Liberty Media Corp

NASDAQ:FWONA

Greetings, and welcome to the Liberty Media Corporation 2024 Year-End Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions]. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions]. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Shane Kleinstein, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

Thank you, and good morning. 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 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 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.

On today's call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures for Liberty Media, including adjusted [ OIBDA ]. The required definition and reconciliations for Liberty Media [indiscernible] can be found at the end of the earnings press release issued today, which is available on Liberty Media's website. Speaking on the call today, we have Liberty's President and CEO, Derek [ Chang ]; Liberty's Chief Accounting and Principal Financial Officer, Brian Wendling; Formula One's President and CEO, Stefano Domenicali, and other members of Liberty management will be available for Q&A. With that, I will turn the call over to Derek.

Great. Thank you, Shane. Good morning, everyone. It's great to be speaking with all of you today. For those of you who don't know, while I officially started at Liberty CEO 27 days ago, my relationship with Liberty Media goes back to 1997 when I first met John while working for TCI. We've had many points of professional overlap over the years at DIRECTV, STARS and more. Most recently, I've been fortunate to serve on Liberty's Board since 2021. As a Board member, I am uniquely familiar with delivery structure culture and mandate, which has enabled a seamless and efficient transition to CEO as we hit the ground running with a busy year ahead.

Even as a director for years, we've been asked what is the long-term Liberty playbook. The answer has been consistent. The Liberty playbook is one of constant evolution, maximum flexibility and an appreciation for change to drive long-term shareholder value. That is and will remain true going forward.

Our team will speak in more detail about the businesses, but I'll make some brief remarks first regarding our near-term priorities for 2025. First, we are working towards the close of the [ Dorna ] acquisition. The MotoGP season kicks off in Thailand on March 2. There will be a 22 race calendar compared to 20 races in 2024, featuring a new track in Hungary and a return to the Czech Republic for the first time since 2020. We expect an exciting season ahead. MotoGP unveiled a new brand refresh and identity at the end of last season, aimed at expanding its cultural relevance beyond racing. We look forward to working with [ Dorna ] to take this port to the next level on closing. The Phase 2 regulatory process is progressing, which is a more in-depth review by the European Commission and not uncommon in major transactions like these. We extended the long stop date for regulatory clearance to June 30, 2025, and are working constructively with the regulators towards the group.

Our second priority is continuing our path towards structural simplification and better highlighting the value of our Live Nation equity stake. And finally, we will continue to drive the momentum at Formula One. The sport is coming off a record 2024 and with high visibility into an excellent year ahead. I have spent a significant amount of time with Stefano and the F1 management team since the start of this year and look forward to supporting them going forward. [ Case Carey's ] involvement and partnership as a Liberty Board member has and will continue to be important as we leverage his expertise to continue momentum at F1. I do want to touch specifically on the Las Vegas Grand Prix as this is a key area of focus. Please note that we don't provide a specific economics for any grand grade, particularly for Vegas, we see material benefit accrue from LVGP to the broader F1 ecosystem, across sponsorship, hospitality live entertainment, licensing and data. Vegas has served as a very successful test bed for product expansion and played a key role in F1's growth in the Americas, which they continue to focus.

The event we held recently at the O2 in London and the upcoming F1 move, also powerful marketing engine for all of our F1 fans, but particularly for Vegas and the North American fan. 2024 stand-alone event economics for Vegas missed internal expectations on revenue and OIBDA. The team has moved very quickly, however, to enact changes that will benefit 2025 and support a financially successful rate for F1 and continued growth and positive impact for the Las Vegas community. We now have 2 years of real data to understand what tickets and products sold well the demographics of the fan base and the overall cost structure of the event. As a result, we are making further revisions to ticket product and pricing strategy, leveraging this data and as importantly, we are actively managing our cost structure.

Given the halo effect to F1 we've discussed, we reorganized the structure of LVGP last month to integrate it fully into our London team and maximize those continued benefits. This change leverages the strong organization we have in London today across commercial, finance and more. At the same time, we are bolstering certain parts of the local Vegas team. This includes bringing the ticketing sales function back in-house and offering a high-touch on-the-ground presence, which was a key learning from last year. We will continue our partnership with Quint and benefit from their expertise in VIP hospitality and F1 experiences.

Finally, we are also bolstering our partnership with local players. We believe that continuing to expand the F1 platform in old and new ways is critical and ultimately leads to both increased and new sources of revenue. We want to take these opportunities for long-term benefit even if there are early bumps in the road. We have a clear handle on near-term priorities for [indiscernible] to improve, and we are confident in the value it provides. I look forward to sharing more as we progress. With that, I want to thank John, the Board and the Liberty team once again for this opportunity. So our analysts and shareholders, I look forward to getting to know you better in the months and years ahead. Now I'll turn it over to Brian for more on our financial results.

Thank you, Derek, and good morning, everyone. Just a quick reminder that the merger of SiriusXM with Liberty SiriusXM closed on September 9. Therefore, the results of Sirius XM Holdings are presented as discontinued operations in our consolidated financial statements. At year-end, Formula One Group had attributed cash and liquid investments of $2.6 billion, which includes $1.3 billion of cash at F1 and $78 million of cash at Quint. The cash balance as of year-end includes proceeds from the previously mentioned on share issuance, which was completed in August. Total Formula One Group attributed principal amount of debt was $2.9 billion at quarter end, which includes $2.4 billion of debt at F1, leaving $528 million at the corporate level. F1's $500 million revolver is undrawn and their leverage at 12/31 was 1.3x. As a reminder, all motive GP transaction-related financing is in place and deal contingent.

Turning to the F1 business. Just a reminder that it's best analyzed on an annual basis, given variability in year-over-year race calendar. Total revenue grew 6% in 2024, with growth across all primary revenue streams. Revenue growth was primarily driven by the two additional races held and contractual increases across all of our revenue streams as well as the benefit of new sponsors, which drove a 10% increase in sponsorship revenue year-over-year. As Derek mentioned, the Las Vegas Grand Prix did miss expectations primarily on ticket sales, offsetting some of the race promotion revenue growth year-over-year despite the two additional races. Other F1 revenue was relatively flat in 2024, we saw strong growth in Paddock Club revenue at most events in 2024 as well as increases in freight and licensing. This was offset by softness in certain hospitality offerings at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Team payments as a percent of pre-team adjusted OIBDA was 61.5% in 2024, down from 62.6% in 2023. We continue to expect incremental leverage to the term of the current Concorde agreement which runs through the end of the 2025 season. Other costs of F1 revenue was broadly flat at 31% of total revenue and SG&A was 8% of total revenue, both in line with historical averages. Adjusted OIBDA margin improved nearly 70 basis points year-over-year. And then looking briefly at Corporate and other results in the fourth quarter. Revenue was $118 million, which includes Quint results and approximately $13 million of rental income related to the Las Vegas Grand Prix Plaza, approximately half of which is variable and recognized in the fourth quarter in connection with the event.

Corporate and other adjusted OIBDA loss was $2 million and includes Grand Prix Plaza rental income, Quint results and corporate expenses. Quint results in the fourth quarter were primarily driven by the F1 experiences across the six races held including Vegas as well as the MBA Cup.

Looking to 2025, F1 will host 24 races consistent with 2024. And while I'm reticent to encourage quarterly modeling, please note that the race count and composition will be different in each of the 4 quarters this year compared to 2024. In part, this is due to our efforts to increase regionalization of the calendar in support of our net zero pledge by 2030 and and for enhanced efficiency in our freight logistics. We are in a strong financial position as we head into 2025. The majority of our revenue is under contract, including our sponsorship revenue, which has been derisked by pulling the pipeline forward given the level of announcements made prior to the season. This also allows our team to focus on future sponsorship pipeline with an emphasis on high-value and high-quality partners. The other revenue streams will predominantly be driven by renewals and escalators this season. On Vegas, we are very focused on top and bottom line improvement relative to 2024 results and our clear steps already taken in process to achieve this.

Turning to a few cash items. F1 estimated cash tax rate in 2025 to be low double-digit percent of adjusted OIBDA, increasing modestly in future years. Total CapEx incurred at the Formula One Group in 2024 was $75 million, approximately $73 million of which was incurred at Formula One and includes CapEx related to technical improvement projects for [indiscernible] and F1 TV as well as the Las Vegas Grand Prix track and pad building improvements. Note that the operating company CapEx has historically trended at 1% to 2% of total F1 revenue. excluding onetime Vegas related CapEx, and we expect this range to be broadly consistent in 2025.

Turning to the Liberty Live Group. There's attributed cash of $325 million and $400 million of undrawn margin loan capacity related to our Live Nation margin loan. As of February 26, the value of the Live Nation stock held at Liberty Live was $9.9 billion, and 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. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Stefano to discuss Formula One.

Formula one finished 2024 with solid financial results, excellent rating and in a very strong position heading into 2025. The on-track competition intensified throughout the season, and we expect an even closer fight when we begin the new season in Melbourne. The strength of our brand and fandom translated to strong financial results in 2024. We continue to benefit from favorable supply and demand dynamics across our revenue streams. Very strong demand to be part of the F1 ecosystem, weather in [indiscernible] races, having our content partnered on sponsorship activation or enjoying our hospitality products. This is met with relatively limited supply across the board. We've seen this benefit commercial agreements, where our teams made incredible progress in 2024, signing a number of agreements that provide clear visibility for near-term financial momentum beyond.

As of year-end, F1 had $14.4 billion in future revenue contracted and the multiyear agreements. On race promotion, we remain focused on balancing growth and heavies markets. as reflected in the extension of our agreement to race in Shanghai throughout 2030 and the renewals of both Mont and Monica throughout 2021. We also extended the Netherlands for 1 year and Belgium under a multiyear rotational deal with the opportunity for another race to fill the alternating year lots. We remain in a strong position with demand from potential future race venues across the globe and will assess any potential new calendar addition against strategic requirements for both the business and the sport.

Turning to Media Rights, our F1 TV product continued to grow at a healthy rate, with subscribers up 15%. The U.S. remains its largest market, Capitalizing on this success, we are launching a new higher-priced premium tier this year to target avid fans. It will offer enhanced functionality, including 4K ultra high definition, Multiview, a virtual petrol and the ability to watch across up to six devices. Brian touched on some financial inputs for the season entering in 2025, I am particularly proud of the growth in sponsorship, both in renewal terms and new partnership that will take effect this year. This includes our landmark deal with LVMH as a global partner Lenovo becoming a global partner after being an official partner since 2022, our renewal with Pirelli as well as [indiscernible] dynamics, Santander and KitKat as official partners.

More recently, we announced the extension of our partnership with crippl.com through 2030 and Owin a global lottery operator as an official partner. Our success in signing this partnership ahead of the season now allows the team to spend 2025 focuses on growing and executing the pipeline of new deal and renewal uplift opportunity for 2026 and beyond.

While 2025 is clearly a standout year in sponsorship, I am optimistic about the discussion we have in developing, including new regional deals, upsells and the potential for movement of our existing sponsor within tears as the bar has been raised across the board. The team is also continuing to innovate on our hospitality products. The Vegas race allow us to test different concepts and turret hospitality offerings and we expect variation to be deployed at races this year. Michelin Star chef, Gordon Ramsey was announced as the partner of our most premium hospitality products F1 garage. We are also pleased to extend our multi-decade relationship with Do&Co for another 10 years of Paddock Club delivery. We will continue to work with them on enhancing our Paddock Club offerings.

Looking at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, we delivered another outstanding sector on track, creating buses throughout North America and earning the Promoter the Year award from Auto Sport. Moving into 2025, we are taking an important step in the race evolution and are fully integrating its operation into our F1 team in London. This will further maximize the value we believe the biggest risk provides for F1 broader commercial activities. In addition to being an excellently generator of a commercial deal, Vegas has been a successful test bed of innovation that we are now extending elsewhere in Formula One. A few recent examples include expanding our licensed product and merchandise offering. The global partnership with Gordon Ramsey after his involvement in Vegas and building a new CRM system for all of F1, which will enhance our fund targeting. We also know that Vegas race is key to our expansion strategy in the U.S.

Following the second year of the raise, we have a clear vision of the changes needed to improve the ray stand-alone economics and maximize the overall value accruing to Formula One. Turning to broader fun engagement. Nielsen published a set of fan data in December 2024, confirming F1 is the most popular annual sporting cedes globally with over 750 million fans and growing. Younger and female fans are growing the fastest. As statistics that few sport can play. In the last 5 years, the under 35 years old and female fan demographics have both increased by over 50%, and with steady growth, especially in markets like the U.S. and China. In 2024, 1.6 billion cumulative TV viewers tuned in for races. With the number of unique viewers up 9% year-over-year. An additional aggregate audience of most -- of almost $500 million watch the F1 content on streaming platforms including 230 million watching YouTube highlight reels on the F1 channel. We saw TV growth, especially in China, Canada, Australia, Argentina and the Middle East. As we are increasing our global fan base. At the same time, our European stronghold markets, Italy, U.K., Germany, were also up year-over-year. Average viewership per race was 66 million nonlinear platforms with an additional EUR 20 million estimated on digital platform, including FRTB.

Nielsen is now capturing YouTube audiences in this in their measurement. Which will be included in our reported viewership numbers beginning in 2025. This will provide a more comprehensive view on how current fund consumes sport content, and we aim to integrate new sources and platform over time. On social media, Formula One ended the year with 97 million followers across the platforms, up 38% year-over-year. If we look at the comparable social media platforms, where all major sports operate, for the fifth consecutive years, F1 has been the fastest-growing global sports league for follower growth.

We also reached an audience of 4 billion globally through our proactive media activity in 2024, showing the breadth of our reach. At races strong attendance trends continue throughout the season with the 2024 seeing 17 sellout crowds and 10 new attendance records. Over 6.5 million people attended races in 2024. A new record, growing 9% over 2023. For races welcomed crowds of over 400,000. The Paddock Club also saw a record attendance hosting total guests across the season, up 20% on 2023. Despite the strength of these metrics, we know that only a fraction of our fund base is able to attend the race. I think a key focus of our ongoing growth strategy is to reach fans in new creative ways to maintain their interest, raise awareness and continue the growth momentum. This is our F1 zone strategy. and ensuring F1 is present beyond the '24 race calendar. This approach is supported by our experiential licensing initiatives.

Following successful international venues in Boston this 2024, F1 is planning to open four additional U.S. location in 2025, including Las Vegas and Denver. The F1 exhibition sold almost 600,000 tickets across all venues 2024. Connecting our fans with F1 rich history. Buenos Aires will be the fifth city to host the exhibition when it's opened on March 22 and is the first top of a plant in multi-country South American tool. Amsterdam was recently announced as the six locations set to open in April 2025.

Leveraging learnings from other license activation Grand Prix Plaza in Las Vegas is launching a series of new year-round activities beginning at the end of March. This site will be the North American home of the sport, especially serving our growth U.S. fund base. In partnership with the Round Room Life, our partner in the F1 exhibition, Grand Prix Plaza will host three unique and immersive experience, F1 Drive, FX and F1 Hub and we also have three new private demand spaces available for rent. We're building momentum in consumer products and other licensing areas, which we expect will be both economic lucrative and provide new touch points for our diverse fan base.

Our partnership with LEGO launched with the product range featuring all 10 teams engaged content across legal digital platform and presence at risk weekends, including fund zone activations. Our partnership with Matell is launching throughout 2025, with eight F1 teams brought to life across a range of products and presence at select races, including Hot Wheels activation and retail opportunities.

Sustainability initiatives remain a priority, and we are on track to be net zero by 2030. In 2024, we began our investment in sustainable aviation fuel and expect our initiatives here will have provided an approximately 19% reduction in 2024 relative emissions compared to traditional aviation fuel. We are already well advanced in our plans to expand the sustainable aviation fuel initiative further in 2025. Also in November, we announced a formal diversity inclusion charter agreed by all 10 teams, F1 and the FIA. This is an important step and invites collaboration across the ecosystem to produce impactful results.

Looking ahead to the 2025 season and beyond, we are working to capitalize on our momentum and establish key building blocks for future growth. I'm confident our brand awards will continue growing, especially as we look to the Apple movie, which will premier in June and the impact of our recent high-profile season launch event held at the O2 in London. The launch event was the first of its kind featuring all 10 teams revealing their 2025 deliveries, top-tier entertainment and a gathering of the entire Formula One community to celebrate our 75th anniversary. Over 15,000 fans packed the O2 while over 40 global broadcasters are the show live. On digital channels, including YouTube drew 7.5 million total live viewers, making it F1 most successful livestream ever. The media buzz was incredible and over 2,000 pieces of global content were published within 24 hours of the event.

From a sporting perspective, this year, we expect an intense fight on the track as teams continue to converge after a very competitive 2024 season. Travel changes are plentiful. With many ROCEs entering the grid, demonstrated the success of the F2 and F3 support series in preparing drivers for Formula One. We also expect an interesting balance as the teams have to focus both on 2025 performance but also prepare the significant changes required by the new technical regulations taking effect in 2026. We look forward to see the cars take to the track this weekend. Avanti Tota, full speed ahead. And now I will turn the call back over to Derek. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Thank you, Stefano. I think we'd like -- now like to open the call for questions. .

[Operator Instructions]. Our first questions come from the line of Ben Swinburne with Morgan Stanley.

I have two questions, one for Derek and one hopefully for Stefano. I know he said by, but hopefully, he is still there. Derek, welcome to the wonderful world of quarterly earnings calls. Nice to talk to you again. Could you talk a little bit about sort of the message you have to Liberty shareholders around kind of strategy? I know you talked a little bit about it in your prepared remarks. But like what are your strategic priorities for the year? And -- any comment you can share on sort of your philosophy around M&A?

I think Liberty obviously tremendous track record on the M&A front. At the same time, investors really like the kind of pure plays that you have and are continuing to create. So I would love to hear some thoughts there and then I have an F1 question for Stefano is there.

Thanks, Ben, and thanks for the warm welcome there. I guess I would say that I've touched on some of the points in terms of our near-term priorities, closing Dorna, the structural simplification that we've discussed and obviously, a huge focus right now on F1 and continuing sort of the growth trajectory that that's been on and helping Stefano and his team sort of accomplished that. We've got a lot sort of on our plate. But as you get through the year and we sort of roll forward, I would think that a lot of what we've done in the past would sort of reflect on what we might do in the future. We've always been an opportunistic place. And I think as those opportunities present themselves, we will certainly hopefully be active and be able to continue to sort of build on the assets that we have in terms of tuck-ins or adjacencies and things like that. But then as we start to look beyond that, where there is sort of opportunities that involve premium IT ability to monetize and commercialize along the way that we've done with some of the assets like F1. Those we would look at pretty seriously. But for now, again, back to sort of the near-term priorities that we've already discussed.

Yes, Stefano you guys a lot going on between Concored and media rights and everything else, but there's a lot of focus, as you can imagine, on the U.S. media rights right now. There's some press reports that F1 and ESPN have sort of moved on from each other. I guess I'm just curious if you could talk a little bit about how you're feeling about the demand for the U.S. broadcast rights for F1 today, whether we still should think there's going to be an increase from your current deal. And any thoughts on including or excluding F1 TV in the package that you're bringing to market would be appreciated.

Thanks, Ben. As you said, there's lots of going on in this month, but that's the life of Formula One. Every day is a new day, but a lot of things that are always opportunities. First of all, let me say that with regards to ESPN and Formula One, let me say that I can deny the sort of situation that is negative because, first of all, we need to be thankful for what ESPN is providing to us. We are very happy about the quality of the service. We need to remember that they were first to believe in our projects. So therefore, the fact that at the end of the exclusivity period, they are not put in place on a formal offer. It doesn't mean that the discussion are going ahead. Actually, it's the other way around. So there are still a lot of discussions to try to find the best solution. And of course, now, as we always said, are the months where other players around the table.

And we cannot deny the fact that there is a lot of interest around our products. We are fortunate enough to have compelling content and growing fan base and a strong demand for different situation from various parties. As we always said, there is the big point related to the fact that from one side, we always want to maximize the monetization of our media right. But on the other side, we need to make sure that also in terms of awareness, in terms of growth of our fan base, we need to try to find the best way in terms of reach. Therefore, these are the two questions -- the two points that are on the table. We have a lot of players that we are discussing with I think the hot months will be the next one before summer where we should have a better picture. And that's for sure something that I believe will happen because, as I said, we are really in a situation where our possibility to grow and also to offer to them the possibility to give the -- to our forecasted partner any better commercialization on how they can explore their rights are possible.

And I can say that the digitalization and also the experience of out the broadcaster during in Europe and part of the work could be an essential part of what could be the discussion we're going to have with them. And that's what I would say with regard to the media right. I'm sure that the Derek, if you want to say something more on that before I can taste on the situation on Concored.

Thanks, Stefan Yes, I mean I love talking about media, right. But I would add to that, that people tend to look at these sorts of discussions somewhat simplistically sometimes and really focus on sort of the rate and the race broadcast. But when you think about sort of media rights in today's world, the broadcasters, the distribution partners and the IP holders, I think it's a much more involved relationship than just sort of the event. And I think that's to everyone benefit in the ecosystem and how people can use sort of our IP, not just through the event but through the other forms of content through the activation and hospitality even and things like that come into play, and I think that we, at want, continue to be very well positioned to the content offer we have. We've invested a lot of money in our own content production, which can also be very helpful to the potential broadcast partners.

Ultimately, as everyone knows in this world, things sort of hinge up a little bit on supply and demand and at the competitive process that unfolds situations like this and sort of what the availability is of other rights around the time frame vis-a-vis sort of which of our potential partners may be looking for IP like ours at this time. And so not to overcomplicate the answer, but I think we do believe that there is a robust process that will unfold here. I think to use an F1 analogy. We're early in the race, and people are still feeling off the track per se. But I think also to use F1 analogy, it's going to be a fast rate, and we're going to move pretty quickly, hopefully to come to conclusion as we get to sort of the end of the middle of the year and later this year.

And just to echo one thing that Stefano said, A lot of times, the people on the outside tend to frame these things as ESPN said they didn't want the F1 rights going forward, and it's very, again, found by sort of way to describe the relationship has actually been quite a productive and constructive relationship. And I personally have had a long-term relationship with the ESPN. F1 has had a great relationship with ESPN, and we'll continue to see how these conversations unfold.

Our next questions come from the line of David Karnovsky with JPMorgan.

And welcome to Derek. On Las Vegas, as you noted, the race missed your budgeting and I get the need to look at this holistically, given its impact to sponsorship and other rights. But I wanted to see if you could dig in a bit on the past year in 2025 in the next few years, specifically growing revenue and kind of also managing the cost base to get tend back towards some of those original stand-alone targets you had laid out, if that's still the goal.

Thanks, David. I mean, we do believe that, as we always said, this is an incredible Grand Prix on which we need to keep working and make sure that it will stay as we believe at the top of the range because the benefit of this Grand Prix, as we said, that provides a broader financial benefit to the ecosystem of Formula One. What we are focusing with the action that we have delivered is to make sure as you said correctly, we need to make sure that we focus our attention on the cost structure of the situation that we have to manage in Vegas. We need to have even a better local relationship because that's the key of the success. And by the way, in that respect, one news that I believe it's an important for the ecosystem of the communities that we have moved the race time, 2 hours earlier. And that's why because we believe that it's important always to be connected to the community. And we do have to forget that the community is benefiting with a big impact on their economic P&L on the weekend of the races.

And then of the fact that we believe that by integrating all the function of Vegas LVGP together with London will help boost the synergy that we can use by knowing the system and the experience that all the other Grand Prix are, let's say, investor government given to us. We don't have to forget that we were having, as Derek was mentioned in his speech at the beginning, any data relevant for that community. And now we are taking that in the way to build the system in order to formalize the right packages, the right offer. And on the other side, we have always said since the beginning that we know that when there is a new approach going ahead, the first year is a learning curve that will take the right time to make the right strategic decision because, as we said, this is an incredible event that will continue to be one of the most important events in the near the future. That's what I could say on that perspective.

Yes, I'd like to just add that if you step back for a second, I think that LVGP has been a huge success to put on an event like that in the short amount of time that our team here in Denver and London were able to do that over the last couple of years, it's been pretty impressive. And I think we've talked at length about sort of the benefit to the F1 ecosystem as a whole, whether it's the media, the sponsorship, fandom growing here in the U.S., all that sort of stuff had been hugely impacted by what we've been able to accomplish in Las Vegas. I think we all here were disappointed by sort of the -- some of the financial metrics in the early going here. But those in my mind are all sort of durable and fixable. And as both Stefan and I have already alluded to, we're already sort of working on those plans and feel comfortable that we will see a nice improvement there. over the course of the year.

Okay. And then Stefan, I was interested to get your expanded [indiscernible] GM Cadillac and the decision to admit them as an 11th team. We had the perception of some resistance to this in the past. So I was interested to understand better any change in your thinking and what this can add to the sport, especially in the U.S.? And -- can you just refresh us on how the entry fee works to the teams and what role is F1 asset any there?

No, thanks for that. It's important to certify that position. We always said that Cadillac is giving and will give an incredible boost to the ecosystem of Formula One. We were referring to other situations that were handled before, but now the picture is totally different. Therefore, I think the Cadillac's preparing the entry and in terms of preparing the season because it would not be easy situation for them to be in such a high tech and evolve the sporting platform. They are doing everything in order to show how Cadillac is really involved into the sport. Now there is the formality that is related to the process that it's almost ready together with the FIA, that's to be an update. And whenever this will be ready, it should be not too long. There would be a sort of an update to formalize what basically is already happening. So they will be ready to fight against together with the other teams for next year. And that is the evolution that, as you know, GM has taken as a fact that they want to be a real structure or a manufacturer that will invest in our sport because they do believe in the technological platform that the F1 can provide to their system. So very, very happy that now this is on board, moving forward and looking forward to see them on the track, together with the other teams to fight for a great championship.

Our next questions come from the line of Kutgun Maral with Evercore ISI.

If I could. First, on sponsorship. I know 2025 will already be very robust given the partnerships that you've already inked. And it doesn't seem like the team has stopped either with at least an all-in deal and bringing on Tag Heur as a tile partner for Monaco. I guess looking ahead, do you see even more opportunities as you look to the balance of this year? Or are you largely set for 2025 based on the pipeline. And given the tenor of your conversations, is there anything you can share about how sponsorship could look like in 2026 as well? And then I have a follow-up on GM Cadillac.

As we said, we are very robust with regard to the pipeline of 2025 because basically, in terms of achievements. The entry of the robust partnership that we have announced has been, I would say, impressive, impressive with regard to the quality of the brand and of course, not only about the quality, but the investment they are bringing to us. What for me is relevant is that this new partnership has broken and will protein, new way of activating the partnership. It's not only visibility, it's not only awareness, it's all what is behind that. And now everyone is working together to make sure that this platform will offer to their needs in terms of business development, what we can offer to them. So that is an important assessment that we have done together. We will see already with facts.

With regard to the other possibility, what we lived and we don't have to forget where we were just a couple of years ago. we have moved not only in terms of quantity but also in quality of partnership for us was the need now to restructure the category in order to make sure there was the possibility to develop regional deals or to uplift as we did from official to global partners. And of course, there are different possibilities to maximize it through the digitalization that can be applied to our presentation, our products on TV and not only on TV on the track. And on top of that, of course, the fan engagement that we are bringing with new partners is pushing us to move -- and this is the reason why, for example, what's more Vegas was important to create different opportunity with the hospitality packages and hospitality and experience that we are offering to our friends.

Looking ahead, I would say the pipeline already for the next year is very strong, and that's what we need to do. Work together. And if we work well, the activation program that we are activating with them, with facts is showing that our strategy is right. Otherwise, it wouldn't be in such a good position. And I do believe that this [indiscernible] will keep going like that even in the future.

That's very helpful. And then maybe if I could just follow up on the GM Cadillac discussion. There have been some questions on what this could mean for the Concorde agreement discussions and ultimately, what it does to the splits and economics that the teams are pushing for? I know that there's not much you can share on the concord right now, but how should we think about the financial impact of welcoming GM Cadillac to the grid. And is the hope that the long-term top line opportunity through sponsorship and maybe media rights would offset any margin pressure? Or is it just wrong to even assume that there would be margin degradation?

With regard to the first question, there's no impact at all with the current discussion of the Concorde Agreement. That's been -- as you know, Concored is done by two major elements. One is the financial one that is related to the commercialization and the marketing side of it that discussion between us and the teams, and we are in a good position on that. The other topic or the other part of it is the governance that, of course, we need to work together with the FIA and the teams. And on that, we are working in order to respect the date, as you know, there's no time pressure on that because we are all working as partners, and we want to find the best solution for the store. And this is something that we're going to do, even with one more time together into the future because, of course, Cadillac will be part of it. and will have a voice as the others into the future.

Then with regard to the fact that Cadillac will bring a new U.S. branch, I think that we can bring opportunities. And I'm totally positive because the sport is growing in such a magnitude that everyone will exploit the best out of it. And I'm sure that the Cadillac GM Group will benefit from being part of this group.

Can I just add -- thanks, Stefan, that in my early days here, I have had the opportunity to meet with some of the teams, certainly over the last month or so. And Look, I don't think -- I think the relationship between Formula One and the teams has never been stronger. We heard a lot of good positive affirmation of that in terms of what Liberty has done since we acquired F1, and I think people really are excited about the future and sort of growing the overall pie in terms of the economics of what the sport can deliver. I think very specifically on the Concorde agreement and our splits with the teams already remarked on the fact that hopefully, we get the Concorde agreement done soon. At this point, the entry of a 11 team has not really impacted sort of that discussion per se. And if you think about it, it doesn't impact the split between us and the team that it certainly is an 11 team in terms of the allocations amongst those that team themselves. But Again, I think with the entry of a group like GM, the hope and thought here is that we continue to grow the overall pie for Formula One and the Formula One ecosystem.

Our next questions come from the line of Jeffrey Wlodarczak with Pivotal Research Group. .

First of all, congrats, Eric on the new position. I had a couple related to Formula One. I guess a follow-up on the Concorde Agreement. So I mean, should we expect that's going to be pretty similar to the current deal? Or can you make changes that really help move this work forward. I guess, Stefano, on the 2026 powertrains, you talk to the team as they develop that. Are there any major surprises, positive or at that you're seeing on development?

I didn't get the second question properly, to be honest. The first related to Concored I think that it's worth to say without saying anything that we can say so far is the basic fundamentals are quite similar to the actual structure. That is definitely the way that we are working on and the way we are progressing with that. The second one, I heard something related to the 2026 cars, Jeffrey, if you can repeat because the line was not great. Sorry for that.

Yes. No worries. Hopefully, you can hear me now. I was just wondering if there were any major surprises on the development of those 26 powertrains that you've heard from the team on the positive or negative?

Yes, thank you nester much. I think that, as always, when there is a change of regulation, there is a lot of things that are related to is working the best. Who knows or has been able to maximize the performance out of the regulation that is totally new. So a lot of expectation, and it is normal that a part of the ecosystem at that stage is trying to say why we are changing the things in a moment where the champions is so competitive. That has been always the case in the cycle of Formal One. I do believe that the fact that now with regard to the technological development, we put on the sense of the sustainable fuel is something that will give the future boost of a different thinking of technological implication of the future in formal one. That's one pretty convinced about it. We need to keep at the center to show the fact that the driver needs to be at the center of the stage and the technological choices for the future needs to be relevant for that. We need to keep that clearly, because it is relevant to say that our fan base is shifted in terms of interest, and we need to have the duty to make sure there is the right balance between the, let's say, the so-called traditional fans versus the new fans. And that's the focus that we want to keep together.

Our next questions come from the line of Bryan Kraft with Deutsche Bank.

Bryan, are you able to check up yourself muted, please.

Our next questions come from the line of Stephen Laszczyk with Goldman Sachs.

Two, if I could. First, on the media rights opportunity internationally for Stefano and Derek, if you want to jump in on this one. I'm curious if there's anything you've learned so far through your U.S. media rights negotiation that has made you more or less optimistic on the man backdrop for media rights for F1 more globally?

Thanks, even. I mean, from my side, I see that as a month of a great opportunity to exploit the maximum out of it. I'm not really worried about that. because I do believe that it's potentially -- not potentially, actually, we have a growing fan base and we need to make sure we find the right product and the right partner in order to engage with them. and that's really conclusion. One thing that we need to -- we don't have to forget that this part of the equation is our F1 TV product. because it's something that it is relevant. It is really an incredible tool of engagement. And this is something that we want to keep that inside the discussion of whoever will be the partner of the future because we believe of the value we truly believe of the value of this platform.

I would say that the -- I'm not so sure the U.S. rights is correlated to -- what we learned to this experience is necessarily correlated to other markets per se because each of them have their own individual characteristics, both in terms of demand as well as sort of players in the market. I would say that one thing that is obviously transpired over the last several years as some of the large streaming platforms have gotten engaged in sports is sort of a demand on their part for sort of worldwide rights for lack of a better term. And hopefully, that will certainly drive some of the demand as we look around the globe. If you see the -- one of the big selling points of the Netflix sort of taking on the NFL Christmas games was that they delivered those globally. So this is clearly an evolving space that we'll keep an eye on.

Got it. And then a second question just on Vegas for Brian. I appreciate you're not commenting on very specific economics, but I was just curious if there's anything you can give us on the magnitude of the decline year-over-year in revenue and profit at the rate just given the focus at the moment the market that could maybe give us confidence that some of the underperformance in the quarter was isolated to Vegas specifically and maybe not more broadly throughout the F1 core business.

Yes, thanks. We can't comment on the specifics, but the majority of the miss that you guys are calculating based on the team payment was Vegas related.

Our next questions come from the line of Bryan Kraft with Deutsche Bank.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

Okay. Great. Welcome, Derek, and congratulations. I had two questions. So first, on the heels of several high-profile race promotion renewals, how did the results of those renewals line up with your expectations that race promotion is increasingly becoming a revenue growth opportunity. And then the second one is -- I know you don't want to give guidance, but could you just talk broadly about the media rights revenue outlook in 2025 relative to 2024? It seems like growth in that line should accelerate this year. I would appreciate any color there. Thank you.

Thanks, Brian. I mean, rate promotion. As you know, we have let's say, we have taken the decision to be strong and long-term agreement with a place where we do believe is relevant to state focus on working together because there is a possibility to increase even other revenue stream through this relationship. The other thing is, of course, every promoter is innovating is investing. And I remember very well when I had my first earnings call, there were a lot of doubts that this revenue stream would be able to grow because there was a lot of thinking that, that was not possible. Actually, we've proven the other way around. And I do believe that due to the tension -- positive tension of the market because we want -- a lot of countries was to host the Grand Prix. And everyone was to basically show that they are committed to long term there is the possibility to keep growing this rest revenue stream. This is our focus. Of course, what is good is that we -- everyone has now the focus on the fence who attended the race. So everyone has to improve the different segmentation that the fans requires in terms of GA, in terms of medium hospitality, higher profile hospitality working the marginality, of course, working on the experience of the fans together with the promotion.

So on that respect, I do believe the expectation, even if we are not giving any kind of guidelines on that are in the direction of being very strong even in the future. With regard to the media right, if I may say direct, I would say on that, the wave of the package. And if you have a good sport, if you have a good fan base, the media rights should keep growing in that respect. And I do believe that what is important for the future is to see how the face wants to capture the content we are producing. And there will be not only the so-called traditional media right, but there are other platforms that will have a big effect on not only growing that, but also growing the different possibility of engaging with the fans. And this is for me, in our opinion, very, very peculiar to the fact that this is relevant to the growth in that landscape.

I'd just add, Brian, specifically on' '25 versus '24 for media rights, you're largely going to be seeing just regular uplifts and standard renewals. We would expect continued growth in F1 TV, and we're launching our new premium F1 TV product too. So those will be the primary drivers in '25.

It's kind of similar in strength as last year from a growth perspective? Or would you expect any acceleration this year, Brian?

I'll leave it at what we've answered already, Brian.

Our next questions come from the line of Steven Cahall with Wells Fargo.

So first, just on media rights and with the expansion of premium F1 TV, can you just help us conceptualize how that product fits into the discussions that you have with some of the larger streaming companies. I guess the expectation is that those streaming companies probably don't want to see a competing streaming product in market, even if it's your own. So how do you manage those dynamics as you look to maximize the value of what you can get for rights. And then just one on Concord and maybe Concored dynamics. I think the last Concorde had a big overhang from what was going on with the pandemic and maybe the team's expectation or need to limit some of their downside risk. You've grown the sport a lot since then. The teams have also added a lot to their calendar, both with media and with races. So how do you think team dynamics are this time? What do you think their expectations are? And do you think that they have any feelings about your ability to kind of hold team payments flat and would be willing to accept that?

Thanks, Steven. I mean with regard to the, let's say, the value of the premium F1 TV or Pro, we are doing in terms of different propositions. As we said, we believe that this has to be considered an added value. And we found solutions. I'll give you one example in a collaboration with [ Viaplay ] in the Dutch market, we were able to find a solution that has integrated that in the package. So I do believe that we are flexible to understand what will be the need of our future broadcaster, knowing that has a value because it's an incredible package. And the extended -- and the different packs that we are offering allows all our fans to be connected with our world. And I do believe this is relevant also and this element has to be considered in our negotiation with future partner.

Concored. I mean, the team dynamics, I would say everyone recognized huge growth of the business. I mean it's not only related to the fact that there is a lot of interest on eventually buying things because we see the potential value of them. You see from the numbers and the quality of partners that are connected to each team. That means that everyone recognized the shoes all we are doing together. And the dynamics are very constructive. It's part of the game that everyone wants to try to squeeze or maximize what they can bring home. That's part of the game. But I would say the credibility that we have found that we have now together has allowed us to find the right balance. So happy to progress with this kind of relation because that's the key point of the future and very stable growth of the business together. We see everyone as a stakeholder of the business, the FA, the teams and all the partners that they have and all our partners.

Just on the Concord, the one aspect that you were asking about, we wouldn't expect to see degradation. We feel good with our relationship with the teams. So we would expect, at a minimum, we'd be in a similar place on the next agreement to where we finish out 2025.

Our last question will come from the line of Barton Crockett with Rosenblatt.

Okay. I was interested in terms of the broadcast rights. There's been a lot of focus on the U.S. as a solitary market, but there's rights that seem to be potentially up for renewal across the Americas, maybe even elsewhere in Japan. Are we in a place now where it could be more interesting perhaps to get closer with some of the global streamers to negotiate large regional packages, not exactly global, but large kind of regions that go just beyond like the U.S., sorry if you could discuss that.

I think that the -- I think, again, what we said, and I don't mean to keep repeating it, but it's an evolving situation in terms of what the media rights landscape looks like globally what the different players out there want and want to try to achieve with their own platforms, I think, Clearly, the large streamers have consistently said that they want global rights to everything. That may or may not be possible that on a regional basis, sort of similarly. It sort of depends on how you define these various regions. But I do think that if some of these players are strong across the region, then clearly, there could be benefit. And I think we do have some regional deals in play. We've got -- I know we've got some deals with [ Bison ] in various countries for instance, obviously, Sky, we've got across multiple countries in Europe. So you -- it really depends on sort of what their strength is and what their aspirations are in some market because the sum of all of those is greater than us going out individually, then we would have to look at that and pursue those opportunity seriously. And I think with that, I appreciate everyone's time today. I appreciate everyone listening in, and all the warm welcome and look forward to seeing more of everyone on future earnings calls. And thank you again.

Thank you. This does conclude today's teleconference. We appreciate your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Enjoy the rest of your day.