Liberty Media Corporation

Hello, and welcome to Liberty Media Corporation's 2025 year-end earnings call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterwards, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. At that time, if you have a question, please press star 1 on your telephone. As a reminder, this conference will be recorded February 26th. I would now like to turn the call over to Hooper Stephens, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Kevin. Thanks, everyone, for joining us today on Liberty Media's fourth quarter and year-end 2025 earnings call. This call today 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 Form 10-K, followed 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 or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in our 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 EBITDA, constant currency for MotoGP, The required definitions and reconciliations for Liberty Media can be found on Schedule 1 and MotoGP for Schedule 2 at the end of the earnings press release issued today, which is available on Liberty Media's IR website. Speaking on today's call, we have Liberty Media's President and CEO, Derek Chang, Liberty's Chief Accounting and Principal Financial Officer, Brian Wendling, Formula One's President and CEO, Stefano Domenicali, MotoGP CEO, Carmelo Espeleta, and other members of management will be available for Q&A. With that, I'll hand the call over to Derek.

Morning. Thank you, Hooper. And before I start, I just want to welcome Hooper to our team. This is his first earnings call for Liberty. Many of you know Hooper already. He's obviously been part in and around the Liberty complex, but we are very, very happy to have him with us here. It has been an exceptionally productive and successful year for Liberty. We are energized by the forward progress we've built across our businesses and are focused on accelerating our momentum this year. We have delivered against each of the priorities we articulated last year, namely, one, to continue F1's grocery trajectory, two, to augment our portfolio with the acquisition of MotoGP, and three, to execute the Liberty Live split-off. Following the split-off last December, we are now a premier global sports investment vehicle anchored by two world-class motorsport leagues, and operating in an industry supported by strong secular growth tailwinds. Looking ahead to this year, operational excellence at MotoGP and F1, while remaining disciplined and opportunistic with our capital to drive value for our shareholders and across our portfolio. Turning now to our operating businesses. At MotoGP, we see tremendous upside over time and are in the early stages of unlocking that potential. We don't expect to see these investments bear fruit immediately, but are laying the necessary groundwork to drive this forward. Since closing the acquisition last July, we've continued building out our commercial functions. We hired key personnel across sales, public relations, social media strategy, with more additions to come. We're focused on driving knowledge sharing between MotoGP and F1 and believe this can support long-term value over time. I just recently returned from our partner summit in Barcelona, where we clearly articulated our strategy to teams, promoters, and partners across the ecosystem. The enthusiastic response was a very positive sign as we built shared momentum with a strong collective commitment to the future of our sport. For Moto, our three key priorities are, first, we remain focused on strengthening MotoGP's foundation and expanding its global footprint. We recently announced we are moving our Australia race to Adelaide, marking our first modern era circuit in a city center. And we are excited to return to Brazil this year after a 20-year hiatus and look forward to adding Buenos Aires to the calendar next year, strengthening our presence in major international cities. Second, we remain focused on elevating the Grand Prix experience into a must-attend event at every circuit. We continue to further enhance our hospitality offerings and improve the onsite fan experience. Finally, this work underpins our efforts to unlock our brand value and scale the sponsorship roster. We remain disciplined in our approach to sponsorship and are prioritizing brand alignment with high quality partners over near term wins. Now turning to F1, F1 once again delivered an exceptional year with the sport firing on all cylinders across growth, engagement, and commercial momentum. We renewed with multiple long-term existing partners We've signed several new marketing partners, including Standard Chartered, our official wealth management and banking sponsor. As you saw earlier this morning, we just announced our broadcast extension with BN in the Pan-Asia region, and earlier this week, we announced the extension of our ESPN partnership in Latin America. Our third year of the Las Vegas Grand Prix was a resounding success, and our relationship with the Las Vegas community has never been stronger. Importantly, we finalized a new Concord Agreement to cover the five years from 2026, which provides us with durable financial economics in all F1 constituents, a stable base to invest into the sport, and drive long-term value creation and an even healthier ecosystem. And 2026 should be an exciting season on track, with cattle economic joining the grid. The new regs Cars and engines should lead to an incredibly competitive racing season ahead. Stefano and Carmelo will both provide more updates on their businesses later in the call. We look forward to continuing to support their strategic visions. Now I'll turn it over to Brian for more on Liberty's financial results.

Thank you, Derek, and good morning, everyone. At year end, Liberty Media had cash and liquid investments of $1.1 billion, which includes $539 million of cash at F1 and $197 million of cash at MotoGP. Total Liberty Media principal amount of debt was 5 billion at year end, which includes 3.4 billion of debt at F1 and 1.2 billion of debt at MotoGP, leaving 499 million at the corporate level. F1's $500 million revolver and MotoGP's 100 million euro revolver are both undrawn. At year end, F1 opco net leverage was 2.8 times. This is down from 3.3 that we gave at 630 pro forma for the MotoGP acquisition. And MotoGP's net leverage was 4.7 times at year-end, down from 5.6 times at 9.30. We expect to continue de-levering at MotoGP this year. Liberty Media's overall net leverage was 3.6 times. Turning to the F1 business, I'll make some brief comments about the fourth quarter, but focus on full-year comparisons primarily. A reminder that every quarter in 2025 had incomparable race count and mix. We'll also have incomparable race count and mix except for the fourth quarter. The majority of the variability in Q4 year-over-year results is due to one more race being held in the fourth quarter compared to the prior year period. Q4-25 had seven races compared to six races in Q4-24, with Singapore being included in the current year period but not the prior year period. Note that we operated the same number of paddock clubs during the fourth quarter given that the Singapore paddock club is operated by the local promoter. For the full year, the business performed exceptionally well. Revenue grew 14% and adjusted oil revenue grew 20%, driven by growth across all revenue streams. Sponsorship revenue continues to increase from new partners and underlying growth in contractual increases. Meteorites revenue grew due to underlying growth in contracts, continued growth in F1 TV, and the one-time benefit of the F1 movie revenue that was recognized in the second quarter. Race promotion revenue increased due to underlying growth in contracts. Other revenue grew primarily driven by higher hospitality and growth in licensing and freight income. Higher hospitality revenue includes revenue from the Las Vegas Grand Prix and also revenue generated at Grand Prix Plaza from its growing private events business and the various new activations we opened in May of last year. Touching briefly on the Las Vegas Grand Prix, as Derek mentioned, our third year operating the race was a success and we saw improved financial performance year over year. We continue to see a material benefit accruing from LBGP to the broader F1 ecosystem across various revenue streams, especially sponsorship, hospitality, and licensing. Vegas continues to serve as a very successful testbed for product expansion and is integral to the continued growth of our sport in the U.S. Adjusted OEBDA increased during the year, driven by the strong revenue growth discussed above, outpacing increased operating and SG&A expenses. Higher operating expenses included higher team payments, and increased expenses associated with servicing our revenue streams. The increase in SG&A and the SG&A expenses was due to higher personnel and marketing costs. Team payments as a percent of pre-team share adjusted OIVDA were 59.7% for the full year 2025, representing 185 basis points of leverage against 2024. Over the past four years, we've seen an average of roughly 200 basis points improvement in leverage each year, And we expect 2026 to be approximately in line with this average. After 2026, for the remainder of the term of the new Concord Agreement up to 2030, we expect the payout percentage to remain relatively stable. A reminder that team payments are best analyzed on a full-year basis due to quarterly fluctuations in team payments as a percent of adjusted EBITDA. Looking quickly at MotoGP's results, as a reminder here, we closed the MotoGP acquisition on July 3rd. Our financial results are presented on a pro forma basis as though the transaction occurred on January 1, 2024, and a trending schedule will be posted to our website after the 10-K is filed, including results in U.S. GAAP for the full year 24 on a pro forma basis. The majority of MotoGP's revenue costs are Euro-denominated and, as such, are subject to translational impacts from foreign exchange fluctuations. In the following discussion, I'll focus primarily on constant currency defaults. Similar to F1, I'll make a few comments about the fourth quarter, but we'll primarily focus on the full year. Year-over-year comparisons are impacted by the mix of races, and generally MotoGP flyaway races carry higher costs, which includes freight, travel, and higher earth fees. MotoGP held five races in the fourth quarter of both this year and the prior year. Revenue increased at MotoGP during fourth quarter as increased race promotion fees due to the race mix and contractual uplifts were offset primarily by lower proportionate recognition of season-based income, with revenue from five out of 22 races being recognized this year versus five out of 20 races recognized last year. For the full year, MotoGP had 22 races compared to 20 in 2024. Revenue grew across all primary revenue streams, primarily due to the two additional races held and contractual fee increases. Meteorites revenue also increased due to growth in video pass subscription revenue, Another revenue benefited from increased hospitality revenue, which saw two additional races and increased attendance, partially offset by a decrease in fees related to Moto E. Adjusted revenue grew for the year, driven by the higher revenue, offset by growth in operating expenses. SG&A expenses were lower, primarily driven by recognizing less bad debt expense in 2025 compared to the prior year. Note that bad debt expense in 24 was primarily related to rates cancellations from years prior to 2024. Looking briefly at corporate and other results for the year, revenue was $414 million. This includes the quint results up until the split-off on December 15th, and approximately $33 million of rental income related to Grand Prix Plaza. Corporate and other adjusted revenue was $5 million and includes quint results up until the split-off. Grand Prix Plaza rental income and corporate expenses. As a reminder, Quint's business is seasonal, with the largest and most profitable events taking place in Q2 and Q4. Note that Quint intergroup revenue from MotoGP is eliminated in our consolidated results through the spin date. Going forward, Quint will no longer be reported in our operating results. F1 and MotoGP are in compliance with their debt covenants at quarter end, and with that, I will turn the call over to Stefano to discuss Formula 1.

Thanks, Brian. 2025 was a thrilling season as we celebrated the 75th anniversary of F1 with standout performances across the grid. Nine drivers across seven different teams reached the podium, including phenomenal performance from rookies like Isaac Ajar. Congratulations to Landon Norris for winning the Driver's Championship and McLaren for winning the Constructor's Championship. 2026 is set up to be another captivating season as it represents the next generation in F1 incredible history with new cars, engines and regulations. All signs point to an exciting kick-off in Melbourne next week, which we know will sell after intensive pre-season testing in Spain and Bahrain. We look forward to welcoming Cadillac and Audi to the grid and for the return of Ford with Red Bull and Honda with Aston Martin. In December, we also successfully completed the signing of various elements of the new Concorde Agreement with all teams and the FIA. Engagement across our fan base continues to grow. We welcomed 6.75 million attendances last season, our largest combined attendance in history, up 4% relative to 2024. Australia, Silverstone, Mexico, and Austin each respectively welcomed over 400,000 fans over races weekend, and we had 19 events sell out with 11 setting new attendances records. The Paddle Club served 65,000 race day guests, up 10% on the prior year. Last season, many of our Paddle Clubs sold out and we increased revenue 20% per race on average. Robert's demand continues for 2026 with record pre-season sales. And in partnership with our promoters, we are increasing capacity at certain races while looking to keep enhancing our guest experience. For example, at our Austin Grand Prix, the promoter is currently constructing a new facility at Turn 1, which will host a new paddock club space to accommodate more guests. Our promoters also have plans to upgrade the paddock club space in Mexico and introduce a new garden ramps experience in the paddock in Shanghai, just to name a few developments. We continue to see strong engagement and reach across viewership and our digital and social platforms. Coulombative viewership is up across our broadcast and digital platforms. Global live TV viewership across all sessions was up plus 21% year over year, showing increased appeal for our core product. F1 race weekends continue to broaden with practice sessions showing strong increases in viewership. Sprint popularity continues to increase with sprint session viewership up to 10% year-over-year. And qualifying delivered the largest growth across all sessions with audiences up 23% year-over-year. For the sprint races, we are currently in active discussion to expand the sprint format up to 12 races in 2027 due to the high demand from promoters and fans. The sprint format has also demonstrated impressive performance across fan engagement. Our YouTube content generated 1.65 billion views, up 48% relative to 2024, and with YouTube highlights view increasing 21% year over year. Passenger Princess reached 7.6 million total views, including 1.5 million views within the first week of release. Highlights from the first three days of the pre-season test in Bahrain reached over 8 million views on YouTube, which represents an increase of plus 64% compared with the Bahrain pre-season testing session in 2025. And highlights from our first ever Barcelona shakedown reached nearly 17 million views on YouTube. We hope you will be tuning in for season 8 of Drive to Survive. For the fifth consecutive years, F1 continues to be the fastest growing sport on social media. We ended the year with 115 million social media followers, up nearly 20% year over year. Commercially, we had another strong year of renewals and new partnerships. We have an active year of media rights negotiations, signing or renewing with broadcast partners across multiple territories, including the United States, Pan-Asia, Canada, Brazil, Latin America, Mexico, New Zealand, Japan, and India. Apple is now our U.S. media rights partner, and we are excited by their vision, innovation, and unmatched ability to reach and engage wider audiences through their platform and marketing scale. This was clearly demonstrated by the success of the four-time Oscar-nominated F1 movie last summer. Apple will be a key driver of our U.S. growth strategy, and we are excited to work with them to drive our next phase of growth in the years ahead. We see major brand alignment between Apple and F1 as this partnership brings together two global brands with a shared passion for innovation, excellence and entertainment. We also renew our extended contracts with nine of our race promoters, including most recently with our promoter in Barcelona. The race will now be officially called the F1 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix and will rotate with our Belgian race year by year throughout 2032. and will host a Grand Prix in 2028, 2030 and 2032, in addition to the race scheduled for this year. We are also excited to welcome back Portugal to the calendar under a two-year deal starting in 2027. The year of the Las Vegas Grand Prix was an outstanding success. Congratulations to the Vegas leadership team for delivering an exceptional race weekend that showcased the very best of Formula 1. We sold out the weekend and welcomed over 300,000 fans to Las Vegas while signing up a number of new event sponsors. Content related to our race generated 1.8 billion impressions over the weekend and we are gearing up for another phenomenal race this year. Picking up on sponsorship, we close out another strong year of growth and continue riding the momentum into 2026, having built out a good pipeline of discussions. We recently signed a startup charter as our official banking and wealth management partner in a new multi-year deal. Equally impressive is growth across our other revenue stream, including licensing and hospitality. Our legal partnership delivered great results in its first full years, generating over 27.5 billion impressions across marketing activation. Pottery Market and Pottery Barn team continue sales momentum following the launch late last year. Our collaboration with KitKat is also thriving with the new F1 KitKat's bar available in stores driving enhanced retail visibility. And we are excited to roll out a new dimension of our partnership with Disney later this year. Following the successful launch of House 44, our premium pack club hospitality partnership with Lewis Hamilton and Soho House, it will expand from five to nine races this year. Visitors to Grand Prix Plaza enjoyed 90,000 track riders at F1 Drive last year, and we are excited to reopen Grand Prix Plaza to the public at the end of January. We are also encouraged by the growth of F1 Exhibition, which has sold 1.3 million tickets across all its exhibitions, and F1 Arcade, which recently opened in Atlanta and has three more new locations planned to open later this year. Trackside retail sales grew over 30% last year, and F1 Hub popped up merchandise experience operating in Austin, Miami, and Las Vegas. These hubs saw strong food traffic and retail sales, and it is planned to open hubs in more locations this year, monetizing and tap merchandising opportunities in key locations. 2026 brings continued focus on inspiring the next generation of F1 fans throughout creative activation, partnership, and collection, appealing to all audiences across our fan bases. We are seeing incredible momentum across all phases of our business. Our sport has delivered exceptional growth and we see significant upside ahead. The strategic work we are doing now will deliver lasting benefit to our partners, shareholders and our fans. In only a few years, we have achieved so much as a sport and as a business, but we have only begun to scratch the surface of what is possible and the potential for F1 is not being underestimated as we enter another exciting new chapter in our history. Avanti tutta, full speed ahead. And now I will turn the call to Carmelo to discuss MotoGP.

Thank you. Good morning and thank you, Stefano. Liberty Media commitment and support of our strategic vision has been a strong ride out of the gate. We are encouraged by the collaborative We are seeing and we are working together to build a strong foundation to drive our sport forward. The 2025 seasons delivered the very best of our sport, trail racing and dramatic storylines. We saw a standout performance across the grid with 13 riders on the podium across 10 teams. Congratulations to Marc Márquez on an extraordinary comeback and winning his seventh MotoGP World Championship. We welcomed a record 3.6 million attendants last season, up to 21% year over year, and set attendance record at nine different circuits. First-time attendance, representing 27% of our total attendance last season, up from 18% in 2024. The 2026 season is gearing up to be another thrilling season. We held our second season launch event in Kuala Lumpur. with double the attendance and video viewership year over year. Fans enjoy musical acts by global artists, including the script DigiPose, from teams and riders. We look forward to kicking off the season in Thailand this weekend. Our global fan base now measures 632 million fans, up to 12% from last year, and we continue to strengthen our brand. We recently launched our first event season marketing campaign, Wired Different, which brings our evolved brand positioning to life and creates brand consistency and amplification across all fan channels and touch coins. We continue to invest in our funding size platform to track brand awareness and engagement. This will support the long-term scaling of our commercial functions and enable more targeted and localized content initiatives. We added over 3 million social media followers in 2025 and indeed the year with nearly 61 million followers. followers on TikTok, social engagement increases plus 61% and video views across our digital platforms, excluding video pass, increases 20%. Fun consuming 1 million minutes on our YouTube content last season. 9% year-over-year. Saturday spring races continue to close the gap to Sunday's race coverage, with average audience viewerships growing over 26% year-over-year for the spring. Subscribers to Videopass, our direct-to-consumer video service, grow 5% from 2024. We recently extended our Sky Italia broadcast rights deal and we have also renewed our mutual partnership through 2030. We also have some active year promoter renewals, including the Russian renewal of the Thai Grand Prix through 2031. We are excited to return to Brazil this year after 20 years and welcome to the grid Brazilian MotoGP rookie Diogo Moreira. Initial capacity in Brazil has already sold out and the score in strong demand alongside coverage from ESPN 4.1 will be the free-to-air broadcaster of the Brazilian Grand Prix with Estrella Galicia 0-0 as title sponsor. Finally, last week, we announced the move of the Australian Grand Prix into Adelaide, beginning in 2027, under a new six-year agreement. The landmark race will be the first MotoGP race to be held in a city centre, and we are able to do so without compromising our safety standards. Adelaide is an ideal location, bringing MotoGP closer to its fans, and we are excited to put on a fantastic three-day fun experience. We look forward to continue to update the investor community on our progress. Now, I will turn the call back over to Derek.

Thank you, Brian, Stefano, and Carmelo. We appreciate your continued interest in Liberty Media, and with that, we'll open the call up for Q&A. Operator?

Thank you, and I'll be conducting a question and answer session. If you'd like to be placed into question queue, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you'd like to move your question from the queue. In the interest of time, we ask that you please ask one question and one follow-up, then return to the queue. Our first question today is coming from Steven Lastick from Goldman Sachs. Your line is now live.

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the questions. Maybe two on margin at F1, if I could. Brian, appreciate the commentary on team payments in 2026. It sounds like the expectation for team payment operating leverage is for it to be in and around 200 basis points in 2026. So 59.7 going to 57.7 in 2026. Just wanted to confirm that thinking and then see if there were any upside or downside factors that you think investors should be mindful of as we track performance on that throughout the year.

Yeah. I'd point you to, we said that we added the word generally or primarily or approximately around the 200 basis points. So I wouldn't lock it in stone. As you know, we talked about before, there are different things that can impact the team payment percentage depending on where the profitability is coming from. But generally speaking, we would expect to see about 200 basis points of leverage related to the team payment piece in 2026.

Great, thank you for that. And then maybe just beyond the team payment operating leverage point this year and thinking longer term, opportunities to grow margins at F1 over the next three to five years. What factors are still available to you to grow margins maybe outside of the team payment line item that could expand margins for the foreseeable future?

Yeah, certainly as we grow primary revenue streams, you would expect to see some growth some leverage around those revenues. But we, you know, we continue to invest in the business. And when you look at some of our other revenue streams, they certainly have costs associated with them. You know, we've looked at growth in other costs of F1 revenue in the past, and you can certainly see partner servicing costs there. As we grow our sponsorship revenue base, there's incremental paddock club obligations that are associated with that. So, There is certainly costs associated with growing those revenues, but as we grow the primary revenue streams, we would hope to see some leverage there, but we're also going to balance that with continuing to invest in the business and try new things and try to grow the overall pie.

Brian, if I may say, add something on that to that. to complete the answer that Brian said, is that all the costs related are connected to the growth of the marginality. Because, of course, the more we are getting stronger, the more we need to serve what is important to activate. Therefore, that's our philosophy. And in all the revenue streams that we are bringing home, that's the approach. If I may, you know, also when we are talking about the deal that we have with promoters in the long term, we have the leverage to increase the possibility of investing through them to acquire more possibility to invest with other experience with Paddle Club extensions. This is one example, for example. But that's the philosophy. Cost is always associated to an increase of marginality related to increase of other revenues.

Thank you. Our next question today is coming from Cut Gameral from Evercore ISI. Your line is now live.

Good morning. Maybe following up and expanding on the margin discussion, I had a high-level question on the durability of your EBITDA growth, which was very strong in 25 and looks positioned to be healthy again in 26. Maybe taking a step back for a second, since Liberty took over, the growth algorithm has been fairly consistent and straightforward. You had rising popularity of the sport and brand combined with strong execution, monetizing revenue streams with a lot of untapped runway. In other words, there was comfort that regardless of the quarter or even year, there would be a lot of room to grow over the upcoming three to five years, and that vision has clearly played out. As you look at over the next three to five years now, though, how should we think about what sustains that attractive EBITDA growth profile as some areas either face tough comps or see new dynamics, whether it's lapping very strong sponsorship growth, managing the strategic balance in meteorites, a race calendar that's already largely contracted, or the new team payout structure? And finally, are there any underappreciated drivers or levers you'd point to that help support growth from here? Thank you.

Stefano, why don't you take this because you've obviously got the thoughts around the growth of the business more holistically. So I think that's a good place to start.

Absolutely. Thanks, Cardinal. I mean, let me start from one thing that I take the opportunity to thank, first of all, our shareholders, our team, the FIA, the teams, and all the other stakeholders because we have lived an incredible moment of our sport. I remember all the earnings calls since I was involved in that. Every time it was, what's next? What's next? What's next? That's a mindset. It's not a guidance. So we have always proven to invest in our future because we do believe in the growth of our sport. And we do believe that in the future, there are so many new opportunities to keep running this rhythm because this is exactly what we are doing together. And the more is strong the ecosystem, the more we are able to catch new opportunities and all the driving force of our revenue streams. And that's why, you know, you see what has happened so far in the last couple of years, not only in terms of turnover, but also in terms of EBITDA. And this will continue because we see, as we said, so many opportunities to keep growing. And the fact we are stabilizing in certain ways certain promoters' deals will allow us to leverage, as I said before, other investments that will bring us other opportunities of return. We were able to explore the possibility of engaging with new categories of our partners, enlarging, for example, if you look at the financial services, we were able to contract with multiple partners because we are identifying different categories. we are opening up the opportunity of digitalization. So new opportunity. We are having licensing that is just starting a great momentum with the big deals that we have just even today announced for the bigger relation with Disney and so on. So there is a lot of things that we're going to bring and to keep growing the sport, the business. at all levels. That's, I definitely confirm. That's our mindset, our approach. We wake up in the morning with these things. We are in a competitive world, not only on the track that remains our focus, for sure, but that's the aim of all of us doing this job to increase the return of our investors, for sure.

Yeah, I think that's right, Stefano. Thank you for those comments. And look, I think what people need to appreciate also is just the strength of Stefano's team and and the creativity there and sort of what they've been able to accomplish over the last several years in terms of revenue streams and categories that may not have been fully sort of appreciated in terms of what they could be. And if you look out now, you know, what they've done, for instance, in the U.S., where can you take, what other geographic markets are still out there that are large, significant, and potentially untapped? So we are constantly looking for those opportunities and ways to drive the business. I think the heart of it is what Stefano keeps pounding at, which is the help, the sport, the engagement that the sport creates, and all that sort of stuff is really the fundamental basis for this.

That's great. Thank you both.

Thank you. Our next question today is coming from David Kronofsky from J.P. Morgan. Your line is now live.

Hey, thank you. Um, maybe just, uh, zeroing in on the prior question, but for sponsorship, um, really strong results this year, though, arguably that sets up a tough comp this year. So I wanted to get your view on 26 growth and how we should think about the follow through, not only from deals executed last year, but maybe kind of what's in the pipeline.

I can answer on that. Stay tuned. As we always show, and also as Derek says, we are quite creative in finding new opportunities. You're going to see already this year some deals uplifted with new opportunities that we can offer, new quality and new things that we want to offer. We don't have to forget one thing at the end of the day. Of course, now that the quantity is really, in a way, great, we need to focus on the quality of what we're bringing in. And this is really the thing that we're focusing on, because of course we have a trajectory of new projects in the pipeline, but our focus is to keep the quality of the partners that now are trusting and following FOMO1. Therefore, it's a trajectory that will continue. It's a trajectory that will enable us also in a competitive landscape to make some decisions And as we have in the field of promoters, we have the quality problem to have more demand than offer. We are in the same spot also on the sponsorship side. So as I said, all the partners are happy. Our point is to create quality content for them, qualitative experience, qualitative value of what they're investing in Formula One. And that has been so far the case. And we'll continue because, of course, the more we are able to succeed on it, We are able to attract even new ones approaching from other disciplines that is happening already, as you have seen, new partners to us.

And then maybe just following up here, the press release had called out contribution from digital advertising. I think that's the first. Can you just clarify, is that inventory on the website apps or F1 TV? And what's the opportunity here?

Well, the opportunity is quite important because now we are not only in the world of physical advertising. We have the digitalization that will enable us to use in all the different channel possibilities to put, you know, good advertising. But we have different platforms. We have, you know, the podcast. We have YouTube. We have other social media opportunities we will monetize in the future even stronger.

Thank you. Our next question today is coming from Brian Krause from Deutsche Bank. Your line is now live.

Well, hi, good morning. I guess I'll ask the Vegas question. It seems like Vegas didn't generate really incremental revenue versus last year, but it did generate significant incremental EBITDA. due to the cost side. So I just, I guess I wanted to ask, is that a fair assessment? And what do you think the opportunity is in 2026 to grow Vegas, both in terms of top line and bottom line? Are there any key changes in how you'll approach the event or go to market with tickets this year versus in 2025? Thanks.

Definitely. Do you want to just talk about Vegas broadly? And then Brian and I can talk about some of the more specifics.

Sure, sure, Derek. I mean, first of all, in a synthesis or try to be set at that point, we have been an incredible strong progress in what will deliver in the short term even a big cash flow in that investment. I think that the key turning point of that has been our ticketing proposition. The fact that we have also a new different way of proposing the partner, you know, the experience and the sales to them. But the most important one that will have an effect in the next couple of years is the new dynamic that we're creating with the community. And with the new things that we will announce in the due time, this will enable us to have an impact also on the P&L of this that is incredible, positive. And you will see soon that we want to make sure this Grand Prix will keep going. been, you know, something incredible to be a sort of a spotlight of the year, because the focus is to keep in data as unique experience. And of course, you reduce the cost that is associated to the building of this event in a new city like Vegas. And so therefore, the huge potential is definitely there. We have been very happy about the outcome of this year, and we definitely are going to be even more happy in the approach that we're going to do together in the next couple of years in front of us.

Yeah, and then specifically on Vegas results for 2026, we did see revenue growth. It's a little bit difficult with our various categories within Vegas because it doesn't all show up in race promotion. Where we really saw growth was we saw increased sponsorship revenues. We saw increased hospitality revenue associated with Vegas. And then also 2026 was a year of trying to achieve some greater cost savings. So we definitely saw some cost savings there. Pretty significant incremental profitability. It just doesn't show up in the race promotion line. It shows up in other spots.

Thank you. If I could just ask him, it sounds like based on Stefano's comments that you do see the opportunity to continue to grow Vegas from here, though. Just want to make sure I'm interpreting that correctly.

Yes.

Absolutely, yes. Sorry.

Different numbers, yes.

We're very happy. I'm very happy and excited about it.

Great, thanks.

Thank you. Next question today is coming from Peter Cipino from Wolf Research. Your line is now live.

Good morning, everybody. A question on capital allocation and your communication and then another one on media rights. I'll actually start with the media rights. We were excited about your deal with Apple because we've long believed that the movement of important sports rights to streamers was a growth opportunity for the intellectual property owner. In your case, we've had investors go as far as to call your deal with Apple, quote, a disaster, unquote, because of their perception that Apple means less distribution for F1 in an important growth market, the U.S. And so I wonder if you could comment on why in your prepared remarks today you expressed so much confidence that Apple can expand awareness and engagement of F1. And then On the communication side, and I guess this ties to capital allocation, your stock in the last six months has become, at least from our perspective, mired in sort of a myopic discussion about team payments, margins, and operating leverage. And it's ironic because Formula One is a growth company. And so I wondered if you could talk at all about ways in which your communications might help investors appreciate the duration and magnitude of your growth opportunities going forward. Thank you.

Why don't you start on Apple?

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Peter. I mean, first of all, I think that, you know, we are very, very happy about the deal with Apple for many reasons. And I think that it's important that the one that, in our opinion, and not so many, but anyway, we respect that, of course, they don't understand the deal, is because behind that, there is a huge opportunity to increase the reach. There is an incredible opportunity for Apple to use all their channels, all their platforms to promote our sport in a way that has never been done before. There will be the opportunity for the younger generation to be connected with a tool that is more logical for them to use in delivering the sport and our business. So I do believe that, you know, this will represent a big step opportunity to increase also our revenue streams, not only in terms of that one, but also in terms of awareness in the American market that will enable us, you know, to convince also the ones that are not believing on that, that is the right move. But on that, we have not even a single doubt. It's a great move. It's a great thing that will happen that will give a big boost to our, you know, performance in the American market. On that, you know, our community has not even a single doubt.

Yeah, and I would add on that, I mean, look, everyone understands that the landscape has been changing for many years now. And, you know, the former sort of terminology around REACH and things like that are a bit antiquated. And what we see from an Apple standpoint is, you know, complete 100% dedication to F1. I saw Tim Cook and Eddie Kier at the Super Bowl, and, you know, they've got the full weight of the organization behind it. And in that respect, it's not just sort of Apple TV. It's Apple Music, Apple News, the Apple Stores. So from a reach standpoint, there's many different ways that we will be able to reach and engage with our fans. I think the other thing, you know, that's interesting about Apple here, and we saw some news with them broadcasting races in IMAX theaters, right? And this sort of draws on my my prior life in the paid television industry, like you wouldn't be able to do something like that necessarily with a traditional broadcaster because of a lot of restrictions that get put into traditional media deals, right? So Apple, in that sense, and I think you'll see here in the near future, other announcements along those lines that will sort of breathe more life into that. But I think there is that sort of, ability to create new ground here, which we will do with Apple and are committed to do. I think the other thing that will be something to watch closely over the next five years is sort of what happens with the actual product. As we know, Apple is, at its heart, a tech company. We are a tech company. The broadcast is sort of very technical in nature. What you can actually do with that as a collective force will be interesting to watch over the next several years. I think on the second question, which was capital allocation, what we talked about at our investor conference was familiar themes, which clearly we're in a deleveraging phase right now. Everyone understands that will sort of hit a point that we feel comfortable with respect to making additional investments. we've been pretty clear about our discipline in this respect and our desire to invest around sort of into the actual businesses themselves, in and around those businesses certainly, and then in similar sorts of asset classes where you've got great IP, low capital intensity, and the ability for us to actually bring value either through insights we have, relationships we have, capital structures that we have, Things like that that will continue to allow us to have ourselves be a growth vehicle.

Okay, thank you. Operator, next question?

Certainly. Our next question is coming from Joe Stout from Susquehanna. Your line is now live.

Thank you. Good morning. I wanted to ask, just following up on the number of changes in F1 this year, engine, regulatory, and how that affects certainly competition and parity. I'm sure that's, you know, naturally the goal over a long term sort of drives interest in the sport. But just wondering the best way to think about, you know, how maybe some of this higher competition could affect the P&L, you know, in the near term, call it 2026 versus next year. What are the the near term sort of impacts of how we think about the financial implications of that.

Stefano, why don't you talk about the changes and what you're seeing and all that sort of stuff, and then we can get into what the implications are.

Yeah, yeah. Well, first of all, the implication, let me start from one thing. The F1 has the duty to be always an innovator league sport. that has been always the duty of our sport, because by innovating we can attract new investors. And the immediate effect of this regulation has attracted new manufacturers back into the sport. We have Audi, we have Ford, we have Honda, we have Cadillac, that did come in, you know, because of this regulation. And if I may, before, of course, that I take in the second part, the financial, this would be an immediate effect on the financial, because they will invest in our sport, they will invest in our initiatives, they will invest in all the ecosystem that will generate for them a sort of a platform to invest, to let their brand be known by the customers. So that's a direct effect. On the other side, of course, there is a great interest, a great opportunity to showcase that the level of technology is always relevant, to what is needed in the technological world. We have sustainable fuel, we have hybrid engine, and we've been always the first to believe in that. And we create excitement because the nature of the regulation will allow all the teams to develop this year's car race by race. You're going to see a season where every race will be different. There will be, for sure, at the beginning, bigger gaps, that will be, you know, restricted because of the nature of the regulation. And therefore, as always, F1 understands when there is the need to move forward faster than the others, and that has been always our philosophy. And that will attract the interest not only of the one that I said to you before, but the new fans that, through the new content that we have generated, will connect to us and, of course, By being able to be connected with them, we can even leverage the fact that we will offer something new to them. They're going to be a big push on the merchandising side of it. It's going to be a big push also to our partner, Queen, to create new packages to promote to them. So this is the reason why we change the things, for multiple reasons.

Yeah, I mean, just to follow on that, I don't think we sat here and said we're building, you know, a ton of incremental into the 26th. business plan because of these changes. But that being said, as Stefano hit on quite clearly, these changes are going to drive continued interest and engagement in the sport. And hopefully, as he says, bring in new participants, new fans, and all the sort of, you know, accrued benefit that comes with that that ultimately results in monetization. I think the other thing in parallel here that is happening this year, as you know, there are some big names that have come into the sport. between Audi and Cadillac and Ford, Honda coming back. It's pretty significant in terms of someone like Cadillac spending on a Super Bowl ad and what they're doing to promote their team on the track. So, you know, this is all part of the evolution of what F1 is. And Stefano's team have done a fantastic job of cultivating these relationships, cultivating these partnerships. building the sport into something that, you know, we do look at on a multi-year basis, not sort of how this is going to drive something in the next week or next month. And that's constantly what we're trying to do is build for the long term.

Understood. Maybe one just quick follow-up. Could you maybe just give us an update on the changes of the commercial team at Moto and any other, obviously, changes that you're making, obviously, now that You own it for about, you know, six or seven months and how to think about that.

Sure. This is Derek. I mean, you know, we, as we stated, or Carmelo stated, we're in the process of sort of putting out our brand and executing behind it, really. And I think that part of that is what's happening, you know, at the track. In the hospitality, we're going to see some pretty dramatic improvements, I believe, over the course of this year. where we're putting these tracks, our races, excuse me, as we're getting them closer to cities where we can benefit from all the infrastructure and the attendance and all of that sort of stuff, including, as we mentioned, in Adelaide, it's going to be right in the city center. And then how we go about sort of ultimately monetizing, commercializing that, we need the right team in place. And that's probably an area where We haven't had the sufficient sort of personnel there, and we are building that. It's obviously not a heavy lift to sit there and hire folks up. So that's what we're in the process of doing. As we have stated previously, this will take some time in terms of the ultimate commercialization. We'll see some areas pick up sooner rather than later. But over, you know, if you look at F1 as a parallel, We're in our 10th year, and you're still seeing some of these new revenue streams sort of being activated. So we continue to be even more sort of bullish on Modo, even if the results don't necessarily show in the short term. It's clearly a long-term proposition for us, and we like to invest into that long-term. So we're very excited.

Thank you. Our next question is coming from Ryan Gravett from UBS. Your line is now live. Hi, guys.

Just to follow up on the media rights topic, now that you're through the latest round of renewals, not just in the U.S., but some markets in Latin America and Asia as well, just curious what your key learnings were and how you think you're positioned for the next round of renewals in Europe over the coming years. Do you expect similar interest from digital players in those markets as well? Thanks.

Stefano, do you want to start? Yeah, thank you. I mean, I think that our position with the media is very new. As you see, it's quite dynamic. And I don't want to anticipate anything, but stay tuned. The next day, there will be something else coming up. The real point on that is that the interest is very strong. The numbers are very strong. And the key focus on what we need to make sure we keep doing is understanding, you know, if we keep going, because we are a worldwide market in the so-called traditional way of delivering our sport to our incredible broadcaster, or in certain markets there is an opportunity, as we did in the U.S., to move into the streaming platform. Because each country is different. we have the incredible opportunity to be so strong worldwide that we cannot have one single way of delivering our account in the same way. And there are different timelines that we need to consider. So it's a bigger ecosystem. And I think that we have proven so far to make a proper analysis before taking the final decision. So for sure, we want to be active and proactive in this world because the media is right. is not only a media right on the sport. The media rights are following other things in this moment. Therefore, I think that the reason why you see so many good deals coming in is because, you know, we want to be proactive and we feel that we are able to understand the evolution of the market considering the differences that we have from era to era. But stay tuned because already next week there's going to be something new happening. Well, we look forward to that. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our final question today is coming from Ian Moore from Burns Senior Line, is now live.

Hi, thank you. When we look at trailing motor results, I think everyone sees an opportunity to drive monetization, particularly sponsorship, to where F1 kind of is today. But F1 itself seems to continue to overdeliver on sponsorship. So I guess more generally, what do you guys kind of see as the right mature mix directionally of meteorites, race promo, sponsorship for these businesses, and then I guess for motorsport businesses more broadly?

Yeah, I think, look, it's early, but I think, you know, along the same lines is probably not a bad place to end up. And, you know, it's going to be over time that some of this stuff happens, but I think you've already seen that we're announcing new races next year, which will lead to some uptick there. But then the sponsorship side of things probably lags a little bit as we build the brand and we engage with the potential partners. But I do think that ability for us to draft off of what Aswan has done there and the Liberty name being able to sort of have credibility around what we're going to deliver with respect to Modo is something that we are excited about. Again, it will take some time, but we feel comfortable that that's going to happen. There's good, I'll just add by saying there's good receptivity in the market. This, we had a partner summit, as I mentioned, in Barcelona last week. A lot of good enthusiasm, a lot of good energy there. There's a lot of good enthusiasm in the investor base around teams. I can't tell you how many people have reached out expressing interest. So I think people see it. The other thing about moto in comparison to maybe other sports right now of its size, which tend to be more emerging sports, moto has a long, long history to draw on. and many stories to tell as a result and an established fan base and established brand recognition. So we're starting from a place that's much different, and hopefully it's something that we can accelerate here over time. Thank you very much.

Yeah, thanks again. Thanks, everybody, for your participation in today's call. Apologies if we didn't get to your questions. We'll look forward to speaking to more of you offline. Thank you.

Thank you. That does conclude today's teleconference webcast. You may disconnect your lines at this time and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.