Liberty Media, the owner of Formula 1, may potentially sell the sport next year, according to a report by The Times this week. Allegedly, there is growing interest in selling Formula 1, although an actual sale is reportedly being postponed for now. However, the sport could potentially be put up for sale from 2026 onwards.
The British newspaper reports that Liberty Media has so far postponed a sale, but the company is considering finding a new owner for Formula 1 from 2026. The American media giant purchased the sport in January 2017 for a sum of 4.4 billion dollars. Since then, Formula 1 has grown tremendously and has attracted a large number of new fans. The most recent financial figures show that the sport generated as much as 3.65 billion dollars in revenue in 2024. For comparison: in 2017, this was ‘only’ 1.83 billion dollars.
MotoGP
Meanwhile, Liberty Media is also working on the acquisition of MotoGP from the Spanish company Dorna. In 2024, the Americans paid about 4.5 billion dollars for the world’s most important motorcycle championship. To ensure fair competition, this deal is currently being investigated by the European Union. If both Formula 1 and MotoGP end up in the hands of the same owner, this could potentially lead to a monopoly.
Allegedly, the Saudi Public Investment Fund already made a takeover bid for Formula 1 in January 2023, but an amount of over 20 billion dollars was reportedly rejected at the time. The then CEO of Liberty Media, Greg Maffei, called the rumors ‘pure speculation’. Whether Formula 1 will actually be sold in 2026 remains to be seen.
