Carlos Ezpeleta and Guenther Steiner: How MotoGP is handling its new American investors

0:03David Cushnan:And welcome along to the Leaders Worth Knowing podcast, the sports industry show from Leaders where we talk to the people worth knowing in the business of sport this week. I am David Cushman, the content director here at Leaders. And on the show today, a conversation I recorded last week in central London with Carlos Espalita, the chief sporting officer at MotoGP, and Gunter Steiner, who has moved across from the F1 paddock and escaped the drive to survive cameras to MotoGP, where he runs the Tech3 team as part of a major new investor group, which has identified a MotoGP team as a sports franchise worth paying significant money for.

0:47David Cushnan:We chatted on the fly. It was a busy day of promotional activity for MotoGP in London, ahead of Sunday's British Grand Prix, the 12th round of this year's 22 race championship. Just managed to squeeze in a conversation between a lunch Carlos and Gunter hosted for Selected Media and a few MotoGP executives and a Liberty Media Q2 earnings call that Carlos had to dial in for. That's where I left him and that's where the conversation started actually. It's just over a year since Liberty Media closed on its acquisition of MotoGP, placing the world's top motorcycling championship under the same corporate roof as F1.

1:29David Cushnan:A big change for the series and for the Espolita family too. Carlos has in recent times assumed much of the frontline executive work that his father Carmelo, still the CEO, once did under the Dorna banner. Dorna has now morphed into MotoGP Entertainment as American thinking and strategy blends with what was traditionally a Spanish-owned and operated sports promoter. And change is very much afoot. Carlos discusses the new commercial and governments framework binding the teams to MotoGP itself and also to World Motorcycling Governing Body, the FIM. That's a framework that brings everybody together until at least 2031.

2:14David Cushnan:A real first for the series as well and it provides a real shared sense of direction as I think you will start to hear. There's new technical regulations coming into effect next year as well. The calendar is also being built upon. Brazil was back on the schedule in 2026 and there's a new and somewhat controversial city centre race being planned for Adelaide next year. The general mood, the general vibe is optimistic. There's a sense, I think, that an already thrilling, scintillating, colourful sport that has heartlands in central Europe, in Spain in Italy primarily, and also Southeast Asia is about to be supercharged with American know-how.

2:57David Cushnan:And some elements of the F1 playbook Liberty Media has rolled out over the last few years to such great effect. Although, as Carlos and Gunter point out, it's not simply a case of doing things the same as F1 and expecting the same result. Many of you will be familiar with Gunter Steiner, of course. He is a well-known figure from F1 and very much the breakout star of Drive to Survive. Team principal at the Haas team in F1 from 2016 and its formation until the start of 2024. A man known for speaking his mind and speaking freely. And now alongside investment from Icon Capital and David Blitzer's Bolt Ventures.

3:39David Cushnan:$50 million worth of investment, as he just about confirms. Steiner finds himself running a MotoGP team. Tech 3 are one of the independent teams on the grid, a fixture in the series for many years, but competing in a series where winning is still possible, even up against full manufacturer teams like Ducati, Honda, Yamaha, KTM and Aprilia. It's clear, I think, as you'll hear, that he is also playing his part in steering the sport into its new era. Gunter and Carlos make a good double act as they look to grow revenues collectively, take the sport to new heights and think about how to build out the profile of MotoGP riders.

4:25David Cushnan:Fair to say some of the bravest and most daring athletes anywhere in sport and how to do that in strategic markets, key strategic markets like the US and the UK. We packed a fair bit into a short time together, so do enjoy Carlos Espolita, the Chief Sporting Officer at MotoGP and the newly installed CEO of Tech3, the Tech3 team, Gunter Steiner. Carlos Espolita and Gunter Steiner are with me in what I'm going to say is a very luxurious London hotel conference room. What are we calling this? Yeah, conference room. I'm not used to being in these luxurious places, so I'm always happy to follow Carlos.

5:08David Cushnan:I'm not sure I believe that for a second, Gunter, but it's great to have you both with us. Great to have you in London. We're talking a few days before the British round of the MotoGP World Championship. And Carlos, a lot has happened over the last year in MotoGP. So I would love to start with your reflections, I suppose. about a year into new ownership, big change in your life, big change in your role. Where's the sport at and how are you feeling about it?

5:39Carlos Ezpeleta:Thank you. Pleasure to be on. And as you say, I mean, it's been a big year for, big 12 months for MotoGP. And we hope smaller than the next 12 months for sure. But, you know, there's a lot, I think there's a lot happening in the business of sports in general. but for MotoGP it's been a real change and a lot of excitement to be honest. We started the conversation with Liberty Media a long time ago, more than three years ago and then it just took quite a bit to get approval from the EU Antitrust Commission to formalize the deal. So now I've been working with Liberty Media for 12 months And the first thing is that, you know, the change in sort of vision and how Liberty thinks about, you know, really building MotoGP long term, you know, building premium IP and building the sport globally.

6:39Carlos Ezpeleta:It is quite an evolution from where we come from. And I think that, you know, the opportunity is definitely huge for not only MotoGP and Liberty, but, you know, for the wider ecosystem of MotoGP, the teams, the riders, the manufacturers. There's, you know, there's a lot of low-hanging fruit. So, you know, we have now the best and the best around the sport and thinking about MotoGP. We have Derek Chang, who's CEO of Liberty Media and comes from an extensive background in this world. And we also have Chase Carey and Sean Bratches on our board, as well as Dol Bennett. So, you know, all of these people put together.

7:26Carlos Ezpeleta:And then, you know, there's the mindset of a long-term investment to grow the sport. we already and we've always known that we have the right ingredients um you know for for mpg to grow we have you know the the athleticism on track you know the the real excitement that makes mpg the best motorsport to watch on the planet now combined sort of with a commercial and and promotional resource that that we need to really continue to grow the sport we think that we're set you know for for a lot of growth in the next next years how have you found

7:59David Cushnan:working with um owners partners in in the u.s because there's um you know there's often a cultural difference in terms of ways of working in terms of approaches new ideas um and actually just in any um acquisition process how different organizations different entities come together what have what have your impressions been so far i mean to be honest i haven't felt much of that

8:30Carlos Ezpeleta:um it's it's it's sorry to offend anybody but i think i think in this matter specifically u.s is king you know i don't think any anyone else in the world that quite quite does sports and monetizes sports like the u.s does and just having you know and being around people that have done it already is just an experience and you know a possibility for for not only me but you know the wider the wider stakeholders in motors you p to learn from so i think it's been they've been extremely respectful of what has been done until now uh especially on track and the sport that we've built and that's been the focus during the last decades is to build the most compelling exciting sporting product on track um and then we can we continue to to want to respect what what has been done and don't want to change the sport because the sport itself you know it's it's it's an incredible but you know outside the track there's a lot that we you know a lot of areas for improvement and you know it's not sort of one thing or the other.

9:29David Cushnan:Gunther let's bring you in at this point. I suppose the obvious question is why MotoGP? Because everything what Carlos said I think the future I think it's what is happening. I mean as Carlos said the sport is good and now with the investment and not only the monetary investment with investment to make the sport better and bigger So it's always nice to be part of something which is going upwards, you know, and there is everything there. As Carlos said, again, the old ingredients are there to do good. And, you know, I always wanted to be part of something which is growing, not just being there, you know, just being there.

10:12It's nice. There's nothing wrong with that. But I quite love the challenge. I mean, there is a lot of challenges also for Carlos and his team, you know, to get there where they need to get. but it's nice to be part of something which is trying to achieve something. There is something good here, but it can be very good or fantastic, and being part of that one, that's what interests me.

10:33David Cushnan:So tell us a little bit about how you got involved. A lot of investment and a lot of partners that you're working with, Icon Capital, David Blitzer's, Bolt Ventures. I think, is it Pierre Gasly has an involvement as well? Yeah, Thrail, yeah. And you've come in to take over Tech 3, Tech 3, as I know it. What are you saying? Tech 3. Tech 3. International and Italian is Tech 3. I mean, it's a good name for a team. But a very established team in MotoGP with a great history and I think a great sort of romance about it in a way. Tell us a little bit about your experience over the last few months in terms of coming into the MotoGP paddock and actually what you found in terms of the team setup, the organization and how you're taking it on.

11:27We start with the last first. I think the team setup, I mean, the former owner and founder of the team, Javier Ponsoral, a great guy. You know, I got on very well with him from day one. you know i mean and uh he put together a very good team i mean the race team we have got there is very good you know the personnel uh they they know how to go racing they know all of that stuff obviously they were never focused on going the commercial part of it you know they they are focused on racing which is perfect for us because that is what we want to bring to motor gp to go commercially so how how how was my way into MotoGP I think you know the the best thing is was nobody was against me you know which is already success you know normally when you enter a close society like a racing series or something there is always or not always most of the time there is like okay who is this new people what do they want to do here you know we are good without this so we don't need them nobody was against it then most of the people welcomed me at least they said that i don't know what they say behind my bike but anyway they they welcome me which is which is a good starting point because in the end i just want again what carlos said uh the ecosystem we need to bring the ecosystem in the same direction as motor gp wants to go and and i think i have seen things in formula one in my former career where i actually can now try to explain my peers, the people I work with, not because Carlos is, you know, he's the promoter.

13:01He's basically above the teams. But I can go from the side and say, hey, guys, what they are proposing is the right thing because I've seen it happening and it makes it better for all of us. That is what we need to bring the understanding into the paddock and people react. But obviously, there's a long culture there. And, you know, it's we want to change it, but to the better for

13:22David Cushnan:everyone and that is the most important thing and carlos it strikes me that um what what gunter and his investors have been doing at tech three um is a little bit of a new model for perhaps what you would like to see as the future structure the future of of teams in the championship um and presumably you know we saw the the uh reports in terms of the the investment big numbers um i don't if you'll confirm those numbers for us, Gunter, but big numbers. $50 million was the number that was widely reported in terms of... I don't confirm or deny. I stay out of it. But Carlos, presumably that was, you know, that was a really good moment of new credibility for the series and gives you something to work with and perhaps show to others.

14:16Carlos Ezpeleta:So, first and foremost, what I would say is that, you know, the secret to this business is how to get one plus one equals three. And the reality is, if you're able to leverage partners in any of, whether it's team owners, but also the base promoters, broadcasters, commercial partners, when you're building something together, I mean, it's not value going one way or the other, it's value being created. And when you have two people working in the same direction that's what as Gunther said that's what you get you get you know you get one plus one equals equals three and you get you know high high ties raise all boats and I think that's you know from from the beginning of the conversation with Gunther that's what we saw first I mean I'm he's the one to confirm or deny the numbers but what I would say is I'm sure

15:11David Cushnan:that they got a better deal than whoever comes next so so that's that that that's what I think

15:16Carlos Ezpeleta:I'm quite confident about because you see the trend in team valuations and it's really, really gone up, of course, since the Liberty Media announcement. Now we have to get cracking and actually build and deliver that value. But I think the teams are an incredible opportunity and they're just such a big part of what we're trying to see. And the way that Gunter is structuring his team and the vision that they have moving forward and how they're going to grow the brand of the team itself, we're hoping that that is, you know, an example to all the rest of the stakeholders in this community.

15:57David Cushnan:And you've got 11 teams currently in the championship, and one of the, I guess, less immediately visible, but very significant achievements over the last year, confirmed just a few weeks ago, was the new commercial and governance framework. nothing sexier than talking about governance right but a lot of painstaking work I can imagine has gone into um that just explain um again to our sports industry audience um the the significance of that and and having the the certainty for the next few years in terms of getting you as the commercial entity the teams and the the governing body together and operating from

16:40Carlos Ezpeleta:the same page yeah i mean governance is one of gunter's favorite words on uh we we we as as the motor vp group we have the rights from the fim till 2060 included and um you know like like formula one we work sort of in five-year terms with the teams uh both from a regulatory sort of technical regulations um as from a commercial side and you know of course after you know following the announcement um you know we we started the you know the conversation to renew the agreement and i think you know we've come to a really good place where you know every everybody is behind the strategy and behind the vision of how we're going to build and create this thing and you know really getting behind what motor gp should mean to all those hundreds of millions of fans around the world and you know we're really happy with what the result has been um you know with with the teams and the manufacturers and we're you know we're happy to make an investment into the teams for them to be able to also invest in their own you know uh brands and and their resource as they continue to build uh you know the the sport and their own brands i'm not sure if you've

17:58David Cushnan:seen, Gunter, but the issue of sports governance, your favourite topic, is in the news elsewhere and other sports at the main. You may have heard of it. Well, a little bit. I don't want to give an immediate reaction to any of that, unless you'd like to give it. But you've been in the meetings in both F1 and now MotoGP when putting these, what I imagine are very detailed, very complex nuanced frameworks agreements together what's your general approach to those those meetings you're you're obviously in there negotiating get the best deal for yourself but you've got to have at some level surely the the overall sport in mind yeah you need to believe on the overall sport to make a decision for what you want to do you know and I think in these things I'm pretty good, you know, because I see...

18:53And modest also.

18:54David Cushnan:Yeah, no, no. Yeah, exactly, modest to start off it, you know. But no, I always approach it like, you know, if it helps us all, it helps me as well. You know, if I go back and say, if it helps only me and it doesn't help the other ones, why would I think I have a chance to achieve it? You know, I can be stubborn. And in these things, I think when you've got the... It's a big group which has to get together here. And you have to leave your ego complete out of it, which again, here we say very difficult for me. But anyway, you do it. And it's a commercial D, and you need to see the big picture. That's the only thing.

19:32You need to go look at the paper, what is proposed. Is this the right thing for the league? Do I believe in it or not? If I believe in it, yes. I mean, I get this today. I cannot now try to look for the single percent advantage or, you know, the little things. I mean, the little things we sort out afterwards. This is things, this is where we want to go. I mean, well, what was it? The high tide rises over the boats. I mean, that's what you need to believe in it. Otherwise, and, you know, it's, try to explain that to other people as well, because sometimes people, and I've been in Formula One here, when people got very, they got hung up on something, which is like, guys, what are we doing?

20:12I mean, you know, we are trying to negotiate something, which actually, if you look at the big picture, is not worth even the time they are speaking about it. And I get pretty much frustrated when these talks come and I voice my opinion then.

20:25Carlos Ezpeleta:Yeah, and I mean, jokes aside, credit to Gunter because he is a team player, and I mean that sort of at the league level. And as Gunter says, you know, there's 12 voices around the table, you know, with 11 teams in the league, and then there's also, of course, a federation, FIM, And it's, you know, a lot of the conversation, I understand, you know, it's hard to take a step back and look at, you know, what does this do to me four or five years from now? And that's the reality. We have to believe in the sport and where it's going and think long term. Because, you know, with sports, the good and the bad thing is that one guy wins.

21:05Carlos Ezpeleta:And in our case, 10 guys lose. and the question is that you know how do you build a successful business for all all 11 of them and that's what we're trying to do is you know not think about what you know what the decisions that we're doing that we're making today um how do they benefit or disadvantage somebody today more in terms of you know what does this do for all of us four or five years from now

21:35David Cushnan:You talked about the US being king in terms of understanding how to commercialize and package up sports and add in entertainment elements. Just flipping that around and thinking about your relationship with Liberty, what can you teach them about MotoGP and who watches and the traditions? And I suppose the differences between MotoGP and F1, because you will have heard this a lot, very simplistically, too simplistically, F1, MotoGP, now under the same ownership, the plan will be just to take what has been done with F1 over the last few years, very successfully, and apply it over here to MotoGP. It's got to be much more complicated and, again, distinct than that.

22:25Carlos Ezpeleta:Yeah, distinct is a good word and you're spot on. The first thing I would say is that MotoGP is a different sort of time in the journey to what F1 was when Liberty Media took it over. But more specifically, the world is a different place now than it was 10 years ago. and even more importantly than those two i would say that motor gp is a sport within itself with an authentic sort of you know personality racing attributes and that's what we are very much um targeting to to maintain and the the reality is that you know motor gp already has this huge global audience it has incredible racing at the you know the most elite level the athletes are the highest motorsport you know performing athletes on the planet and all of that is the things that you know we it's it's the values that we have that we don't want or need to change uh and we just have to you know get get them out and you know better you know a bigger set of eyeballs and and and the ones that are already watching you know give them you know even even a better product and even better ways to engage with the sport but i i don't think that they're you know there are sort of you know you have to choose between building you know the the growth of the sport and maintaining its you know its authenticity you can definitely do both things at once

23:49David Cushnan:would you see a world in which there are though given the shared ownership co-promotional opportunities down the road where f1 and moto gp can work closer together

24:01Carlos Ezpeleta:i think there's there's areas that we can definitely work closer together um i don't think that those are sort of the immediate priorities for us right now gunter um what

24:13David Cushnan:what would your view be on how to continue to increase the profile of riders in moto gp as as somebody who has gone on a bit of a journey over the last few years in terms of your own personal profile wanted or not wanted it evolved yeah no i i i think you cannot force somebody to have personality it's there or not you know because otherwise it's fake and never do i learned never do that and i always try to the the the riders drivers which uh which work with the teams i run say be yourself and you know see what is happening so i i think what what the riders in motor gp need to get educated this in the moment is like if i have to do press and stuff like this it's a no it's an opportunity you know turn it into an opportunity you know but they are used to do this so long so difficult to change i think where we need to start with motor 3 motor 2 that they get more introduced to do press work to do social media it's also it will take a little bit of time But then it will come automatically because the guys which will be famous, we don't have to make them famous.

25:30They will get famous. You know, you don't need to do anything. It's a very weird thing. So we just have to try to tell them or we have to tell them, get yourself out there. It's good for you as well because they all forget that after the riding career, they've got a few years left. They need to do something and not everybody goes away from MotoGP a millionaire, you know. So it's all opportunities. And I think there is more opportunities than challenges in doing this. It's easy. Just be yourself. Do what you like to do and tell people what you do. It's pretty simple. And you don't need to be trained or nothing.

26:03Obviously, sometimes you need to hold them back. But that creates, again, a new story. You know, it's like, but that is what the world wants these days. And I think they just need to get a little bit trained because in the moment it's like, oh, I'm just here to race. Yeah, racing is one of the things. But the same as, Carlos, to grow the business. If we just do more of the racing, if we do 36 races, the sport will not get bigger. We need to give around the sport. We need to create entertainment and things people want to watch, you know.

26:29David Cushnan:And Carlos, obviously the sport has sort of emerged and then continue to evolve after, from a very sort of mainstream point of view, the Valentino Rossi era, incredible global superstar. You have Mark Marquez, you have an incredible bunch of young up and coming riders. um in your big list of priorities at the moment how high on the list is a very top level u.s rider a very top level british rider for example um more riders from southeast asia where you have a real sort of stronghold and you've got in a way that f1 hasn't had actually um races in in thailand and

27:12Carlos Ezpeleta:indonesia so i i mean the first point is very high up the priority list but unfortunately it's not something that we can manufacture yeah at all quite the opposite and what i would say is i i don't think any other sports i don't think any other motorsport does as much as we do on sort of grassroots programs and you know you know junior promotion and all that we we really do a lot so I think that we're we're bullish of the idea and we're starting to see the first we started investing in Asia with Asia Talent Cup you know 12 years ago and you know we have now Ayagura second in the ranks and is more important over the last races than any other rider so you know these things take quite a lot of time but we're already starting to see some of the effects of our investments you know in southeast asia and you know uk and the us are big focal points for us too