Liberty Media Corporation - Series A Liberty Formula One (NASDAQ:FWONA) Q2 2026 Earnings Call

0:00 Welcome to Liberty Media Corporation's twenty twenty six Second Quarter Earnings Call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen only mode. Afterwards, we will conduct a question and answer session.

0:18 As a reminder, this conference will be recorded August 6. I would now like to turn the call over to Hooper Stevens, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Thank you for joining us this morning. This call includes certain forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual events or results could differ materially due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those mentioned in the most recent Forms 10 ks and 10 Q filed by Liberty Media with the SEC. These forward looking statements speak only as of the date of this call, and Liberty Media expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any update or revisions to any forward looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Liberty Media's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based. On today's call, we will discuss certain non GAAP financial measures for Liberty Media, including adjusted OIBDA

1:22 the earnings press release issued today, which is available on Liberty Media's website. Speaking on today's call, we have Liberty's President and CEO, Derek Chang Liberty's Chief Accounting and Principal Financial Officer, Brian Wendling Formula One's President and CEO, Stefano Dimitacalli, MOUJP CEO, Carmelo Esplaglia, and other members of management will be available for Q and A. With that, I'll turn it over to Derek. Great. Thank you, Hooper, and good morning, everyone. We are thrilled with the second quarter performance at both F1 and MotoGP. Amidst all the global uncertainty and credit to our operating teams in this challenging environment, our businesses are motoring long at a speedy pace. Our priorities for 2026 remain unchanged, which are to build upon Formula One's durable business model, establish the foundation for MotoGP's next phase of development, and allocate capital with discipline.

2:19 Since May, we have made tangible progress against each priority while keeping the distinct identity of each sport at the center of our approach. Formula One continues to demonstrate the breadth and durability of its platform. New technical era is producing compelling competition on track. There is immense demand from fans, promoters, commercial partners, and media platforms. Meanwhile, our business continues to perform incredibly well, with notable momentum across Haddock Club, licensing and sponsorship. In The U. S, Formula One's momentum on Apple continues to build with viewership up year over year, season to date, and total hours watched up 13%. We could not be more pleased with this result.

3:06 The digital product is great, and sponsors across the F1 ecosystem are very happy with our distribution on Apple. This season, F1 has attracted a much younger and more female audience in The U. S. On Apple TV. Our experience with Apple continues to reinforce the strategy of pairing a premium live coverage with product innovation and broader ecosystem breadth without compromising reach. Through Apple's ecosystem, F1 is being amplified, discovered, and embraced by a new generation of fans. And we couldn't be more excited to see what this partnership will bring to our store in the coming years. We are also creating more direct and frequent relationships with fans. Provisional content, licensing, and experiential activations are extending engagement beyond race weekends.

3:56 For example, Passenger Princess, which in its first season generated close to 300,000,000 views, returned for a second season last month. The Las Vegas Grand Prix's ten year extension through 2037 is a milestone that underscores F1's growing US presence. At MotoGP, we are beginning to capitalize on the significant opportunities ahead, and we are very happy with our progress so far. Making the season has been exceptional, with incredibly tight competition among the top five riders. More importantly, for the long term, MotoGP completed agreements with all manufacturers and teams through 2031.

4:37 Together with new technical regulations beginning next year, this establishes a stable framework for investment, promotion, and commercial growth. We continue strengthening the organization, including progressing on key hires and building commercial capabilities, while pursuing growth in ways that are authentic to MotoGP. There is positive momentum in the business, with new media agreements signed in Spain and Portugal and new extensions of the Malaysian and Silverstone Grand Prix. Fan activations, like the 20,000 person immersive watch party in London in June, broaden access and visibility and underscore our priority of bringing the MotoGP experience closer to city centers. Our capital priorities at delivery level remain to support attractive organic growth, maintain a prudent balance sheet and evaluate opportunities that complement our existing assets.

5:35 Brian will cover the financial results in more detail, and Stefano and Carmela will discuss the operating businesses. Our confidence remains high in the durability of Formula One's growth and their increasingly direct and always on van relationships. Likewise, we continue to feel very excited by MotoGP's long term potential as its organizational and commercial foundation takes shape. Now I'll turn it over to Brian. Thank you, Derek, and good morning, everyone. We'll start with the Formula One business. The race count this quarter is especially challenging due to not holding the Savi and Bahrain GPs in April and other differences in the calendar, resulting in a 44% decline in the race count for the quarter and a 27% decline year to date.

6:20 With that in mind, I'll focus on year to date comparisons. And as always, it remains best to focus on our business on a full year basis. Absent the calendar variability, the business is performing incredibly well. Results reported year to date reflect a 22 race calendar, the number known at June 30. Subsequent to the end of the second quarter, we have rescheduled the Bahrain GP, which will be held in Malaysia in October, bringing our expected race count to 23 races for the year. We expect to start accruing season based revenue costs and associated true ups with respect to a 23 race calendar starting in the third quarter of this year. No additional 26 calendar changes may be necessary. We expect to return to a full 24 race calendar next season. The second quarter of twenty twenty six held five races compared to nine races in the second quarter of last year. Year to date, through the second quarter, F1 also had three fewer races, with eight races held in the current year to date period compared to 11 races held in the prior year.

7:20 Year to date, revenue declined 15%, and adjusted OIBDA declined 30%, driven by the change in race count. The decline in primary revenue was driven by the calendar variance and its effect on recognition of season based revenue, with eight out of 22 assumed races staged year to date with approximately 36% of season based revenue recognized compared to the prior year period, when 11 out of 24 races had been staged and approximately 46% of season based revenue had been recognized. During the second quarter, media rights revenue was also impacted by the one time revenue associated with the release of the F1 movie last year. Offsetting the decline was underlying contractual fee increases at our three primary revenue streams and revenue generated from new and renewed sponsorship partners.

8:07 Other revenue declined due to lower hospitality and freight revenue from three fewer events held year to date and lower F3 revenue due to the sale of cars at the beginning of the new F3 cycle last year, partially offset by strong demand for the Paddock Club at recurring events, continued growth in our licensing business, and growth in the Grand Prix Plaza activities in Las Vegas. Adjusted OIBDA decreased year to date because of the lower event count. Revenue decline discussed above outpaced the decline in expenses. Decreased operating expenses included lower team payments and expenses related to the delivery of hospitality offerings, travel, freight and other costs due to the calendar variance. SG and A expenses increased driven by higher personnel and information technology costs, partially offset by lower marketing costs as we lapped the seventy fifth season launch event last year.

9:03 Peak payments as a percent of pre team share adjusted OIBDA were 61.7% year to date and were also approved based on a 'twenty two race calendar assumption. For the full year, we still expect to see roughly 200 basis points improvement in leverage on this metric, in line with the average that we've seen over the past four After 2026, for the remainder of the term of the new Concorde Agreement through 2030, we expect the payout percentage to remain relatively stable. Team payments are best analyzed on a full year basis due to quarterly fluctuations in team payments as a percent of adjusted OIBDA. Now turning to Motive GP. A reminder that we closed the acquisition on 07/03/2025, so our financial results prior to the date of the acquisition are presented on a pro form a basis, so the transaction occurred on 01/01/2024.

9:55 The majority of MotoGP's revenue and costs are euro denominated, and as such are subject to translational impacts from foreign exchange fluctuations. I will focus on constant currency results here. Similar to F1, I'll also focus on year to date comparisons. Year over year comparisons are impacted by the mix of races, not just the number. And as a reminder, MotoGP flyaway races generally carry higher costs, including freight, travel and IRTA fees.

10:22 Moto GP race count itself was identical year over year for both the quarter and the year to date periods. Revenue increased at Moto GP year to date, driven by growth in race promotion from event mix and sponsorship revenue due to new sponsors and underlying contractual growth. A reduction in contractual media rights and a decline in title sponsorship revenue related to event mix partially offset that revenue growth. Adjusted OIBDA also grew year to date, driven by both revenue growth and a decline in expenses. Cost of MotoGP Motorsport revenue decreased due to the impact of lower freight expenses from the race mix as well as lower hospitality costs related to MotoGP's new hospitality agreement with Quint, whereby MotoGP now recognizes revenue and costs related to hospitality on a net basis.

11:11 Looking briefly at corporate and other results year to date, revenue was $12,000,000 which relates to rental income generated by Grand Prix Plaza in Las Vegas. Corporate and other adjusted OIBDA was a loss of $16,000,000 and includes Grand Prix Plaza rental income and our corporate expenses. At quarter end, Liberty Media had cash and liquid investments of approximately 1,500,000,000 which included $1,000,000,000 of cash at F1 and $142,000,000 of cash at MotoGP. Our debt was approximately $5,000,000,000 at quarter end, which included $3,300,000,000 of debt at F1 and $1,000,000,000 of debt at MotoGP, with $497,000,000 at the corporate level. F1's $500,000,000 revolver and MotoGP's €100,000,000 revolver both remain undrawn.

11:56 We did reprice MotoGP's debt in June. We priced a €720,000,000 term loan B, a $200,000,000 USD term loan A, and a new $100,000,000 multicurrency revolving credit facility at attractive terms with future reductions in margin expected as the business de levers. Additionally, we repaid a portion of MotoGP's debt funded with cash from MotoGP's balance sheet. Quarter end, Liberty Media's net leverage was 3.4x. That is a slight uptick from the end of the first quarter, but it's largely driven by the F1 calendar variance. F1 and MotoGP are both in compliance with the debt covenants at quarter end. And with that, I'll turn it over to Stefano to discuss Formula One. Thanks, Brian. The 2026 season so far has delivered some incredible racing and amazing moments for all of our fans.

12:48 There have been great battles for podiums among Kenny, George, Luis, Lando, and Charles that have fueled excitement on track. The championship battle remains highly competitive, and I expect the teams to converge more and more as the season progresses. The news I knew would become reality is that attendance is up, audience are up, digital numbers are growing, and the fans are enjoying what they are seeing. The fans are the heart of everything we do, and they are loving the season. As you know, the safety and security of everyone in the sport remains our first and foremost priority. We have closely monitored developers in the Middle East region, originally hoping to bring back one race to the region. But unfortunately, we were unable to do so as originally planned. Instead, we recently announced the great news that we will recover the Bahrain Grand Prix, but it will be hosted by the Malaysian, creating an exciting triple header alongside Baku and Singapore. I want to thank his majesty, the king of Bahrain, his royal highness, prince Salman of Bahrain, and his majesty, the king of Malaysia, as well as their respective governments and, of course, the president of the FIA and the promoters for all their collaboration and the flexibility making this race possible.

14:04 It once again shows that we can adapt, find solution, and deliver incredible results for the sport. Looking ahead, we continue to expect that Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix are to currently proceed as scheduled for a 23 races calendar this season and expect to return to a full 24 races calendar next season. Engagement trends continue to underscore the strength of our sport. We welcome 3,300,000 attendees to date with all 10 races selling out through Belgium. Five races set new attendance records, including Silverstone, welcoming 564,000 fans, making it the most attendance race in the sport history. Our sprint format continues to drive higher Friday attendances and stronger daily attendance throughout race weekend. The success of the spring format continues to drive growing interest from promoters in all the sprint race and we expect to expand the number of sprints for next year and to provide further details soon. Our hospitality offerings continue to benefit from huge demand for premium experiences.

15:06 The Paddle Club remains sold out for the rest of the season and House forty four, which is also sold out this season has been a standout success. We plan to expand House forty four from nine location this year to 13 location next year. At the Belgium Grand Prix, we launched our new premium experience, the Outlab, in partnership with LDMH. Early feedback from our partners and fans have been overwhelmingly positive, and we expect to operate this experience across Europe next season. The team sales remain robust and highlight the underlying consumer demand on F1 branded merchandise. At Silverstone, we introduced a new flagship retail concept that offers fans of broader and more diverse product assortment. We plan to expand this flagship format to Monza, Madrid and Austin later this year. Building on the success of the specialty F1 business store in Asia, we launched another DZ retail hub at the Montreal race this quarter. Additionally, we also opened two new F1 hub location in Montreal and Loppel further extending our retail footprint and following the success of the original concept in Las Vegas that returns in November. We continue working with our promoter partners to elevate our premium hospitality experience, including adding new capacity increases this season at Silverstone, Monza, Monaco, Austria and Hungary. And we plan the expansion next year in Austria.

16:25 In Monaco this season, we added a third floor to the Pado Club in addition to diversifying our premium product mix with five different experience packages. At Silverstone, we opened our Tier 1 annex in our Pado Club, taking our premium capacity to an all time high this season. At Austin, we are excited to open our new structure at Tier 1 later this year, and we also have additional planned expansion also next year. We also continue to see growth in our global TV business by several key strategic markets, including Brazil, Italy and China. In Brazil, the British Grand Prix reached a record of 18,000,000 viewers across TV Global and Sport TV three, generating the highest audience for the event in eight years and the largest audience for any F1 race globally since 2020.

17:13 In Italy, TV audiences are up plus 27% through Silverstone versus last year, helping drive broader growth in fan engagement across our ecosystem. In China, the moment generated by the Chinese Grand Prix where weekend orders more than doubled year to year has continued throughout the season supported by increased coverage and growing audiences. Our social and digital platforms continue to play an important role in bringing our younger digital first audience closer to our sport. We grew our social media follower 19% year over year with particularly strong engagement on TikTok. Our total YouTube views surpassed one three billion, up plus 30% year over year, while our YouTube highlights views have reached almost 200,000,000 views with over fifteen minutes power watched.

18:01 While we continue to benchmark our sport engagement using traditional measure of viewership, we also recognize that our fan base continues to evolve. So to thus, the way our fans engage with us across a diverse range of platform, channels and experience. For example, the legal drivers for Silverstone generated more than 70,000,000 video views across multiple platforms, creating another culture relevant moment that captured the attention far beyond the libraries itself. To reflect this evolution, we're continuing to enhance how we measure the value fund engagement, building a more comprehensive view of how fans connect with Formula One across the entire ecosystem. Our partnership with Apple underscores this ability to interact with fans across multiple touch points, enabling a more holistic view of engaging with our sport. Since launching on Apple TV, F1 has attracted a younger audience while also expanding its reach among female fans. Our sport

18:56 continues to build momentum on Apple TV, delivering strong viewership and engagement with fan this season. The strength of Apple ecosystem has already helped us reach and engage with new fans across The U. S. F1 isn't just being watched. It is being discovered, followed and embraced by a new generation of fans across every Apple platform and device. Our growing fan engagement continues to translate into sustained interest from our commercial partners. With respect to our media rights, we remain active in our negotiation and renewals, recently renewing with the SerDes TV in Austria in a multiyear agreement. Globally, our F1 TV product continues to perform well with F1 TV revenue, not included in The U. S. Where the arrangement has changed, increasing 18% year to date. Our race promotion business has never been stronger. While our calendar is fully allocated through 2028, interest for new destination to host a race remain robust with many potential host city seeking to develop long term proposal that will drive tourism, investment and broader economic activity around a potential race weekend.

20:02 Our active pipeline, despite our calendar being full, underscore the strength of the sport commercial proposition in an era of expanding media reach, deepening partner engagement and growing consumer demand globally. We are equally thrilled with the phenomenal progress we have made this year with the Las Vegas Grand Prix. We have added our very first F1 after party concert featuring the iconic Backstreet Boys at the skier following the race on Saturday night. Our ticket sales are trending well ahead of the last year with respect to both volume and revenues. In fact, we are already at month end September 25 levels as of the end of July and on a like for like basis excluding ticket sales for the Backstreet Boys. We have also recently announced our ten years extension with the LVCVA, keeping the LVGP on the calendar through 2037.

20:54 This extension reinforced the strategic importance of these rates to our local community partners and we now have greater certainty to invest in long term infrastructure and operational improvements reducing future build out costs. Grand Prix Plaza in Las Vegas also continues performing well with private events, attraction and watch party performing really well with attendance on track to surpass twenty twenty five levels. Sponsorship activity remains strong during this quarter. We extended our agreement with Pirelli as our official tax supplier to 2028 and welcome Flexjet as our official private aviation supplier in a multiyear partnership. Additionally, we also announced Fever as our new centralized ticketing platform for f1.com, starting new season, bringing the strength of their marketing platform to our sport and ensuring we continue showing up in the most culturally relevant location.

21:47 By partnering with Fever, we will deliver a smoother fun journey with more sophisticated technology to improve discoverability and ticket purchase. Momentum around our license and business continue to build. We recently announced a new multiyear global publishing partnership with the DK Books, bringing our storytelling to a new level for fans of all ages to experience f one. We have also renewed our partnership with the automobiles, which continues to print the shoes F1 posters and calendars for us. And we also recently partnered with the Hashbro to launch a special F1 themed edition of MONOPOLY. In addition, we have signed multi new agreement through our business partnership, including Gentle Monster and Uniqlo and have many additional product launches plans with and without Disney globally for the remainder of the year as we further the reach of our sport with iconic global brands. While we remain momentum across all parts of our business, we believe Formula One has an exciting growth journey ahead, and we are excited by the opportunity. We are confident that the foundation we are building today will drive enduring value for all our partners and stakeholders.

22:54 Avanti Tuta, full speed ahead. And now I will turn the call to Carmelo to discuss MotoGP. Ciao. Good morning and thank you, Stefana. It has been an understanding for the year growing our sport with Liberty Media, and we look forward to building on this momentum with Liberty's continued support. Our season this year has been incredible. The competition has never been tighter across the grid. With only 24 points splitting the top five riders season to date with notable strength from a premier. To date, 12 riders across seven teams and three manufacturers have made podium. Congrats to Ayoguda winning his first GP, Assassin.

23:42 Our first Japanese winner since 2004 and the first graduate of the Assassin Talent Cup to win a Grand Prix. Consistent with our history, we have successfully signed the manufacturers and teams agreement for the next five years. This renewal provides the necessary foundation to grow our sport collectively.

24:03 The most important outcome from this agreement is a strong alignment across all parties on a shared vision which is to evolve our sport while maintaining each unique heritage. Under the new agreement, we are collaborating on ways to optimize cost while preserving the competitive integrity of the sport, allowing teams and riders to reinvest in back into their commercial efforts as we work collectively to rise our reach. We will increase our investment into the sport

24:34 with shared responsibility across manufacturers and teams to help drive the long term commercial success of MotoGP, creating a strong plan to continue innovation and performance and reinforcing MotoGP as a premium global sport. We continue to grow MotoGP engagement both on and off track across the first 11 races. Attendant is plus 4% with record attendance in Thailand and Germany. We also continue to see growth in our TV audiences with viewership up 3% through Mugello with notable strength in our US, Spanish and Asian markets. We also recently hosted a watch party for the Dutch Grand Prix at the alternate in London, growing over 20,000 visitors and look forward to running the same activation for Pureveston.

25:25 As we broaden our reach, we see attractive opportunities to engage fans in creative, immersive experience in key markets around the world.

25:34 We remain focused on extending MotoGP global footprint and are encouraged by the momentum across our digital and social footprints. We indeed acquired with 63,000,000 social media followers, a plus 3% increase year over year with particularly a strong performance on TikTok where engagement increases over 80%. Our Chinese social media platform also delivered strong growth with followers increasing plus 26 as we continue to deepen our presence in the key growth markets. VideoWiz excluding video pass increases over 30%. We have a productive quarter with several news and the newer partnerships across our business. In the video rates, we continue to strengthen our overall footprint.

26:24 We have recently renewed with Skydatch covering Austria, Germany and Switzerland, With a thon in Spain and Portugal and with RTBF in Belgium in a multi year agreements.

26:37 We also continue building momentum in race promotion, extending agreements with several promoters partners including Malaysia to 2031 and Silverstone through 2028. Looking ahead to next year, we are excited to race again in Argentina at Buenos Aires. And for the debut of Adelaide GP, we look forward to unveiling the first visual renderings of the new Adelaide silk quid over the next few weeks. In our sponsorship business, we signed CAA as our global sponsorship agency, full service training our commercial platform and capitalizing on our brand refresh and growth. In hospitality, we are encouraged by the early momentum with our expanded partnership with Queen, where we are working together to enhance the premium hospitality experience on our events.

27:27 We are excited by the path ahead and remain encouraged by our early momentum. We look forward to continue to update the investor community in our progress. Now I will turn the call back over to Derek. Great. Thank you everyone. We appreciate your continued interest in Liberty Media. Pat will open the call up for Q and A. Operator? Thank And for participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. We ask that you please limit to one question and one follow-up question.

28:18 Our first question is from Ketan Maral with Evercore Please proceed. Great, thanks for taking the questions. Two if I could. I wanted to dig into the underlying trends across media rights. I think the Apple deal in The US continues to get a lot of attention, but you think the number of other broadcast agreements since then, and we don't get as much visibility into the economics of those. I know every deal is different and the linear and digital media landscapes

28:49 keep shifting, but could you give us a sense of how those conversations are generally evolving?

28:55 And in broad strokes, is there helpful way to think about the trajectory of media rights revenue as these deals get renewed or extended?

29:05 And then second of all, I wanted to ask about, the Las Vegas Grand Prix. It's very encouraging to hear ticket sales are trending well. I know you don't break out the financials separately and discreetly for the race, But can you share any color on how profitability is trending year over year? Because if current ticket sales and revenue trends hold and you continue to evolve the vendor contracts, it seems like profitability should be positioned to improve as well. But I'd appreciate your thoughts on how we should be thinking about the financial impacts of the ten year extension going forward as well. Thank you. Sure. This is Derek. I'll just start, I think, on the media rights. As you know, media rights across the globe are sort of they sort of ebb and flow depending on sort of who the players are, what rights are that are coming up, and other factors as it relates to dynamics of the different sort of subscription businesses, our broadcast businesses in those markets. And so we are constantly

30:08 sort of in discussion with folks, not only while we're in negotiation, but frankly outside of that because there are partners that we're always trying to build and sort of generate as good a product as we can with them. But through those discussions you're constantly sort of hearing about what's going on in these markets, whether or not digital players are coming in globally in other markets, what their expansion aspirations are. And I think more broadly then, I would just say that it's we feel good that we have great products. We have products. We have content that people want. We obviously, to some degree, are subject to some of those things that are outside of our control. And the things that we can control are continuing to make the sports that we own sort of as compelling as possible and as interesting for

31:05 our partners as possible. Possible. And that's what we do sort of to put ourselves in the best position as we go to market every time. Now we are, as I mentioned earlier, constantly having discussions with these guys. And so what you've seen from time to time is us also taking advantage of opportunities where we've renewed deals early because it makes sense. And we will continue to look for ways to do that. Because what we are interested in is sort of the long term stability of our products and making sure we're with the right partners. And just like with race promoters, if we can find the right partners who will invest for the long term, we think our brand, that builds value in our sports.

31:57 And so as we come back to the specifics of the question, I think that we are very encouraged by where the Apple deal has gone. I think we're encouraged certainly with Efelon, with the recent renewals with Sky.

32:13 And then on the MotoGP side, also very encouraged by what we've just done recently, particularly with Dizone, which you know, Spain and Portugal are important markets for us. Stefano and Carlos, I don't know if you guys want to add anything to that. Yeah. Mean, thanks, Gary. I think that's couple of points on on top of what Derek has just said. First of all, the beauty of what we are doing is that we control the content, and we produce it. And this is an incredible asset and opportunity to

32:45 redefine what is now in the real world, the the redefinition of the reach. We don't have to forget that the reach is taken not only with the evolution of what we have had in some of the great deals with the great media partners. But, you know, we have other ways to produce content through other different ways to connect people. We don't have to forget, you know, that now there is so many platforms to reach people that they're creating value for the media broadcaster to connect with us, either to, let's say, traditional products or other products that could be digital or other platforms. And that's why the beauty of what we are having today on a global world is that the partners that are together with us want to renew earlier than what is the expiration date because they see the value of what they're doing. And on our side, making sure we take the right evaluation market by market, we're to see if we can see new trends coming in can be monetized or helping us to get to a different dimension of reach,

33:50 and otherwise, it will be different. So I think we are in a great spot today. We are an incredible sport that because of what we are producing, gives the leverage to make sure that looking ahead, you know, we are very positive in saying that we can be, you know, a sport that can be produced in all the different platforms all around the world, making sure that we can monetize as much as we can every single culture what we are doing on every single market. That's the point of media, in my opinion, to add on what already Derek said absolutely

34:20 clearly, very, very clearly. And Derek, of course, if we can answer the second question, I will follow you. Otherwise, I could go ahead with that point as you prefer. But think that what we don't have to forget is that I start once again for one factor. Vagueis is becoming one of the most important events that has already shown since the beginning the potential of it. I don't want to forget that if we compare the economical impact that F1 did versus Super Bowl with respect, we were bigger. That means the potential to keep growing, controlling even more the cost, having now the opportunity of having agreed the extension, you know, with LDCDA

35:09 means that can really build out even stronger the possibility of for this run rate to be even more profitable. That is already the case because this is something that, you know, we knew it was a product that was being could have been fantastic. And this this trend of growth in term of profitability and also not only indicative wise, but in some of positioning as an F1 product that can have a great boost to other promotes is becoming a relevant thing that is indicating,

35:40 you know, to the world of a sport business the way to produce event around the world. And this is very, very good. We are very happy. Emily Fraser, you know, the CEO of the Vegas Grand Prix, did a tremendous job with the team there, focusing and making sure that all together as a team can produce even stronger products for the future. This year event will be phenomenal. I don't want to anticipate that will be so new comfort that we're going to do on the racing because we don't forget. At the central product, Vegas, you

36:11 know, Miami, Madrid, or wherever we are in the world is what we're doing at the track. And then being able to extend the experience, that is the key factor of being so successful so far all around the world.

36:25 Great, thanks for asking now. Operator, next question. Our next question is from Steven Lechak with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed. Hey, great, thanks for taking questions. Brian, you called out that absent of the calendar variability at F1 this year, the business is performing exceedingly well. I was just curious if you maybe speak a little bit more to the underlying performance you've seen year to date and if there's any particular parts in the business that are performing better than expectations heading into the year?

37:00 Yeah, thank you for the question. And I can certainly start and I'll let, you know, Stefano add on. But obviously, calendar variability makes it very challenging because you have lower proportionate revenue recognition. But if you kind of look through that, we're seeing really good growth on sponsorship. As we did last year. We're seeing really strong performances in licensing. The demand for the Paddock Club is very strong. Obviously, you have fewer races, so you don't necessarily see that come through the numbers. But those are three areas that I would very specifically call out.

37:37 Stefano, anything you want to add to the underlying performance I of the think, Brian, you reached the most important point. For sure, licensing is starting to be on the trajectory that, you know, we've had since a couple of years, there is a tremendous effort to characterize these revenue streams even stronger than the future.

37:57 I want to say stay tuned because something will happen because it's important that we keep growing that revenue stream as we always said. And then we go back to the point that we're saying that Brian was saying before is related to Puddle Club. Puddle Club is related to experience. And this is something will create even more the possibility of growing our revenues in the queue because experiential opportunity is where we are focusing our future. You know, we did an experiment, for example, in spa, offering a very exclusive customer a possibility to have the one of the best chef in the world, a tour, having a unique

38:36 way of having a food experience at the end of the quality at the end of the Saturday night. This is another way to create things that you can money cannot buy. So that's our approach to create even stronger that kind of possibility that will have an impact on our revenues. That's definitely very, very important. And if I may, I do want to give for granted the fact that we were able to react in a very difficult situation because, of course, our, you know, our way to embrace

39:08 our way to work is to always try to find a solution even if there are problems. You know, the fact that with the Bahraini Grand Prix, we wanted to bring home, you know, a race there and find that place to be Malaysian, not in Bahrain shows our mentality. You know, we are racers inside. We want to make sure that our funds and our partners will rely on us to find solutions. That's what will happen the future with regard to revenue streams that I see a great potential even in the next five years ahead of us. Great. Thanks for that. And then maybe just on the expense side for Stefano and Brian SG and A. At F1, it looks like it continues to pace up a good bit year over year. Just would be curious if you could talk more about the investments you're making in the business and then how we should be thinking about the pacing of SG and A as we look into the back half of the year and then maybe even into 2027?

40:00 Thank you.

40:06 The biggest two factors are you have a marketing benefit because we had the seventy fifth anniversary last year. We also have an FX impact where FX has negatively impacted SG and A for the first half of this year. Normally, don't see something that large. But as our cost base in The UK changes, if you have changes in the British pound, obviously that could be an impact. Outside of those two items, there's investment in personnel. So personnel costs are higher than they were in the prior year. SG and A slightly higher at LVGP. The bulk of that is due to the fact that, as you recall, we took over the sales function from Quint last year, but that wasn't fully baked at the beginning of twenty twenty five. So it was being built up through 2025, and you have a full year of it now. So that shouldn't be an impact going forward. And then we do have higher IT costs as we invest in the business. Those are the primary items.

41:16 Great, thank you very much. Next next question is from Matt Condon with Citizens Bank. Please proceed. Thank you so much for taking the questions. Stefano, you mentioned the commercial opportunity and I know you've talked about it in the past as being a big future opportunity. Can you just talk about the key levers to make this a bigger part of the business over time? Sorry, Matt. Can you repeat it? Because the line was a little bit disturbed on my side, sorry. Sorry, no, I was just asking about commercial licensing opportunity, and you talked about this being a big future opportunity. Just wanted to know the key levers to getting this to be a bigger part of the business over time. Okay, John, sorry, now I understand.

42:03 No, I think that the beauty of what we are doing is that every time we leave, you know, there is always what's next. What's next is finding opportunities that our market is presenting to ourselves. We have, for sure, done already an incredible step with regard to what, you know, in all the categories we can offer to our customer. The investment on digitalization that Brian was mentioning before will allow us to grow this opportunity even further. Different market, different visibility, different opportunity. And therefore, this will allow us, you know, to maximize the revenue that connects us to that. In terms of other commercial opportunity, I think definitely one thing that we are very focused in trying to not trying, working on very hard to renew let's say, the actual big partners to be extended now without waiting the expiration of the conference. And one area that we want to protect, because it's an area where everyone wants to be totally involved, is the area of AI.

43:05 We won't we will never give to anyone or a single partner that area because it's too big. Therefore, our ability to divide that area of business is creating us a lot of opportunities. And the other thing is that is related to the key licensing partners that is growing year by year. We see that through different proposition that we are doing, we are creating capsule, we are creating content that enable us to have a bigger issue with our fans. Now we are really, I would say, in a good position to monetize as much as we can the possibility of moving our customers through our partners too also. But that will give us a great visibility of a great trajectory of future revenue that will continue in the next future. Great.

43:56 That's very helpful. And then I just wanted to ask about the new agreement with the manufacturers teams for MotoGP. Can you maybe just give us an overview and what are the key points that we should really know as you think about this going forward? Thank you so much. Sure, this is Darren. I think that the key points are that, you know, we've got another five year deal with the teams and the manufacturers. And I think we've got everyone sort of moving in the right direction in terms of outlining what the technical aspect of the sport will be. I think the other key components are we're some of this is in the deal, some of not, but just sort of how we're going to build this sport together. This process has been a bit long.

44:43 And as you might imagine in any sort of discussion like this, I think there's some gives and takes. But I think that we're coming out of it in a way where everyone on both sides, in terms of the teams and sort of us, are trying to figure out and work together to build the sport, both in the product but also from a commercial standpoint, that will benefit all of us. Carlos, I don't know if you want to take go into that a little bit more. Thank you, Derek, and thanks for the question. Yeah, I think it's very positive outcome for us. And evidently, the deal with Liberty Media closed and acquisition closed, that was really the time that we could, you know, really start the conversation with the manufacturers and teams as there has been a real alignment in terms of how we wanna build this together, as Derek was saying.

45:37 And really, you know, what is the vision and the strategy behind building MotoGP and how the manufacturers and the teams have to be a part of that. I think that, you know, high tides raise all boats and, you know, putting together the investment that is going in towards the teams for them to also be able to invest, you know, into their own resources to grow their brands. The sport is an amazing place from the from the, you know, racing point of view, and 2027, the new regulations will only improve that. So this is really it's been a great conversation with the team and the manufacturers to really get everybody aligned on the commercial side and the strategy behind building the sport. Thank you.

46:25 Thanks very much, Matt. Operator, next question please. Our next question is from David Joyce with Seaport Research Partners. Please proceed. Thank you. More on MotoGP please. Can you help us understand how much of the cost base in the quarter was allocated to incremental growth initiatives as that sport aims to apply the Formula One playbook and separately on the sponsorship side there for MotoGP, how much of that is expiring in the next year that could result in either upgrading the sponsors or expanding relationships or just getting step ups based on the continued family engagement growth there? Thank you. Why don't we start with Brian on the cost side? Yes, David.

47:11 I would say the investment phase is not that pronounced in the quarter. Specifically, I'll look at the year to date results. But year to date, we've got higher marketing expenses as we try to grow brand. There are some incremental investments in personnel, but those are really not that material. I mean, you can see in our reported results that SG and A is relatively flat for the quarter. And then on cost of revenue, there certainly are investments there, but those are offset by changes in the schedule where you have higher payments to the teams due to the change in the schedule and increased flyaways or actually, I'm sorry, a lower flyaway, lower freight costs because of the change in Qatar.

48:02 So, so far, you're not seeing material increases in the cost base through the investment other than some personnel and marketing costs. And on the sponsorship question, I think the way to think about it is less about what's expiring. As you might imagine, we have a regular flow of deals that come up, and it's probably three to five years in nature. And so periodically you have these coming up. But I think it's actually more about what sponsorships are going to be available with a focus on the business and bringing this to a much wider audience. And I think something that we've been hitting on from day one is we've historically had a fairly endemic sponsorship base. And I think as we look much further afield, it starts to open up much bigger opportunities for us well beyond sort of what a normal renewal rate paradigm will give us. I think that's how I frame it, how I think about it.

49:03 Thank you very much. Our next question is from Brent Devon with Bank of America. Please proceed. Thank you. We've seen Formula One, I guess, increasingly add Sprint races to the calendar. I mean, how many more can realistically be added here? And I guess, can you explain how this filters through the business? Is this just extra race promotion revenues? I mean, is there media rights or sponsorship opportunities that come with it as well or even hospitality? Thank you. Sure. Stefan, why don't you just go ahead and take that one? Yeah, sure. Mean, Spring Traces is an opportunity that first of all started because we wanted to produce something that could create action on the track, creating leverage for the promoter and ourselves to create action on the tracks starting for the weekend. We're to have more races more sprint races sprint, sorry, next year, yes. We'll inform when we will announce the calendar of how many.

50:10 The principle is very simple. This is also an opportunity to increment the revenue stream for sure. This is an opportunity for us to have new deals as we have already seen. And moving in this direction will be our future. We want to do in the right way because, of course, this will allow us also to make sure that the scarcity is a value. So if commercially we would go everywhere, of course, that's not anymore a value that we can really from the commercial point of view. But definitely, we're going to move further up in terms of what was the number in the future. That's 1000% what will happen already next year. Great. That's helpful. And maybe just a follow-up to some of the media discussion media rights discussion earlier. You know, a few months ago when you announced the Sky extension, Germany was noticeably abstinent from that agreement. And there's been a few recent press reports suggesting you may look to be adding a race back to the calendar in Germany. And so I guess, should we interpret that as potentially Germany, you guys viewing that as an untapped growth market and maybe help kind of help us think through how bringing a race back potentially could help with the media rights discussions there. Thank you so much.

51:26 I'll start on this one. Okay. Yeah. I think I'll let Stefano talk about a race in Germany, but I think that broadly speaking, this is sort of what I was alluding to earlier. Like Germany is a market influx, you know, with the RTL Sky merger. I think also you've got some of the digital players, the streaming platforms that are coming into Germany. So it's a market that probably a few years ago was not as robust, and it's looking now more robust. And those are just market driven phenomenons. And then you layer onto that what we continue to do from a product standpoint, which I'll let Stefano talk about more and any sort of sense of racism in Germany and such. But that's solely dependent on having races, having the content. It is part of it is what the macro dynamics are happening in that particular marketplace.

52:22 If I may add on what Derek said, definitely, RTL was an in our needed to have more reach in that market. I'm pretty sure that in the future when will be the right negotiation, the market of Germany will be different, for example, from what we have now in Italy or in U. K. There will be a digital platform or other streamers that will apply for the tender because that's a market that possibly will have that opportunity to put us in a situation that we need to make the right decision for the future. But with regard to the potential, I would say, we don't have to forget that, you know, we have Audi that's stepping into the business.

53:10 We have Mercedes. We have big partners that have their home base in Germany. And I think now Germany wants us to think in the medium term if they can come into the calendar, or even more important, being as it was twenty years ago, one of the most important markets for Formula One. I think that are the base for this discussion. I think that we know very well the dynamic in Germany are not really the fastest one. But definitely, you know, the new situation in Germany start to move in the direction where I see Germany potentially in the future being a very interesting market that will have a positive effect both from the media side, but also maybe on the promoter side. It will not, in that case, a short term call, but definitely will happen. And this is very, very important to remember.

54:00 Thank you so much. Our next question is from Ian Moore with Bernstein Research. Please proceed. Hi guys, thanks for taking the question. Everything you shared on like premium hospitality, Paddock Club, really encouraging today. What are you learning, I guess, about supply versus demand dynamics there? You've added a lot of capacity there over the past couple of seasons. What are the signals that are giving you confidence that demand, you know, for these experiences continues to outpace supply? Stefan, you can take that. Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Thanks, Ian. I mean, today, I can tell you that today, we are talking about the fact that already next year, 2028, we have already allocated for the teams all the public lab hospitality that we have. So it's a sign that today we need to see how we can extend, not only in terms of quality, but in terms of pricing, the other offers that the promoters are doing as a joint activity. So the signals are all positive, all great. We see our market in a full strength mode, also because we do not forget that now also the team has solid partners, very important brands that want to invest in Formula One through what we are offering on the commercial side. So today are all good news. We have new products that are

55:30 very, very innovative. The good thing that I take personally, not personally as a step on, but as a team and F1, as a good thing because everyone is watching the app on what we are preparing for the future of sports entertainment. And our team is focused on creating even more initiatives to try to be over the top edge because today is not only pricing, it's really how we can grow our team and our people, sorry, to leverage what we have today. So the signals are super positive, and we will not give up in making sure that this positivity will be extended for a longer period as much as we can. Thank you, Stefano. Thank you, Ian, and everybody else for participating today. We look forward to speaking to you more offline and seeing you in the coming weeks. Take care.