Q1 2025 Liberty Media Corp Earnings Call

Derek Chang: Welcome to Liberty Media Corporation's 2025 Q1 earnings call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterwards, we will conduct a question and answer session.

Speaker: At that time, if you have a question, please press star 1 on your telephone.

Shane Kleinstein: As a reminder, this conference will be recorded May I would now like to turn the call over to Shane Kleinstein, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Thank you and good morning.

Speaker: Before we begin, we'd like to remind everyone that 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-K and 10-Q filed by Liberty Media with the SEC.

Speaker: 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 updates 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.

Speaker: On today's call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures for Liberty Media, including adjusted OIDA.

Speaker: The required definition and reconciliation for Liberty Media, Schedule 1, can be found at the end of the earnings press release issued today, which is available on Liberty Media's website.

Derek Chang: Speaking on the call today, we have Liberty's President and CEO, Derek Chang, Liberty's Chief Accounting and Principal Financial Officer, Brian Wenling, Formula One's President and CEO, Stefano Domenicali, and other members of Liberty Management will be available for Q&A. I'd like to turn the call over to Derek. Great. Thank you, Shane. Good morning, everyone. It has been a great start to the year at Liberty. Importantly, the priorities we have outlined for 2025 are progressing well. Namely, number one, we are working towards the close of the Dorna acquisition. Two, continuing our path towards structural simplification. And three, we continue to drive momentum at Formula One.

Derek Chang: Starting first with the Dorna acquisition. We are progressing with the Phase 2 regulatory process and working constructively with the European Commission. We hope to receive approval by the long-stop date of June 30, 2025. MotoGP kicked off 2025 with its first-ever season launch event in Bangkok. The event generated massive buzz, bringing together all 11 teams to showcase MotoGP as a thrilling sport and premium entertainment brand. MotoGP will host a 22-race calendar in 2025. compared to 20 races last year, which was impacted by race cancellations, necessitating two replacement races scheduled mid-season. The season is off to a great start with incredible on-track action and growth and independence across the first five races completed to date.

Derek Chang: The Argentina Grand Prix set a new attendance record for the track with over 200,000 spectators. Thailand's audience attendance was up 15%, and Kota hosted its largest crowd since 2018, and Arat saw its highest attendance since 2015, with 24% growth over 2023.

Derek Chang: The company announced several commercial agreements to start the season, including Pirelli as a new tire supplier starting in 2027, and the extensions of the Barcelona, French and Valencia GPs through 2031.

Derek Chang: Our second priority is continuing to progress our structural simplification, including the planned split off of Liberty Live. Our third priority is continuing to drive momentum at Formula One. The confluence of excellent racing and commercial momentum is benefiting engagement and financial results in 2025. There are several areas currently in focus worth highlighting. We are seeing continued momentum in sponsorship and licensing to start the year. An excellent showcase was the LEGO partnership last weekend in Miami, where all ten teams rode in fully drivable LEGO F1 cars for the driver's parade. The project took over a year to come to life and required 400,000 LEGO bricks per car.

Derek Chang: It was an amazing collaboration that captivated our fans and the Internet, and our drivers loved it. Looking ahead, pulling the sponsorship pipeline forward has allowed our team to focus on 2026 and beyond, and emphasize securing blue-chip names aligned with the F1 brand. The appeal and breadth of the F1 brand are uniquely resonating with sponsors across B2B and consumer brands alike.

Derek Chang: Second, we are focusing on improving LVGP standalone economics and maximizing the overall benefit to the F1 ecosystem. Tickets went on sale in early April and volumes are trending ahead of this time last year. Lower initial ticket prices are driving momentum, which we expect will drive greater sales. The first two years have demonstrated clear benefits to the wider Vegas ecosystem. We are engaged in encouraging discussions with key local stakeholders to ensure their support and best position the event for future growth.

Derek Chang: Finally, our current U.S. media rights agreement concludes at the end of 2025. and we are in active and productive discussions for a new deal. F1 is a strong product for broadcasters with solid growth in the U.S. including this season and an attractive demographic with one-third of viewers under age 35, females representing 42% of the fans. We remain focused on finding the right partner to continue to innovate on broadcast offerings and sustain our momentum in the U.S.

Derek Chang: While it's early in the year, performance today is strong. The contractual nature of that Formula One's cash flow provides high visibility into our business performance for the next several years and will be especially important in this macroeconomic climate. As of March 31, Formula One had $14.2 billion of future revenue secured under contract. Advanced ticket sales for our promoters and hospitality tickets for the remainder of the season remain strong. We continue to actively monitor changes in consumer sentiment. Historically, Formula One's business model has proven resilient in times of economic uncertainty. We are encouraged by the strength of the business and look forward to completing the rest of an exciting season.

Brian Wenling: Now I'll turn it over to Brian for more on Liberty's financial results. Thanks, Derek, and good morning, everyone. A quarter-end Formula One group had attributed cash and liquid investments of $2.8 billion, which includes $1.5 billion of cash at F1 and $69 million of cash at Quint. Total Formula 1 group attributed principal amount of debt was $2.9 billion at quarter end, which includes $2.4 billion of debt at F1, leaving $526 million at the corporate level. F1's $500 million revolver is undrawn and their leverage at 331 was 1.2 times.

Brian Wenling: As a reminder, all Mode of GP transaction-related financing is in place and deal contingent.

Brian Wenling: Turning to the Formula One business, I'll make brief comments on the quarterly results. Though as we all know, the business is best analyzed on an annual basis, given variability in the year-over-year race calendar and timing of events. Note that every quarter in 2025 will have incomparable rates, count and mix, which will impact year over year comparisons of quarterly results throughout the year. Most of the variability in year-over-year results is due to the two races held in Q1 2025 compared to three races in Q1 2024. Race promotion revenue decreased due to the mix of races with Australia and China occurring in the current period compared to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Australia in the prior year.

Brian Wenling: Media rights and sponsorship declined as only 2.24% of projected season-based revenue was recognized compared to 3.24% last year. Sponsorship is also impacted by the calendar shift, as the Saudi Arabia and Bahrain races both have race-specific local title sponsorships, and recognition of that race-specific revenue shifted with the timing of those races. However, the decline in sponsorship revenue was largely offset by strong underlying growth from new and renewed deals impacting 2025. Media rights revenue is benefiting from contractual increases in rights fees and continued growth in F1 TV, benefiting from the launch of the new premium subscription. Other revenue declined during the first quarter as a result of one less paddock club event and a mix of races held.

Brian Wenling: The adjusted orbit has declined alongside revenue during the quarter, driven by the calendar variant. Other costs of F1 revenue increased due to higher freight costs with longer routes flown and increased commissions and partner servicing costs, servicing the overall primary F1 revenue growth, as well as higher costs for Grand Prix Plaza due to more activity compared to Q1 2024. On a full-year basis, we expect other costs of F1 revenue to be consistent with prior years as a percentage of total revenue. SG&A increased in the first quarter due to marketing costs associated with the season launch event at the O2 and should be viewed as a percentage of total revenue for the full year.

Brian Wenling: Team payments decreased in the first quarter due to the lower pro rata recognition, with one less race held, partially offset by the expectation of higher full-year team payments. As a reminder, a reminder that team payments as a percent of pre-team adjusted OEBDA was 61.5 in 2024, and we expect that percentage to continue to come down as we complete the term of the current Concord Agreement at the end of 2025. In connection with all 10 teams signing the 2026 Concord commercial agreement, Formula One paid a total of $50 million to the teams in the first quarter.

Brian Wenling: This cost is excluded from adjusted oil and presented separately from team payments. Although revenue and adjusted overhead were lower year over year due to the calendar variance, we are seeing a strong financial start to the year and are tracking well against our internal plan.

Brian Wenling: Grand Prix Plaza in Las Vegas officially opened its new year-round activations on May 2nd. Revenue from these activations will be recognized at the F1-OPCO level, though we expect results will have a modest impact in 2025 as we scale that business. The vast majority of the CapEx required to build out Grand Prix Plaza activations was incurred in the first quarter. Total F1 CapEx was approximately $33 million year-to-date, including slightly less than $20 million incurred related to GPP. Looking briefly at corporate and other results in the first quarter, revenue was $53 million, which includes quit results and approximately $6 million of rental income related to the Las Vegas Grand Prix Plaza.

Brian Wenling: Corporate and other adjusted Oiva loss was $12 million and includes Grand Prix Plaza rental income, quit results, and corporate expenses. Reminder that Quint's business is seasonal with the largest and most profitable events taking place in Q2 and Q4. Q1 has modest event activity while still incurring ordinary course operating expenses.

Brian Wenling: Quickly turning to the Liberty Live group, there is a attributed cast of 314 million and 400 million of undrawn marginal capacity relating to our live nation's marginal. As of May 6th, the value of our Live Nation stock held at Liberty Live Group was $9.3 billion. We have $1.15 billion in principal amount of debt against these holdings. Liberty and F1 are in compliance with their debt covenants at quarter end.

Stefano Domenicali: With that, I'll turn the call over to Stefano to discuss Formula One. Thanks, Brian. Formula One is off to a great start in 2025. We are six races into the season and continue to see exciting on-track action. The wins have been spread across teams, and the racing is tighter than expected. While early in the season, we expect the action to continue. The strong on-track performance has fuelled FAD engagement. Attendances is up over last year with sellout crowds and nearly all races to date. We reached a new record crowd for the Australian Grand Prix with an outstanding 465,000 weekend attendees.

Stefano Domenicali: Demand for the balance of the year is strong as well. Mexico sold out in a matter of hours for the 10th season in a row and Montreal again experienced strong demand with the majority of the 2024 guests returning in 2025. Demand for hospitality products also remained high. Season to date, we sold over 12,000 tickets at Tower Paddle Club and we have seen strong advance sales across the remainder of the season.

Stefano Domenicali: We remain focused on opportunities to increase capacity and are working on alternative and innovative hospitality products where demand outstrips supply.

Stefano Domenicali: Turning to viewership statistics, across our top 50 markets, live TV viewership grew for the first five races of the season. We had over 60 million cumulative linear TV viewers for the opening Grand Prix weekend in Australia. The US in particular has seen strong growth, with ESPN viewership up 45% across the first five races. The Australian Grand Prix was the most-viewed edition of the race ever for the U.S. audience. Other markets with notable linear viewership growth include Brazil, France and Australia. Highlights viewership on F1 YouTube channel has increased by 31% compared to last year, emphasizing the significance and growth in our digital channels as fans find new ways to engage with our footage on and off the track.

Stefano Domenicali: Social media followers have now reached 100 million, growing 30% year over year. The first quarter growth was particularly driven by Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Stefano Domenicali: Looking more broadly, Nielsen released new fan data in March, showing the continuous surge in F1 fandom. With our total fan base as of year-end over 826 million, adding nearly 90 million new fans in 2024. These engagement figures are not just numbers. They represent the growing global appeal and genuine engagement with our sport and validate our initiatives to enhance F1 for our fans. The strong engagement figures are part of a broader picture of commercial success. What I'm pleased to report, we continue to have strong momentum. On race promotion, we are working toward finalizing our 26th calendar.

Stefano Domenicali: We were excited to announce renewal of our Mexico race through 2028 and Miami through 2041, the longest contract currently secured and a testament to our success in the US market. The vast majority of our races are now secured under medium and long-term contracts. Demands from potentially racist hosts remain robust. and we are evaluating various opportunities for the future. The Netherlands will host their final race in 2026 and Spa will race in alternative years from 2027, leaving an opening on the calendar in 2028. Tickets for Las Vegas went on sale April the 9th, featuring new ticket pricing and offers.

Stefano Domenicali: Tickets now start at $50 for a single-day general admission and $400 for a three-day general admission in Flamingo Zone, and we've communicated to fans that the price will not be going down from their initial on-sale, helping to drive urgency and momentum in sales. To date, we are very pleased that our sales velocity in Vegas is meaningful outpacing last year. Our media rights business continues to demonstrate the growing competition for marquee sport rights. F1 TV subscriber growth continues to be robust, with total subscribers up 4% year-over-year, led by the US market up 20%. The launch of our new F1 TV Premium tier has outperformed expectations, especially in key markets like the US.

Stefano Domenicali: We are in active and positive discussion for our U.S. media right with multiple partners and look forward to sharing updates once final.

Stefano Domenicali: Of course, there's more content to watch than just a race. Additional series like Formula 2 and Formula 3, the Sprint and F1 Academy are providing broadcasters with more content and value. Viewership for sprint races consistently shows strong year-over-year growth, with the sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix seeing over one million viewers for the live broadcast on CCTV in China, and viewership doubling in Italy as Lewis Hamilton celebrates his maiden win for Ferrari. Outside of the race weekend, Try to Survive Season 7 reached Netflix's global top 10 for another year and appeared in the top 10 list across 39 countries.

Stefano Domenicali: The F1 Academy docuseries Without Sunshine is going live on Netflix on May 28th.

Stefano Domenicali: The Apple movie announcement, its premiere date on June 16th, with the film soundtrack and film merchandising released just last weekend in Miami. On the sponsorship front, we entered the year with high visibility for 2025 and a strong pipeline for additional growth potential. Recent new deal announcements include Barilla Pasta as an official partner and BWC as our official consulting partner. As part of the BWC agreement, they will provide strategic consulting to our global business to help enhance our performance and drive operational efficiency and excellence. Our team continues to focus on both the 2025 and 2026 pipelines, with progress being made on a number of high-value renewals and new pathways.

Stefano Domenicali: Licensing continues to be an area of focus and growth. Our new license partner, LEGO, has seen high demand for its F1 products, selling on average one piece of LEGO every second in the month of March. We saw an exciting activation in Miami, where all the drivers took part in the Regular Drivers Parade in fully drivable LEGO cars.

Stefano Domenicali: on the Exponential Licensing Front and when Arcade continues to expand to new locations. The Boston and Washington D.C. venues held a sold-out watch party for the Australian Grand Prix to kick off the season. A new Arcade is opening in Philadelphia on May 29, with Denver, Las Vegas and Chicago opening in the fourth quarter. The F1 exhibition has sold more than 530,000 tickets in the last 12 months. Buenos Aires opened on March 22nd and sold over 40,000 tickets in its first month. Amsterdam opened in April with 45,000 tickets sold in advance on its first day. In March, we held a launch event for new activation experiences at the Grand Prix Palazzo in Las Vegas, which opened to the public last week.

Stefano Domenicali: The venue now offers an opportunity to immerse fans in F1 year-round and provides the Las Vegas community with a new, fun and engaging daytime activity center. Grand Prix Plaza features an F1-inspired karting experience incorporating part of the Las Vegas Grand Prix Circuit, an immersive F1 exhibit, the latest F1 racing simulator, a fast casual E3D, a retail store and three private event spaces. These activations are set to operate through the first three quarters of the year annually, generating revenue from the site when it is not required for the Grand Prix.

Stefano Domenicali: On Formula 1's sustainability effort, I am proud to say that we recently issued a report on our progress from the 2024 season, with a full impact report due to be published later this year. We made significant investments in sustainable aviation fuel, 90% of our promoters improved fan access and travel options, and 100% of promoters work with local community organizations on programs targeting the next generation. In addition, from 2026 the F1 cars will be powered by 100% sustainable fuel, a technology that is becoming increasingly important for the automated sector as countries look for solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from road transportation.

Stefano Domenicali: A recent Power Unit Manufacturing meeting held in Bahrain demonstrated a clear commitment to the planned 2026 engine regulation and maximizing the success of those new rules with all parties working together to ensure the best racing for the championship. We expect all the F1 teams to start shifting their focus to the 2026 engine as the season progresses.

Stefano Domenicali: Looking forward, while we are early in our 25th calendar, we already have an eye toward 26th. We have agreed the basis on which Cadillac will enter the championship in 26th. We have also agreed to a new concord commercial agreement with the teams for 2026 through 2030 and are making good progress on the governance term. Both the commercial and proposed governance terms are financially attractive for the entire F1 ecosystem and represent the collaboration and partnership we have built with the FIA, F1 teams with the shared goal of growing F1 for our mutual benefit.

Stefano Domenicali: In closing, we are very pleased with our start to 2025 season. Our strong on-track performance, growing fan base and robust financial results position us well to deliver an excellent 2025 and beyond.

Stefano Domenicali: Avanti tutta, full speed ahead.

Derek Chang: And now I will turn the call back over to Derek. Thank you.

Derek Chang: Ciao. Thank you, Stefano and Brian.

Derek Chang: Uh, very quick note and exciting news. Please save the date for this year's Liberty Media Investor Day.

Derek Chang: Changing things up this year, Investor Day will be held alongside the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Thursday, November 20th in Las Vegas. We will have more details to share in due course and look forward to seeing many of you there.

Operator: We appreciate your continued interest in Liberty Media and now I'd like to open the call for questions. Operator. Thank you.

Operator: We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question. You may press star 2 if you would like to remove your question. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing.

Stefan Lasek: Our first question today is from Stefan Lasek of Goldman Sachs. Please proceed. Hey, guys, thanks for taking the questions. Maybe to start just on team payments and the budget for the year. Brian, curious if you could talk a little bit more about how the team payment budget is structured for the year.

Brian Wenling: And if there were opportunities for upside in that budget, in terms of what you pay the teams, what some of the larger opportunities out there could be over the course of 2025, as you execute against them and reach the potential of what you think this business could produce this year. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for the question. You know, it's the beginning of the year, and as we've talked about in the past, there's always prudent financial forecasting at the beginning of the year. You know, we do think that there's opportunities for upside, but, you know, we want to be conservative in thinking about the variables that we have out there, which are the Las Vegas Grand Prix towards the end of the year and then sponsorship.

Brian Wenling: Everything else is contracted. And as you've seen in the past, and we've talked about in recent quarters, you know, the company's moving away from large go-gets and sponsorship in the current year and focusing on future years. Are there still opportunities? Yes, there's probably some opportunities there, but the biggest unknown will ultimately be ticket sales, which you've heard are trending well currently. That's great. Thanks for that.

Brian Wenling: And then maybe just a follow-up on the sponsorship business. It sounds like there's still some focus on bringing in sponsors or renewing in 2025. We'd be curious if you could just comment on what those are and to what extent those could still move the needle. And then, I guess as we look out into 2026, it sounds like your attention is focused there as well. Longer sell cycles on the sponsorship side is something you've been focused on. Just curious if you could give us an early read or early look into the 2026 sponsorship funnel and to the extent you think that could grow off of 2025, what the bands of outcome could potentially look like on that.

Speaker: Thank you.

Stefano Domenicali: I'll just, I'll turn it over to Stephanie.

Stefano Domenicali: Yeah, I was just going to say, we're out of time. Go ahead, Stefano. Thank you. I mean, I think that we have proven in the last couple of years that our strategy with regard to the sponsorship is quite solid. The main focus is for sure to maximize our revenues, but we need to make sure that the partners that we have are stronger and invested with us, with our experience of the world. You know, we have a strong pipeline and what we have said is confirmed to be here is the quality over quantity and a very, very genuine activation with our partners.

Derek Chang: Because, you know, this is crucial in this moment where we want to make sure that our platform is what really our sponsor wants. And the evolution between the structure of partnership between global, official, regional and technical is getting stronger and stronger. So, the focus is definitely to see if we have some opportunities in 2025, but the big one is keep going on in the next couple of years. And it just reminds all of us where we were just four or five years ago and now where we are today. There is still a long way to go and we are very optimistic on the fact that we will continue to grow that as a revenue stream and also as a potential awareness increase through them, through our partners, of our partners.

Derek Chang: Thanks, Stefano. This is Derek. I'd just like to add, you know, I've had the opportunity to spend some time with Stefano at the track over the last couple of races, and in speaking to both sort of current sponsors as well as potential sponsors, I don't think I've been in a situation where I've seen this sort of energy and excitement around the possibilities to engage with the sport, to engage with F1. Normally, well, not normally, but in some of my other experiences having been around, you know, major sports leagues and such, you kind of are always in a bit more of a balanced state where you've got guys coming in and guys going out here.

Derek Chang: It feels like, for the most part, the energy is up, and it's great to see. And look, it goes obviously beyond F1, but to the entire sport, and you see what the teams themselves are doing, and they themselves are also expanding their sponsor bases, which is great. I spent some time with Zach Brown last week, who probably is one of the more prolific marketers. in the paddock and he was telling me about his plans to sell the underside of his shoe. So we'll see that happen. That's great.

Speaker: Thank you all.

Ben Swinburne: The next question is from Ben Swinburne of Morgan Stanley. Please proceed with your question. Thanks, good morning. I don't know if it's Stefano or Derek, I don't know if either of you want to take this or which one wants to take it, but on the media rights process in the U.S., I mean, one of the things that I think has happened for the business is F1 TV has been growing really nicely for a number of years, and it sounds like in particularly in the U.S., and I'm just wondering how you think about that as an asset or chip to play, so to speak, in your U.S.

Stefano Domenicali: media rights deal. Are you open to bundling that in a broader agreement, you know, with potentially a streaming partner, or do you think that business now is so large? and sort of differentiated that you want to keep it as a stand-alone product.

Brian Wenling: And then, I don't know if – I couldn't tell if the Concord Agreement is finalized enough, but I thought I'd ask Brian, are you able to tell us whether or not you expect any team payment leverage to take place in the 26 to 30 timeframe, any color, given some of the previous comments over the last few earnings calls on the topic? Stefano, why don't you go ahead and start? Yeah, I mean, thanks, Ben, for the question. I mean, Omid, you're right. First of all, it's always interesting to see the speculation going around with regard to moments where there were optimistic and negative comments and so on.

Stefano Domenicali: But apart from that, I would say we came back from this weekend in Miami really with the fact that we are engaging with multiple partners and there is a lot of potential interest from many of them, which we need to hammer down because we have the time to do it with the proper proposal. As you were correctly saying, you know, F1 TV product is growing and it's very, very positive and the feedback, mainly in the US, is very, very strong. And therefore, we need to make sure that this asset is right and very valuable. Therefore, we are open to any kind of possible discussion, depending on what will be the end and what we believe is the right way to make sure that we keep the penetration of the market as high as possible and making sure that we can monetize out of it.

Derek Chang: But the dynamics are very positive, so we keep working with them. And I think that the next month will be crucial to see really where we're going to be. But we come back from Miami, as I said at the beginning, Ben, with a very good and positive vibes, because I think the US audience figured in Miami that we're very, very strong, shows the potential that we have. And I'm sure that the media partners understand that for a possible asset also for them to develop on other small businesses together. You were talking on that.

Derek Chang: Yeah, I'd like to, this is Derek, you know, following up on what Stefano just said, you know, we are having good conversations with potential partners on the, on the U.S. media rights deal. I think what's been sort of interesting here is that the sport itself continues to grow. As Stefano mentioned, and particularly in the U.S., as Stefano mentioned in his comments earlier, you know, viewership across the weekend is up sort of 45% year over year. I think F1 TV's growth is up 20% here in the U.S. I think the overall health of the business continues to, to resonate.

Derek Chang: And what that means, I think, I think it's not even this year, but, and there's, we're doing a negotiation, but I think what that means for the long term is pretty significant. I still think we're in the early stages of growth for F1 in the U.S. and having, having the take up of F1 TV be what it is in the U.S. at this early stage, I think speaks volumes about the passion for the sport and I think puts us in a great position well into the future. When you zoom back in and think about how you balance F1 TV and a broader media rights deal, look, we will see how things play out, we will see what partners want in their deals and we will see what, you know, makes the most sense for F1 in terms of balancing things like reach, but also having products like this for ourselves so that we can actually understand our customers as well as we can, because it goes beyond sort of what we're delivering to them on the content side, but what also we can deliver the most engaged fans across the board in terms of engaging with F1.

Derek Chang: So I think that the answer here from my standpoint is we actually see sort of a ton of, a different way this can go, play out, but underneath it all, underlying it all is extremely strong demand for F1 and the engagement from the fans here in the U.S., which is great to see.

Brian Wenling: I've been on your second question. On the 26th Concord Commercial Agreement, yeah, we do expect leverage in 26 versus where we finish the full year of 2025.

Brian Wenling: And then going forward, we expect a more simplified structure that benefits all the parties in the ecosystem.

Ketkan Mural: The next question is from Ketkan Mural of Evercore ISI. Please proceed with your question. Good morning and thanks for taking the question. I just want to ask about MotoGP and encouraging that we're getting closer to regulatory approval there. Now that maybe there's a bit more clarity on getting that deal done. You could talk a little bit about if anything's changed since the deal was initially announced in terms of the broader opportunity that you see ahead with Moto. Thanks.

Derek Chang: This is Derek. I'll take this one. Obviously, the deal's not done until it's done, and we continue to work with the European Commission to get to the finish line here and are hopeful that we will do so. I think from our perspective, we continue to see upside in MotoGP and are probably just as bullish, if not more, having spent more time with them at the time that we are allowed to spend with them. Look, I think with any of these premium sports assets, the trick is how you take these and make them mainstream entertainment assets.

Derek Chang: You've seen us do that with Formula One. You've seen this happen across multiples of other sports. I think there is that opportunity here. As soon as the deal closes, we will be actively engaged with management at MotoGP to start executing on that plan.

Speaker: Perfect. Thank you.

Peter Cepino: The next question comes from Peter Cepino of Wolf Research. Please proceed with your question. Hi, good morning and thanks. A question on sponsorship and one back to the media right on sponsorship, 50% fewer races so far year over year. And so, of course, sponsorship revenue has that headwind and yet it looks largely offset by growth from new sponsors. And so we're wondering, maybe this is too simplistic, but does that imply that sponsorship growth must have been close to 50% on an underlying basis adjusted for races as we think about modeling the year? Is that a useful number?

Stefano Domenicali: And then on the media rights, we're of the opinion that the media rights are sort of uniquely misunderstood because the race times mean that the casual fan struggles to engage with the live broadcast. And so maybe the non-linear format of streaming could really expand access for casual fans. And then, of course, the media rights don't have any advertising. And so I wonder if you could comment on both of those opportunities for the media rights. Thank you.

Stefano Domenicali: Stephano, do you want to start on the media rights? Yeah. Thanks, Derek. I mean, I can start definitely with the media right. I think that is definitely very important to recognize one thing, and that it is clear in our situation where we saw the growth, you know, on all our social platforms. We saw definitely the interest of the young generation to access to our contents through YouTube or other form of engagement. But this is relevant, and we need to make sure that this is becoming part of the global strategy on media right, not only U.S., but all around the world.

Stefano Domenicali: But it's definitely important to make sure that the clearness of the fact that our fans that are getting more engaged with us will have the chance to connect, you know, with the right product is really the key for our strategy and our decision. And I think that what we need to make sure that because now we have different types of fans, they need to have the possibility to engage to different options that we need to offer to them. That's the biggest strategic thing that we want to put in place. And of course, this is relevant to the part where we need to choose and work together into the future.

Stefano Domenicali: It's relevant because we see the dynamics that are different. Of course, if we see where we are in Europe, in Europe we have a long term deal with our broadcaster that will enable us to understand what will be the evolution on that market. And we know that there's a different situation that we need to monitor all around the world. But in a nutshell, I think that our strategy will fit with the right partner that will be part of us in developing the knowledge of our sport.

Stefano Domenicali: This is what I can say on the media side. On the sponsorship side, if I may, Peter, I think that the relevancy of what we are doing is confirmed by the quality and the numbers that we put in place every year. That means that as correctly as I was saying before, the partners that are working together with us in Formula 1 are really different from B2B opportunity to consumer. And we are offering an incredible opportunity of engagement that I would say without being disrespectful, that our platform is becoming really very, very relevant. And this is the reason why we feel very, very positive and strong with our future, even the next couple of years.

Derek Chang: Thanks, Stephanie.

Derek Chang: This is Derek. Peter, that's a, you know, that's a, your comment about F1 being unique. I agree with that. I think that we are uniquely positioned. And I think when you, again, think about media rights in this day and age, it's not about sort of just what's happening on race day for the, for the, you know, hour and a half to two hours of the race. It's what's happening over the entire weekend. It's also sort of the way different demographics will engage with the property. And that's what we are focused on, is continuing to deliver, not just sort of the content of the race or even the practices and the qualifying, but other content around the sport, but also delivering it across multiple platforms so that there are multiple ways that fans of any age, of any demographic, of any interest can engage with the sport.

Derek Chang: Because as soon as, as I mentioned earlier on, on MotoGP, as soon as you're sort of a broad based entertainment product, you know, you have to recognize that and you have to be able to touch all of those people and all of those fans.

Brian Wenling: I'll let Brian finish up on that. Yeah, and just to add on to the sponsorship side, Peter, we're not going to give you a specific number in terms of that. But what I would encourage is patience, because when you get to Q2 on a year to date basis, you have 11 races year to date, they'll be the exact same race as you should get a really good feel for the trend in sponsorship. But there's lots of, there's different revenue recognition aspects to year, full year sponsorship that impact it. There's the calendar change, there's new sponsors, there's contract uplifts, there's, you know, lost contracts from last year that rolled off.

Brian Wenling: So there's lots of different things in there that make it more complex than how you described it. Give us some Q2.

Stephen Cahill: The next question is from Stephen Cahill of Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question. Thank you. Brian, thank you for the guidance on other costs of revenue. Just thinking about that guidance, I think you said it's going to be consistent with prior years as a percentage of revenue. I think most of us think revenue is going to be up sort of high single digit this year. I think that's an acceleration in other costs versus what you saw last year. So I was wondering if you could just help us understand what's in that. Is that due to labor?

Brian Wenling: Is that the Las Vegas Grand Plaza or something else?

Stefano Domenicali: And then congratulations on the on the new Concord agreement. I'm wondering how it contemplates continued focus on competitive balance and if there's anything in the new agreement that might help start to improve the structure of some of the second tier teams, you know, eventually moving up into more competition with the top tier teams. Thank you.

Brian Wenling: Yeah, I'll start with other costs. So on a full-year basis, there's going to be items that increase. We always see that. You have increased partner servicing and commission costs that support the overall revenue growth of the business that are in there. You have some increased GPP costs as we start the year-round activations. Obviously, those will be offset by the revenue that's being generated there. Those are kind of the big things that you would expect.

Brian Wenling: As we've talked about in the past, we continue to focus on the growth of the business. There's growth initiatives that are in there as well to drive future revenue growth in the upcoming years.

Stefano Domenicali: Stefano, you want to talk about the Concord? Yeah, I mean, thanks, Stephen. I think that, as you know, for us is essential to make sure that the growth of the sport is done in an organic way, in a way that we can take on mainly three and is a member of the board of directors of Tecmo.

Speaker: and is a member of the board of directors of Tecmo.

Ryan Gravitt: The next question is from Ryan Gravitt of UBS.

Stefano Domenicali: Please proceed with your question. Great. Thanks. Curious if you can give us an update on how renewal discussions are progressing for some of your non-U.S. media rights. I believe there are some deals coming up in Latin America and some Asian markets. So any color on the competitive tension you're seeing for those rights, and if you're likewise seeing any interest from digital players. Thanks.

Speaker: Step it up. Yes, thank you, Brian. Yes, of course, that is a more dynamic and I would say year-by-year situation. We have so many countries around the world that in a certain area we can start to see some competition with regard to the streaming side of it. That is smaller than what you can imagine, but it's definitely a healthy situation. We have countries like Japan, for example, that is quite big for us, or other areas in Far East Asia, and also in Brazil, for example, that will have an evolution and will have a positive impact in our relationship starting from next year.

Speaker: Got it. Thank you.

Joe Stoff: The next question is Joe Stoff of Susquehanna International Group. Please proceed with your question. Thank you. Good morning. I was wondering, first question, on whether or not you could share with us any organic or same-race commentary, you know, any... any KPIs you have with respect to the two races in the first quarter. And then, secondarily, Stefano, maybe a follow-up on an earlier question about team competition. It certainly seems parity with the competition has increased, especially last season, maybe season to date. And I was just wondering, of those three buckets you mentioned, what were the most important reasons or improvements that you have made thus far?

Brian Wenling: Stefano, do you want anything to add on KPI? I mean, I would want to go ahead with that, Brian, and maybe I... Sorry, go ahead and step it up. I was saying, Brian, if you want to give your comment on the organic and KPI as the first question and then we'll jump in on the second question of Joe. Yeah, all I would say is, you know, do the math on what we've reported here. We can't give you anything more specific than kind of what we're already showing, but there's a mix of races, obviously. And so you've got you've got Australia and China this year.

Brian Wenling: You've got the two Middle Eastern races last year with China not being in the mix. And you can see the impact that you have there on on revenue in Oebida.

Stefano Domenicali: If I could go to the second question. I was just going to say, Stephan, if there's anything you want to add on attendance or paddock club at the one race where we had it, you can add that. That'd be about it. No, I think that, I think, Brian, you were absolutely spot on. I mean, the dimension of comparing Apple with Pierce, it is pretty clear that it's not even the same kind of balance. I think that, as you already mentioned, there will be a clear situation the more we go ahead into the next quarter, because there will be, you will see the organic growth that we are having everywhere.

Stefano Domenicali: And that would be very, very clear. So on that, just just. I want to share good news that is happening all around the world also in that respect. There is not only the content that we have in terms of a commercial agreement, but also all the other activities that are related to Grand Prix that are different from place to place. So the right comparison will be done exactly when we're going to have at the end of the year the final results, but everything is progressing absolutely in the right way.

Stefano Domenicali: Going back to the second question of Joe about the team competition, we don't have to get that on top of the three points that I said, there is also the things that after many years, naturally, the cycle of having the evolution that is becoming close to the tangent is bringing the teams to be very close. If you see this year, mainly in qualifying, the gaps are milliseconds, so that is really impressive. Therefore, that is part of what we see today, and it's also even more relevant to say that when we take the decision to change regulation, it is normal, and there are reasons for that, of course, that potentially there will be more gaps in performance at the beginning.

Stefano Domenicali: But the regulation that we are putting in place will try to minimize the time on which the teams and the new power units and manufacturers that were allowed to come in, and also new teams that were coming in, will have the time to react to that. So I think that the three pillars are very relevant even more when there is a step change of regulation, as it will be done next year. But as we remember, to all of us, We're down to allow to a new power unit manufacturing routine to get in and also to have the focus on the sustainable fuel and hybrid engine that was relevant for us to keep in a sort of keeping the technology relevancy for the future in our space.

Speaker: Thanks very much.

Spencer Amir: The next question is from Spencer Amir of Deutsche Bank. Please proceed with your question. Hi, thanks for the question. You announced a 10-year extension for the Miami Grand Prix with a number of years left on the current deal. I was wondering if you could shed some color on what made you decide to extend the Grand Prix so early. Governor.

Derek Chang: I can answer to that. Yes. Thanks for the question. You know we believe that the Miami Grand Prix is a very important pillar of our strategy in US. I mean the job done is really very very impressive. And of course we want to give the possibility for them also to keep investing. And the but also in order to gather in order to have the right partnership to develop the American side together with them. They've been proved to be a very very solid and strong partner. And that's the reason why we have anticipated now because there was no reason to wait.

Derek Chang: Yeah, and just from my standpoint, you know, I went to the first Miami race, and then just this last one, I think the improvement and what has happened there on the ground has been pretty impressive. So, you know, kudos to our partners in Miami for what they've done, and we look forward to their continued investment. in the race.

Jason Bissonnette: Our next question is from Jason Bissonnette of Citibank. Please proceed with your question. It's a very simple question. You rightly pointed out that your business is defensive and is viewed as defensive. by investors.

Stefano Domenicali: The one question we get is people aren't quite sure how to think about the defensiveness of the sponsorship revenue if there was an economic slowdown. Justin, I think that the answer for that is no one has a magic ball, but what we have in front of us, but what we can see is that the credibility of our platform and the fact that we are very close to them with the fact that we are discussing on a daily basis what are the needs that we need to supply to them is our strength. And the fact that we are long-term agree with sponsors is of course a financial coverage in terms of the risks that we have, but it's more the relation that we build on the trust and understanding each other what are the needs.

Derek Chang: That's why, you know, as I said that we are always very prudent, but the relation that we have and the quality of the parts that are working together with us allow us to be very, very positive. We have long-term content that of course that will reduce that financial risk. And the good thing is to stay connected and to try to see that is happening, how we can just together to make sure that our platform will offer to them what they need. Yeah, and just a continuation of what Stefano just said, I mean the quality of our partners and sort of the longer term nature of these deals, I think certainly in the near term hopefully excites us from any potential macro headwinds here.

Derek Chang: I think that the way to think about it is that the partners we have are really looking for broad global exposure and we provide that, and we provide that frankly almost better than anyone else out there. And so, you know, the supply for them is outstanding. is not huge. And so we provide that and we provide that in a way as Stefano said, where we are actively working with our partners to maximize sort of the relationship for them and for their targets and the initiatives that they have. And I think that, you know, again, this is somewhat qualitative, but just in the conversations with our partners and understanding what their needs are, their enthusiasm and these potential headwinds in the economy, it's not like they came in yesterday.

Derek Chang: They've now been around for a couple months or speculation of them. And the way these guys continue to speak about their business and the way they want to grow their business and how we can help them achieve those targets has been, you know, very reassuring. Is it fair to say it's not as contractual as we do right now?

Stefano Domenicali: I was just going to ask in terms of just to add that we haven't seen. Go ahead, Jason. Can you hear me? Go ahead, Jason. Why don't you just ask your next question and then Stefano can answer both. Okay. I was just going to say, for investors, is it fair to say it's not as contractual as media rights, but maybe more defensive than if you had an advertising business? Is that the right framing of it? No. I think it's not like advertising deals in the sense of buying those sort of quarterly or even annually. These are long-term deals just like our media rights deals.

Derek Chang: I think we're not going to get into the details of how long each one is. We've probably mentioned some of them, but I do think that kind of like any media deals On the sponsorship side, and just like we talked about Miami, our partners want to invest in what they partnered up with, and that takes multiple years to make the investment, activate on that investment, and reap the benefits of that. That's why, from a partner standpoint, they want to come in longer term with us. And I think, again, as a result, we have these sort of mid- to long-term contracts with most of these folks, and I think that helps us in times like this.

Stefano Domenicali: But Stefano, do you want to finish up? You know, I totally agree, Derek, and to be very transparent, we haven't seen any slowdown in our conversation, despite the market situation we have today with the added potential. That is related to what we just said about the credibility of our platform, to the fact that in any case, you know, we believe that being a worldwide sport, worldwide sport, which can be important for each of them to differentiate the strategy, they need to do it. So I would say that's the situation that we live in today. So it's all good.

Matthew Harrigan: Very helpful, thank you. Our last question today comes from Matthew Harrigan of Benchmark. Please proceed with your question. Thank you. As everyone knows, the LEGO Drivers Parade was marketing genius, incidentally. I have a question. You're really putting up great engagement metrics across the board. I mean, linear is encouraging as well as social, and I think you're probably breaking out maybe more than anyone else in social. But nonetheless, I mean, that doesn't really monetize, and sometimes it doesn't even really translate to people watching the linear channel. I think it's just younger people's, you know, way they consume content in shorter form, including sports and F1.

Stefano Domenicali: Do you have any thoughts on how you might be able to better engage, you know, people or better monetize, rather, people who have shorter attention spans versus someone who's going to get up and watch a race for two hours? Thank you. Stephanie, do you want to start? Well, Matthew, can I say... Yeah, no, thanks, Derek. I think, thanks for the comment we take with pride because we never stop. We try to be different from the other platform to create some sort of interest in what we are doing. And by the way, as Derek said at the beginning of the call, the great news is that we have our drivers and our partners that are embracing our strategy because they understand the value of it.

Stefano Domenicali: It is clear that the more we are able to do this kind of things, the more we're going to be able to monetize all what we are doing. It would be wrong to believe that you can monetize everything straight away. And that's why on that we have a strategy that needs to be diverse, but also very, very, very, very complete. We need to make sure that our engagement with our fans is not only two hours of the race or the Sunday, but we need to have 365 days a year of engagement. Try to tailor the content.

Derek Chang: And this is really what we try to do in order to get access to the data we are available in order to get into the consumer habits of our fans. This is something new for us. So that's why I see potentially another important revenue stream that will allow us to be strong in an area where so far we were maybe a little bit weak, but the potential to grow is definitely there. And the only thing that can come is if we are able to be creative as much as we can in order to be different for the other proposition.

Derek Chang: Thanks, Derek. Yeah, Matthew, thank you for the question. And I just thought, you know, follow up on on Stefano, and then we'll close it out here. But You know, what someone was saying is absolutely right. You're building an ecosystem. You've got a funnel here where you are trying to bring in as many people as you can to engage with the sport. Certain platforms historically have been more monetized, more monetizable directly than others. But at the end of the day, we're not necessarily looking to maximize revenue on each particular platform or each particular content contact that we have with a fan.

Derek Chang: We are building the whole universe and the whole ecosystem here. So the fan sort of interacts with us on social media that's not instantly monetizable. That fan may go and purchase an F1 shirt. That fan may ultimately attend a race. That fan may end up in Las Vegas one day and want to go to Grand Prix Plaza. That fan may tell their parents to start watching races. So I think that there are so many ways that we ultimately will monetize sort of any of these points of contact, but not every single point of contact that in itself has to be monetized.

Derek Chang: So with that, I will close the call for this quarter. I want to thank all of you on the call who participated and and all the questions, great questions that we received. We appreciate your support and look forward to continuing the dialogue. Thank you very much. MMM MMM MMM MMMM MMMM