 24. Compared to last year’s figure of $381 million in revenue for the first quarter, Liberty has announced the Formula One Group generated $553m this year.

Liberty says there was growth across F1’s primary revenue streams of race promotion, media rights and sponsorship, with the extra race playing a central part. While primary revenue was up 47%, there was also a 34% increase in other F1 revenue that was largely down to the sale of the new Formula 2 car and associated parts, as well as higher freight incomes due to the race in Australia falling into Q1.

The knock-on impact is that team revenue payments were higher, increasing from $112m in 2023 to $163m this year, while Liberty puts the 31% increase in other costs of revenue as being impacted by lease costs for the Las Vegas Grand Prix Plaza.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“The 2024 season is underway, including our return to China for the first time since 2019 and our third year in Miami which saw another incredible event demonstrating the growing strength of F1 in the U.S.,” F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said.

“We are seeing continued momentum both in financial performance and amplification of our fan base, including through expanding our methods of fan engagement. We have already announced our 24-race calendar for 2025, a landmark year that will mark the 75th anniversary of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

“We recently published our first ever Impact Report and are proud to highlight that we are on track to reach our net zero target by 2030 and continue to prioritize our diversity and inclusion efforts with programs like the F1 Academy Discover Your Drive, STEM Challenge Days and more.”

The results were announced just a day after the viewing figures from the Miami Grand Prix were released, showing the race to be the most-watched ever in U.S. TV history with an average audience of 3.1 million.

IndyCar refutes Liberty Media sale rumor

The latest round of speculation regarding a sale of the NTT IndyCar Series took flight leading into the recent Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Liberty Media, owners of Formula 1, were positioned as the group making a move to purchase the American …

Speaking at Long Beach, Penske Corporation president Bud Denker provided an unequivocal answer when asked about the rumor and whether Penske Entertainment was interested in selling IndyCar or its other marquee property, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=4346]

“There’s no truth to any of that,” Denker told RACER. “There’s been no discussion, and frankly, we wouldn’t sell it. Being the stewards of the Indy 500 and being stewards of the IndyCar Series go hand in hand.

“We bought this series and bought the Speedway in 2020, and as long as we own both of those, they’re going to stay together.”

RACER also reached out to sources within Liberty Media and Formula 1, who stated the rumor was “completely wrong.”

Liberty Media expects Las Vegas GP will take F1 to a new level in the USA

Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei believes the new Las Vegas Grand Prix will launch “a whole new recognition for Formula 1 in the United States” given its visual appeal. Vegas will join the calendar as the penultimate round this year, with a Saturday …

Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei believes the new Las Vegas Grand Prix will launch “a whole new recognition for Formula 1 in the United States” given its visual appeal.

Vegas will join the calendar as the penultimate round this year, with a Saturday night race planned that takes in a significant portion of South Las Vegas Boulevard as part of the track layout. Speaking to F1 investors about opportunities for Liberty’s ownership of the sport in the coming years, Maffei says commercial interest has been clear to see but that he expects F1 to reach a new level as a result of the Vegas race.

“I think we nearly tripled sponsorship in the past three years, and I’m expecting Brandon (Snow, managing director of commercial) will triple it again in the next three years!” Maffei joked. “No, I think there’s a lot of opportunity and Vegas I think can actually be a great kickstart for that.

“We’ve seen it both ways. We’ve seen anticipation — some new sponsors coming in because of Vegas and the work that Brandon and Renee (Wilm, Las Vegas GP CEO) have done — but also I think once we have the event in Vegas there’s going to be a whole new recognition for Formula 1 in the United States, which still is our most important sponsorship market.

“A night race down the Strip that’s going to be iconic, that 10 o’clock view… I think few Americans will not have seen that view at some point — that’s going to be on every piece of television imaginable, and I think that is going to kick off a new round of sponsor interest as well, and more broad sponsor interest.”

There has been pushback from some fans about the purpose of the race in Nevada, with enormous ticket prices and a focus on hospitality and entertainment suggesting a different target audience. While Maffei admits Vegas can be an extremely lucrative race for Liberty, he says the focus has to be on the event being successful for all stakeholders.

“I think there will clearly be a learning curve. We came to Vegas with a whole bunch of objectives. First, to be a promoter, partly because we had ideas about what great promoters should do, and we probably thought if we were going to opine on that to some of our promoter partners we might actually want to be a promoter so we could walk the walk as well as talking the talk. We also thought that Vegas was a great opportunity for all the reasons we’ve talked about economically, but also it’s a great showcase.

“Our goal here should be to be long-term greedy in the sense that we’re going to have a high revenue stream here, we’re going to have a high cost stream here, but it’s more important that we have a great experience for everyone involved rather than coin it in the first year.

“I think we’ll make a lot of money in Vegas in the long term. I’m very excited — I think we’ll make good money this year. But way more important than that is we have a great experience for our drivers, for our patrons, for our fans, for our viewers, for everybody involved. So that’s the goal.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Wilm admits the big area that still needs addressing from the race’s point of view is general admission ticketing, something she says will need to be improved after the inaugural race.

“I would say year one is going to be a lot of learning,” Wilm said. “We’re hoping to get a lot right — we want to create the most incredible fan experience we can and also create a great track for the drivers, we want our team principals happy… really trying to create the best event throughout the ecosystem. But I’m sure we won’t get everything right in year one and we’re going to take those learnings and we’re going to improve upon the event in years two and beyond.

“We are blessed to have Clark County having already given us a 10-year approval to keep racing. When we convinced Greg to spend all the money on the land and the building, I think it was probably with the plan to race for more than just a handful of years. And we’re going to look to really re-invent ourselves; what can we do differently around talent and around customer activations?

“Early feedback is we need more general admission. Our fans are not happy that we don’t have more general admission. That is something that we’re going to address in follow-on years, but I think at this point all we can do is head down, work hard and look forward to what’s to come.”