MotoGP needs India, and Liberty Media must act Fast!

The success of the 2023 Indian MotoGP round should have paved the way for the sport to get a firm hold in a market it desperately needs for its own bright future, but things took an unexpected turn. However, Liberty Media can and must act to make amends!

The MotoGP Bharat was an impossible dream that became a spectacular reality in 2023

A few days ago, Matt Bishop wrote an outstanding article about F1’s short trip to India. I attended the 2013 race as a spectator, and I wholeheartedly agree with every single point he made. That said, his story not referencing the 2023 Indian MotoGP round has left a very significant thing that his readers must have been made aware of. The Indian MotoGP round was held almost exactly a decade after F1 left, and a significant number of things had changed since then.

It is also fascinating how much Matt’s words also capture why the MotoGP calendar does not feature the Indian round ‘at present’. The article also provides me with a perfect excuse to discuss why Liberty Media could do a significantly better job than Dorna in getting MotoGP racing back in India, and yes, F1 too, as an extension to the same line of thought.

2023 MotoGP Bharat – Let’s Talk Numbers

The 2023 MotoGP race was the biggest motorsporting event in India’s history, even bigger than the F1 events, in fact, especially because of what happened with F1. Over 1,10,000 spectators attended the event over the weekend, while about 50,000 of them were present on the main race day. The first F1 race saw around 95,000 spectators in comparison. It is important to note that the IndianGP virtually had no marketing spend; in fact, as I have already discussed previously, we had way more anti-marketing in motion, or else we would have breached 1,50,000 spectator numbers with ease.

During the race weekend, I had a quick chat with Adam Wheeler about the seemingly low spectator numbers. I told him that our sole target was to make the race happen, and we would concentrate on getting every inch of the behemoth seating capacity of the BIC packed the next time around, and I still stick by my word. I further added that whenever MotoGP arrives in India next time, there will not be a single seat without a spectator on the entire campus.

The event was a huge success in terms of revenue generation in the region, where over INR 960 crores (About USD 12 million) were generated by the race weekend. Every hotel was packed within 50 km of the BIC, further fuelling local region growth. This proved the faith that the honourable Uttar Pradesh Government had put into the promoters, and the event saw outstanding returns on every front.

Podium finishers at the 2023 IndianGP

The IndianGP was also a behemoth in the digital world, firmly establishing the monumental possibilities that lay ahead for the event. For the one-month period from September 8 to October 9, 2023, the data was simply staggering to say the least. Just the reach numbers for Instagram were a mind-blowing 2.01 billion for the period, followed by Twitter (I am not calling that X) with 350 million and Facebook at 260 million. In fact, MotoGP Bharat remains the largest individual race event Instagram page among all races by a long way at over 500K followers. Again, I would like to bring focus on the fact that the marketing spends were extremely low across the whole event, emphasising just how big MotoGP can get in the Indian market.

Even after all this, India not having a stable, confirmed place in the MotoGP calendar should make everyone reading this sit up and ask serious questions, should they not?

The Indian Market

India is among the youngest countries in the world, and we are 1.5 billion of them, which should be enough to explain why MotoGP not racing in the country every year is the sport’s own loss. The Indian motorsport products market is already a massive USD 2.92 billion worth covering everything from high-performance components and lubricants to safety gear and event-related commercial activities, among others.

Although it is still small comparatively, it is growing at a CAGR of approximately 7.8%, standing out for its growth velocity, urban youth demographics, and rising participation in both two- and four-wheeler motorsport disciplines. This market is expected to touch USD 4.26–4.79 billion by 2030, with the broader ecosystem—including sponsorship, infrastructure development, media rights, and fan engagement—likely exceeding USD 6 billion by that year.

It is to be noted that over the past decade, motorsport in India has moved from an ultra-niche activity in urban enclaves to a “mass-premium” segment. Take the case of Formula 1, the growth rates in its viewership have been remarkable, moving from an estimated base of 31 million in 2020 to around 60 million by mid-2024. That’s a near doubling in viewership of the sport in five years.

Pre-Race Weekend celebration at the 2023 IndianGP

Formula 1’s resurgence in India has been one of sports media’s most striking success stories. And it should continue its rapid pace in the future as well. Projections state the F1 viewership could cross 60 million in 2025, and if I am not wrong, these numbers would at least be at par with F1’s global growth, if not outpacing it.

Speaking about MotoGP, the rapid rise of fans is an undeniable fact, and the 2023 IndianGP added fuel, pushing the MotoGP frenzy much further into the motorsport psyche of the country. The viewership numbers of MotoGP, with stability coming in terms of new streaming partnerships, is approaching 25 million regular viewers. The 2023 IndianGP just on Facebook, had more than a staggering 70 million minutes of broadcast time with well over 8 million viewers. I mean, the numbers defy the logic that we are not preparing for the 2026 Indian MotoGP race right now!

MotoGP India – What went Wrong

This is where I would again like to mention the brilliant article by Matt Bishop, especially its title, like F1, it really does seem like MotoGP went the F1 way and took money and left. The funny thing is, I can say with some authority that they did not make any exorbitant amount either. And maybe it was the core underlying issue that led to whatever transpired between the Monday after the 2023 IndianGP to the moment in 2024 when it was decided by Dorna that they would postpone the race to 2025. But more on that later.

The people handling sports such as MotoGP and F1 need to understand that automotive and motorsporting culture has not (yet) merged with the broader culture like in the US or Europe but is gaining rapid momentum. While our neighbouring nations, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, have enjoyed a great exposure to global motorsports for decades now, India has been a bit slow off the mark. But in these years, we have become the third-largest car market and the biggest two-wheeler market in the world. The possibilities for global sports like MotoGP and F1 are infinite if only there is a will and a clear strategy in place.

In terms of administrative support, in recent years, both the Central and many state governments have become far more accommodating to motorsports than ever before. The flawless functioning of the government machinery around the whole MotoGP affair was a perfect testament to the same. The way the honourable Uttar Pradesh government and its officials managed every complexity around law, traffic, customs, and even during the visa issue was simply spectacular.

The night before the Motogp bikes did the first ever laps at the IndianGP

Gone are the days when custom laws added unnecessary complications for global motorsporting events in India. State governments such as Uttar Pradesh actively listening, coordinating and in fact, taking the lead in making the events happen was unheard of just a few years back, and that bodes extremely well for the resource and infrastructure-heavy motorsport industry in the country.

So, what went wrong with the IndianGP? Well, the simple answer would be timing, but a more complex and closer to reality answer would revolve around expectations of a European way of working and being able to control what happens on the ground in India. I know, I might end up ruffling a lot of feathers with this, and on many fronts, it might cause a stir, but someone has got to do it, and I love MotoGP far too much not say anything.

India is an extremely complex country to wade through. The British gift of bureaucracy is a gift that keeps giving, and only those who truly understand how to manoeuvre through the corridors can get things done. Funny enough, the first thing people would think about the corruption in the system, but trust me, I have met and heard of countless bureaucrats, both Central and the State Government, who, once understood just how special and huge MotoGP truly is, showed extreme eagerness to learn and made efforts in asking how could they be helpful in making this dream come true, and they did it even through the intense workloads they came across on daily basis. There still are bureaucrats, law and administrative officials who are as excited and hopeful as the team which was actually on the ground making the IndianGP a reality, about it coming back.

The 2023 IndianGP raced over the weekend from September 22-24, 2023, at the BIC, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. It was the state where, exactly four months later, the inauguration of Ram Mandir was scheduled to happen. Every Indian understands the importance of that event. But for those especially from Europe and the US, where the decision makers of the future of MotoGP mostly reside, let me try to give the context. The Ram Mandir (Temple of Lord Rama, one of the greatest Hindu Deities) inauguration was the culmination of the most politically charged and religiously significant event in the history of Independent India, three decades in the making. The ripples of which would still be felt in the cultural fabric of the country decades in the future.

Expecting the whole bureaucratic system to entertain any other idea during that time was, in fact, a display of pure lack of understanding of local issues by any entity based outside the country. Yet, all questions were being answered, clarifications being provided, and the idea of a brighter future was, in fact, being actively approved. But one must understand, you simply cannot take those people out of the picture who were the bridge that were enabling the wants, the possibilities and the concerns of both sides to flow without critical hurdles. Believing you can control things with a ham-fisted approach and make things move the way you desire because you are the final decision authority only gets you the inherent Indian politeness, not business. Yet almost every whim and fancy was accepted, because the system believed in MotoGP.

Pre-race preparations during 2023 IndianGP

And it was not just about the Ram Mandir inauguration; India was getting ready for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, the biggest dance of democracy in the world, where more than 968 million people were eligible to vote and choose their next government. In Uttar Pradesh (the hosting state of the Indian MotoGP race) alone, 155 million people were eligible to vote in the general elections.

To put it in context, this number is more than three times Spain’s population. Interestingly, this data only mentions the population over 18 years of age, the legal age for voting rights in India, and not even the state’s entire population. In fact, the number of children who are less than 10 years old just in the state of Uttar Pradesh is more than the population of Kazakhstan, where MotoGP wanted to race instead of India, which already had a phenomenal racetrack.

The elections also meant that every public investment was paused due to the Model Code of Conduct being in effect. The IndianGP had Invest UP, a state government organisation, as its main investor, meaning the hosting fees could not have transferred for the IndianGP until the results of the elections were out and the new central government was formed. This was an entirely avoidable issue if only the powers that be had taken the suggestions and explanations by the original promoters about what complications would arise if they went strictly with licensing fee timelines. A quick look at the 2026 MotoGP calendar should tell you who was right.

Now, I am not saying everything from the original promoter’s side was all hunky-dory. Yes, there were issues and complaints of irregularities, but they kept open a channel where private money could come in when the government was shut down. In fact, even though all this government machinery never stopped itself from confirming its inclination to 100% hold the race in 2024 and beyond. The promoters, Fairstreet Sports, as much blame and hatred that have been thrown towards them also deserve the appreciation that, even when the whole world was against them, ridiculing them for dreaming, they truly did bring MotoGP to India, proving no dream is impossible.

The promoters, we must understand, also had their legacy; the financial survival and investor confidence hanging in the balance, were still trying their best to keep the hopes alive. Yet, the race was postponed in favour of Kazakhstan’s first-ever MotoGP race; we all know how it went, and there is already enough said and written about it for me to excuse myself from saying the things I would like to say.

Pushkar Nath Shrivastava, COO, Fairstreet Sport during one of the many meetings during IndianGP preparation

Later that year, the promoters, Fairstreet Sports, were completely taken out of the picture as Dorna directly signed a new contract with the Uttar Pradesh government to hold the race till 2027, with a tender floated to select a new promoter. The tender details are available on the Invest UP website for anyone who would like to understand what requirements were laid out for the new applicants. That’s where the whole process found itself in the corridors of bureaucracy, where Dorna was directly talking to the government, without people who could help bring both sides on the same page, always.

As many companies and grand plans to penetrate the great Indian market that came before and evaporated without a trace, MotoGP in India was relegated to the quantum field, needing the right people to observe it correctly for it to exist in our reality.

Indian MotoGP – What should be done

It is like riding a motorcycle in the Indian market; you need to be extremely patient while still relentlessly using every sense at the peak of its ability. You need to be constantly moving to not fall off while still controlling the throttle precisely enough to not enter a corner too fast. You do it right, you get the most glorious experience of your life; you do it wrong, you are scared for life. It is complex, but if you have the right set of tools and a mindset, it is a fulfilling challenge. You cannot survive and thrive in the Indian market without having the flexibility to move like you never have and people who know the art of Indian communication well.

We have solved almost every issue (from the Indian side) that plagued the Indian F1 journey. Motorsport is properly considered as a sport (and not entertainment) now; there are no customs issues anymore, and there is serious and admirable support from the government at every level. We proved that the race event can be a spectacular experience for both the paddock and the spectator/ viewer/ marketers. Now the onus completely lies on Liberty Media, the new owners of MotoGP, on how they take this forward.

It is also not about money; a lot of people think money is an issue in India, but it is just simply not. I joked to a good friend, who is the world’s best motorsport-themed watchmaker, while talking about the Indian market sometime back, a million dollars could be found lying rotting in cash in the house of any mid-level administrative officer in any part of the country! But an event like MotoGP (or F1) requires an incredible amount of planning and execution in coordination with the government machinery. You need emergency services, you need police to manage law, order and traffic, you need multiple ministries to flawlessly manage the flow of foreign nationals and equipment in and out of the country in a time-critical process, you need a lot.

Adding to all this, there is the matter of public funding that goes into all these efforts, plus the licensing fee for the event. This is the licensing fee issue that has been the point of concern in the Indian MotoGP. As per the publicly available tender details, the licensing fee for the 2024 round was supposed to be USD 1 million, and the government was supposed to pay it once the promoter was selected (announced). If you combine all the expenses that the UP government would have made for a single year in MotoGP, it would have been closer to USD 1.4 million.

This is not a lot of money, but this is taxpayer money in a country that breathes a million ironies each moment. Yes, it brings in extraordinary value back into the system through tourism, local region infrastructural growth, local employment, taxes and a lot more, but in a country marred by severe income inequality and extremely fragile political scenarios, sometimes doing the right thing is not as straightforward as it should be.

Marco Bezzechi getting interviewed at the IndianGP

On a personal front, I am not a fan of the idea that the government should be paying the licensing fees for an event like MotoGP (or F1, in future) for these exact complications. I would like to see the government provide rebates and tax benefits to businesses that invest in events of this stature, and provide the administrative support to the whole event; however, that’s a different discussion.

Now, for private players to invest, including the licensing fees in the investment, should make good business sense. For this, they need the consistency and the time to establish the sport in a more mainstream psyche. For this, the race needs to have a confirmed place on the calendar. You see, that’s that vicious circle that Ogden Nash foreshadowed in his poem, “This is going to hurt just a little bit”.

What Liberty Media can do is to commit to the Indian market before working on the licensing fee structure. Yes, it is business for them too, and they also want to see their stakeholders on yachts, which is only fair. But if they commit to growth, these new yachts might not be there in 2027, but for sure, there will be bigger, faster yachts four years down the line.

The way forward is simple: for just two years, go with zero licensing fee or an incredibly low fee where the government bears it and establishes the race on the calendar as a regular event. The rest of the funding for the event will be through the private promoter, in any case, for these first two years and beyond. Once the race is established, only then would the private sector be inclined to put in the money for the gradual increase in the licensing fees over the years. Every single team, every single person in the paddock and every single manufacturer would vastly benefit from racing in India, and they should not be snatched from this opportunity just for the sake of quick money.

The above paragraph might sound like a simple conclusion to a long discussion, but sometimes one must speak the simplest of things aloud for all to bring attention to the most obvious solution. So here I am, speaking the real hard truth:

“We all must understand this, India does not have a MotoGP round not because of money or the lack of political will, it is about the lack of commitment to India by MotoGP!”

Nothing in the two-wheeler world moves without India, and staying away from the Indian market is a loss to every single person inside the paddock and all those who are sitting in the offices with a MotoGP sticker on their laptops. If you cannot crack the Indian market for MotoGP in India, a market literally set on a platter for you, you sure as hell won’t be able to get F1 back to India, and we all know how desperately F1 would need to land in India before it implodes due to its own weight.

Cheers. Ride Safe.