Almost 4.2 billion euros! That is how much Formula 1 rights holder Liberty Media is expected to pay MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports at the end of the year in order to be able to include the premier class on two wheels in its own portfolio from 2025. The deal has not yet been finalized, but there are no concerns about a possible violation of EU competition law. So it is no wonder that everyone in the MotoGP paddock is already firmly assuming a change in leadership. But the impending takeover by Liberty Media shows one thing above all: MotoGP is more interesting than ever from an economic point of view in 2024. Everyone is talking about the boom in the motorcycle world championship, but is it really happening? Motorsport-Magazin.com uses the current summer break to take stock.
First of all, the fundamental question: How can the supposed boom of a racing series even be measured? Quite simply: The boom is nothing other than the increasing interest of spectators. Unfortunately, since there are no official figures on the number of TV viewers at MotoGP events worldwide, we will now focus on the fans at the racetrack. Dorna publishes precise figures for this every race weekend. To find out whether the interest of spectators has increased, we have therefore compared the number of visitors to the first nine race weekends in 2024 with the respective values of the individual Grand Prix from last year – and the results are clear.
As can be seen in the diagram above, MotoGP can almost exclusively boast increased spectator numbers in 2024. At the French Grand Prix in Le Mans, 297,471 visitors even a new All-time record for the motorcycle world championship. But the German GP at the Sachsenring also set a new record for the third time in a row and many other courses achieved their highest figures for a long time. In the Netherlands, the Dutch TT recorded the highest number of spectators since 1995.
Only at the Qatar Grand Prix did MotoGP fail to increase the number of spectators compared to the previous year. At the season opener at the Losail International Circuit, almost 15,000 fewer people came to the track. But that can be easily explained: In 2023, the night race in the desert did not take place until mid-November due to renovations. This meant that there was less than a four-month break between the two events, which could have pretty much satisfied the ‘hunger’ of many Qataris for another MotoGP visit. In addition, last year there was a thrilling world championship battle between Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin in Qatar, which may have generated additional interest, but which was logically lacking at the start of the 2024 season. The almost 40,000 spectators were nevertheless the second highest figure ever recorded in Qatar – topped only by the previous season.
A boom in MotoGP in 2024 cannot be denied, and the interest of spectators has continued to rise, at least on site at the track. This is also shown by a look at the total number of spectators: in 2024, 1,595,016 fans visited the premier class on two wheels, while in 2023 there were ‘only’ 1,440,329 spectators at the same nine events. This corresponds to a Spectator increase of 17,521 per race weekend.
MotoGP audience numbers 2023 vs. 2024
| Grand Prix | Spectators 2023 | Spectators 2024 | difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qatar | 55,050 | 40,343 | -14,707 |
| Portugal | 123,608 | 174,614 | +51,006 |
| America | 119,289 | 122,559 | +3,270 |
| Spain | 163,479 | 181,289 | +17,810 |
| France | 278,805 | 297,471 | +18,666 |
| Catalonia | 152,065 | 176,684 | +24.619 |
| Italy | 135,670 | 156,676 | +21,006 |
| Dutch TT | 179,167 | 192,554 | +13,387 |
| Germany | 233,196 | 252,826 | +19,630 |
| In total | 1,440,329 | 1,595,016 | +154.687 |
The biggest increase compared to 2023 was achieved by the Portugal Grand Prix. In 2024, it was attended by more than 50,000 additional MotoGP fans. More than 20,000 additional spectators were also recorded in Barcelona and Mugello, while the Sachsenring, Le Mans and Jerez only just missed this mark. The smallest increase was recorded by the American Grand Prix in Austin with 3,270 new spectators. These are numbers that Liberty Media will certainly not be happy to see, as they are flirting with the idea of a second MotoGP race in the USA. Given the high number of spectators in Europe, however, there should still be a lot of room for improvement. Last year, an incredible 440,000 spectators flocked to the Formula 1 USA Grand Prix in Austin.
You can find out how MotoGP plans to move into similar spheres under Liberty Media in the following article: