Motogp And Motorsport Journalism

Motogp And Motorsport Journalism – “I read it and agree with these guys. We’re not happy, but know how amazing our product is.”

These are not my words, or the words of any journalist. Those are actually the words of MotoGP’s new Chief Commercial Officer Dan Rossomondo, who made that comment recently on Twitter/X in response to a thread on Reddit.

It’s no secret that MotoGP has a task ahead of it to build the next generation of fans, as discussed earlier in these pages. But MotoGP has got a new man at the head of their commercial operations.

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Rossomondo joined MotoGP earlier this year and Motorsport Broadcasting caught up with him during the British Grand Prix weekend to get an insight into where MotoGP is headed.

I spent most of my career in the National Basketball Association, NBA. I had a number of jobs there, mainly on the revenue generation side, trying to figure out how to build revenue for the league and our various properties.

I worked in sponsorship and licensed branded attraction media. We didn’t just represent the NBA, we represented the WMBA (Women’s National Basketball Association), G League, USA basketball, NBA 2K League (esports). Before that I was at IMG and before that at Madison Square Garden working for the Knicks, Rangers and Yankees.

Coming here to MotoGP is the first time you’ve been in a motorsport role. Are there things you learned in the NBA that you want to take with you here?

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Yes, there are definitely things I want to take from the NBA. But I am very aware that MotoGP and Dorna, it is a very unique organisation. And look, they do things very well.

I want to learn something [from the NBA], but in no way I want to impose on Dorna or the MotoGP NBA culture because I think it’s a very good business as I’ve said before and I want to do better.

What have you observed in the first months, both things that make you think “Yes, it works very well”, and what have you observed that you think “we need to refine” and make it better.

Let’s start on the sporting side, because there are things I can’t control. It’s a typical American attitude to try to find things you can’t control. I knew if I came in and the sport was in a bad way or broken I would be in trouble, but it’s not, the sport is brilliant. The sport is exciting. It moves at a great pace and the paddock has some of the nicest people I’ve met, so that’s good.

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On the business side, I have a lot of smart people, but what I’ve really learned is that there are a lot of opportunities. I’ve been to events but I’ve never been a fan of it [motorsport]. Neither of my kids liked it, but they were immediately drawn to this sport because it is very magnetic.

I think if we can use our media partners and brands to attract a wider audience, they will be as attractive to it as I have been, so it’s more about finding the right base and getting people to really identify with the sport . There is a big possibility is the shortest answer to that question.

I guess that’s what attracted you to the role, the fact that you’re not a motorsport guy and this is new to you.

It’s new and it’s an opportunity to build something. It’s an opportunity to go in and change certain processes, bring in some new ideas, rejuvenate some people who may have been there a long time and just get them excited about what the sport is, and then we just go and build a business. That’s what I’m excited about.

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I don’t think it stands still. The easiest comparison people make is to Formula 1. Formula 1 seems to be on a meteoric trajectory specifically in the US, so everyone compares it to MotoGP.

And with good ratings in the US, we had Valentino Rossi retire, we had Marc Marquez miss some racing. I don’t think obsolete is the right word, I think this is just an opportunity to get back on the gas.

You entered F1 there, it’s getting younger and more diverse. You can say “let’s copy what F1 has done” but actually that’s not the right answer to the question you’re trying to answer.

Not only is that not the right answer, but it would be impossible to do. You can’t put the tactics they used and put it in another time. I’m very envious, I think they did an amazing job. But they were also very lucky with that

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We are a different sport. Our competition is not just Formula 1. Our competition is other sports, other entertainment, leisure. We have to find out what we can do that is unique to us because we are a unique sport.

One of the big changes for 2023 is the introduction of Sprints. F1 ran six races, while MotoGP went all in. What did you think of the Saturday format when you come in fresh?

I think it’s awesome. We created a new property, but we also created a property that strengthens our main property. We have the best of both worlds, we created a new property that we can point to and say “here’s something that’s going to happen every Saturday before the main race on Sunday”, which will promote the main race on Sunday.

It’s also going to give the circuits another really great draw to sell tickets. I think it has been a wonderful addition to the calendar. And the consistency too, no one can misunderstand what we do. If you qualify first, you qualify first for both the [sprint and main race]. You race every Saturday, it’s half as many laps, it’s half as many points if you win, it’s very simple, there’s no mystery behind it.

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In the first months of your role, have you talked a lot with the broadcasters and stakeholders? What is the feeling you get from them?

I will say that for Sky Italia they decided to put the sprint in open air all season which is great because they love how it pushes towards Sunday’s Grand Prix. I have spoken to many of the broadcasters. I think they are all heavily invested in the sport.

We have some important innovations and key markets that we need to address, and we will. We have some markets that we know we’re going to have a little bit of uncertainty with, given that we would love to be [in] a better position there, but we have to work very closely in the market. We need to be more active in how we bring this sport to market.

I think you have touched on two good points. The first one I want to address is around direct-to-consumer/over-the-top. MotoGP has been in this space for many years, but has it been exposed properly and is the price of entry, right?

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Very good question. I think there are a lot of sports that are probably envious, because of the production that we bring, how we control it and how we then communicate that to our broadcast partners. People would love to be able to control how they are seen.

I think people would also be a little envious that we’ve been in the DTC world for quite some time. But being a DTC marketer is a very difficult thing, it is a business in itself. We need to find out if we have the muscle to actually be a DTC marketer. That said, we have a great product.

And for people who want to go deep into the sport, or fans who might be a little squeamish about not getting the broadcast coverage in their home market that they want, it’s a great feature.

That was an interesting point you made about Sky Italia and Sprint being free, is that something you want to think about in the Sprint space?

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We have conversations on a daily basis with all our broadcasters. The sprint is new, we will continue to learn about it. Everything you learn about after five or six races is just anecdotal. Let’s get a full season under our belt and there will be data [to analyze]. Right now everything is anecdotal.

Specifically in the UK, it hasn’t been a fantastic market in recent years. BT/TNT have done a fantastic job. Sky F1’s UK pay-TV numbers are up, while TNT’s MotoGP numbers have flatlined. Some of it for F1 is Drive to Survive related, but how do you make your sport bigger or do you need to bring in the free element which hasn’t happened here [for Silverstone]?

I think we fell victim to the Community Shield and the Women’s World Cup coming together. Look, we get it, it’s okay. A weekend is not going to make any difference to our business. We have identified