MotoGP is changing lanes in the United States. Liberty Media has placed the motorcycle racing series with ESPN on a two-year agreement beginning in 2027, covering both the U.S. and Latin America.
The deal
The package puts races across ESPN’s linear and digital platforms, and on Disney+. That gives MotoGP a combined cable, sports-app and streaming footprint.
ESPN is not new to the property: it has carried MotoGP in Latin America for nearly a quarter-century. The U.S. rights, however, have been more itinerant, moving most recently from Fox Sports, and before that from Warner Bros. Discovery and NBC Sports.
“This agreement with ESPN marks an important milestone in MotoGP’s growth strategy across the Americas,” said Carlos Ezpeleta, deputy CEO of MotoGP. Freddy Rolón, head of global sports & talent office for ESPN, framed the deal as a regional relationship growing into a wider portfolio play.
Why it matters
Liberty Media bought MotoGP in 2024 at a $4.5 billion valuation and wants to repeat the growth story it authored with Formula 1. The U.S. is a top priority, but the strategic backdrop is striking: Formula 1 left ESPN earlier this year and moved its U.S. rights to Apple TV. MotoGP is now heading in the opposite direction, choosing a partner known for broad reach rather than betting solely on a premium streaming service.
For media planners and entertainment marketers, the deal is effectively a live A/B test of two distribution philosophies for niche sports trying to break America: F1’s streaming-first Apple bet versus MotoGP’s reach-first ESPN and Disney+ play.
ESPN’s pitch is clear: MotoGP gets television sampling, digital inventory and placement inside Disney’s streaming ecosystem. The risk is the same trade-off every rights holder faces. Reach can build awareness, but it does not automatically create the kind of younger, subscription-bound audience that drove F1’s North American surge.
What to watch
- Audience numbers in the first 2027 season, particularly Disney+ viewing share versus ESPN linear.
- Advertising packages: MotoGP can now be sold across sports and streaming inventory, with Latin America included.
- Whether Liberty uses the ESPN window as a bridge before considering a direct-to-consumer or streaming-only play later.
For now, the headline is simple: Liberty opted for reach. The measurement of whether that was the right call begins in 2027.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
