For many years, the premier motorcycle racing championship, MotoGP, has been a source of entertainment for motorsport fans. However, is MotoGP going to be the next big hitting sport? The year 2023 saw MotoGP achieve a 20% growth rate in TV viewership across the globe, the results of newly added sprint races and fresh marketing action. The sport attracted more than 3.2 million attendees in stadiums during the season, the highest total for the 74-year history of the sport.
These attendance figures are impressive and push MotoGP closer to the global sports discussion. The 2024 French Grand Prix at Le Mans set an all-time record total attendance for a MotoGP weekend with 297,471 fans.
A Global Sport With Localized Grit
Unlike many motorsports that are heavily centered on Euro-centricness, MotoGP has a footprint across continents. The 2024 calendar had 21 races in 17 countries, with the addition of new markets: India and Indonesia, each hosting well over 100,000 fans at the gates of Buddh and Mandalika circuits, respectively.
Spain remains the sport’s stronghold, hosting four Grand Prix events a year. But organizers are shifting gears. In 2025, MotoGP plans to expand into North America and the Middle East, regions still under-tapped but rich in potential.
A big reason behind this expansion? The Liberty Media acquisition. The same media powerhouse that transformed Formula 1 into a Netflix-driven global juggernaut is now in charge of MotoGP. Their goal? More storytelling, more tech integrations, and deeper fan engagement, all ingredients that helped F1 grow 40% in global fan base since 2017.
Why Might MotoGP Just Be the Next Big Thing?
Below, we have mentioned a few aspects which make MotoGP a big contender in global sports, for the future:
- Equal Machinery, More Chaos: Unlike F1’s domination by 1–2 teams, MotoGP sees frequent underdog wins. In 2023, 7 different riders from 4 teams won races.
- Younger Talent, Shorter Races: Races last around 40–45 minutes, and stars like Pedro Acosta (19) are bringing Gen Z energy to the grid.
- Sprint Race: The addition of Saturday sprints in 2023 saw a 51% rise across weekend viewership.
- Tech-Driven Engagement: Whether it is through onboard rider cameras or real-time telemetry streaming, MotoGP is actively investing in engaging viewing experiences.
- Diverse Manufacturer Rivalry: With brands like Ducati, Yamaha, KTM, Aprilia, and Honda all actively competing, the field offers a broader competitive spread than many other sports
- Digital Content Explosion: MotoGP’s YouTube channel saw a 35% jump in watch time in 2023, with behind-the-scenes content and race recaps pulling in millions of views.
Still Some Bends in the Road
Of course, not everything’s running in top gear yet. One of the biggest hurdles is star power. Valentino Rossi’s retirement in 2021 left a vacuum that hasn’t been fully filled. While riders like Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Márquez are elite, they haven’t quite broken into pop culture in the way a LeBron, Messi, or Verstappen has.
Another challenge? The U.S. market. Despite races at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Texas, American fan engagement still lags behind other regions. In fact, MotoGP’s average U.S. TV viewership remains below 500K per race, far behind NASCAR’s 2M+.
Plus, the mechanical domination by Ducati, who won both the riders’ and constructors’ titles in 2022 and 2023, has led to some concerns about competitiveness, although 2024 showed more balance with KTM and Aprilia clawing back into contention.
And then there’s the matter of accessibility. MotoGP’s global streaming service, VideoPass, still isn’t widely promoted or bundled with mainstream platforms, limiting casual fan discovery. If Liberty Media mirrors its F1 strategy, bundling races into ESPN or creating a MotoGP docuseries could accelerate its media traction. Moreover, the betting and casino industry is still not significantly hyping it like the other sports, which leaves a void to fill.
Final Lap!
MotoGP isn’t just surviving, it’s speeding toward something bigger. With a modernized race format, global expansion, record-breaking attendance, and Liberty Media’s marketing firepower in the tank, it’s better positioned than ever before to shake up the global sports ladder.