While its properties are as susceptible to geopolitical upheaval as any sport, Liberty Media says its business plans for the F1 and MotoGP auto racing series remain on track after the first quarter of the year. The Colorado-based Liberty on Thursday announced Q1 FY26 earnings, with comparisons to last year being thrown off there having been three F1 races in the first three months of this year versus two last year. Comparisons this year will also be thrown off by F1 currently being down to 22 races due to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia being postponed, although execs on the earnings call said it could be possible to reschedule one of those later in the season.
Revenue for the quarter was $617M while operating income was $107M. As signs of continued performance, Liberty pointed to deals announced in recent weeks like a new race in Turkey starting next year and new sponsorships with Marsh, FanDuel and Betway along with renewals with Salesforce and Allwyn. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali also touched on the start to the F1 season from an attendance perspective and how the F1 Las Vegas mixed-use development — dubbed Grand Prix Plaza — is doing better business with activities like go-karting, private events and its interactive F1 experience.
During the Q&A portion of the earnings call, Liberty CEO Derek Chang confirmed that the company is interested in discussing a potential MotoGP race at the Miami International Autodrome around Hard Rock Stadium, as SBJ first reported over the weekend. Chang said that Liberty would also be careful to also keep the many of the heritage-rich race tracks of the MotoGP schedule intact and that he’s attending several races this year including multiple in Europe to get a better sense of how events are stacking up.
The street seemed to like what it heard from Liberty, with the stock up 4.7%, or $4.16, to $92.82 as of presstime. That takes it back above where the stock was the day before the Iran war started — $91.59 — for the first time since the conflict commenced.
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