Liberty Media has not yet officially acquired MotoGP, but growth in the United States – a key market for Dorna – can already be observed, even before the company’s potential involvement.
There’s a sense that progress is being made. MotoGP’s CCO, Dan Rossomondo, told the Sports Business Journal that alternative strategies need to be explored beyond simply increasing the number of U.S. rounds:
– I don’t know if it’s been tougher – I knew it was going to be hard. It’s up to me and my team to start prioritizing where we want to push in what direction, but I think the fact that we can’t quickly go from one to three races because our tracks require some specific safety considerations, we’re going to have to do a lot of other methods to get there… I definitely feel like we’re making headway, 100%.
According to Rossomondo, this shift is already noticeable: ‘The amount of people who said, «I’ve never heard of your sport 12 months ago, and now I watch it», the amount of people I’ve uncovered who are sort of closet MotoGP fans, we’re definitely making headway – and I think you’ll see a lot of the fruits of that labor this year’.
Currently, MotoGP has just one U.S. round—the Grand Prix of the Americas in Texas. Part of Formula 1’s growth in the U.S. has come from expanding from one to three unique and appealing Grand Prix events. However, MotoGP is pursuing other avenues, including introducing Sprint races, increasing rider interaction with fans, integrating the American team Trackhouse, updating its image, and hosting events like the season launch in Bangkok this February.