Liberty Media Corp Q1 FY2021 Earnings Call

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Liberty Media Corporation 2020 Q1 Earnings Call. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded, May 7. I would now like to turn the conference over to Courtnee Chun, Chief Portfolio Officer. Please go ahead.

Thank you. 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 Liberty Media's most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q or Liberty Media acquisitions form S-1 registration statement filed with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this call and Liberty Media and Liberty Media acquisition expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Liberty Media or Liberty Media Acquisition Corporations' 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 financials for Liberty Media and SiriusXM, including adjusted OIBDA and adjusted EBITDA. The required definitions and reconciliations for Liberty Media and SiriusXM Schedules 1-3 can be found at the end of the earnings press release issued today, which is available on Liberty Media's website. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Greg Maffei, Liberty's President and CEO.

Thank you, Courtnee, and good morning to all of you out there. Today, speaking on the call besides myself, we will have Formula One's President and CEO, Stefano Domenicali; and Liberty's Chief Principal Financial Officer, Brian Wendling. Beginning with Liberty SiriusXM, we continued our share repurchases, purchasing $114 million across LSXMA and LSXMK shares from February through April. The discount stubbornly remains, and we repurchased at a look-through price of just over $4 per share. We do expect to continue to take advantage of that stubborn discount opportunity. Our ownership of SiriusXM as of April 26 stood at 77.3%. And looking at SiriusXM itself, they are off to a fast start this year with self-pay subscriber growth of 83%. Trial starts in the first quarter were the highest in the company's history, and they recorded record low first quarter churn. We're also experiencing rapid growth in off-platform advertising revenue. 360L, the next-generation platform is now in 2 million vehicles, providing valuable data and offering engaging features. We expect it will be about 25% of this year's installs. We are now the largest digital ad platform in North America, reaching almost two-thirds of online audio listeners. We're also continuing at SiriusXM with our extension in the podcast segment with our acquisition of 99% Invisible, furthering our content creation capabilities. Turning to Live Nation, you may have seen in today's earnings release from them, concerts are back and there is high demand for dates in 2021. Specifically, we have booked twice as many shows in 2021 as we did in 2019. Luke Bryan, the 2021 ACM Entertainer of the Year, is going on tour, and the Railbird Festival with headliner David Matthews Band is another notable addition. Following up on acquiring the majority stake in Veeps, we've begun our streaming platform and started equipping 60-plus contract venues to offer turnkey live streaming events. We continue to help artists expand revenue and creative opportunities, connecting them with more fans via Veeps and other means. Looking at the Formula One Group, we've had phenomenal racing this season, as Stefano will outline a little bit more in a minute. It's exciting to see the battle between Lewis and Max. It's going to be a very competitive year also for third place and the constructor championships lots of exciting racing. The teams continue to execute well given the ongoing challenges from the pandemic. Turkey will replace Canada in June, showing the sustained demand to expand GPs. We've also extended our agreements with Canada and Japan. Looking forward to the first sprint qualifying race in July at Silverstone, and there will be two more of those during the rest of the season. Drive to Survive, our programming on Netflix, continued to grow in popularity in its third season, and it's also getting recognized on the award circuits, both in the U.S. and Canada. And finally, we look forward to seeing all of you in Miami in 2022. Turning to the Braves, after a slow start to the season, our record is just under .500, and we are close third in the NL East, a game and a half out of first place. We were helped by sweeping the Mets over the last three games. The Braves are number one in home runs this season and also number one in average attendance, almost 16,000 per game, excluding Texas, which would place us third including Texas. Ron Acuña was named National Player of the Month for April. Pablo Sandoval had three pinch-hit home runs in April, the most by any Braves player in a calendar month in franchise history. As of today, we expect to expand capacity to 100% of fans after opening the season at 33%. Notably, in partnership with Emory Healthcare, the Braves are offering vaccine shots before and during games against Philly. Fans who get vaccinated at those games will receive two free tickets to future Braves games. Finally, the Braves are looking at the battery kits and crop is expected to occupy their office space in July and Papa John's later in the summer. Demand for remaining office space remains very strong, and the Aloft and Omni Hotels had high occupancy on Friday night and Saturday nights in March with several sellouts on game nights. We continue to make good progress on Almac to SPAC. The SPAC market has changed in a way we believe is to our benefit, as some of the euphoria of January and February has deflated. We believe recent weakness in the PIPE market plays well for Liberty, given our strong balance sheet, capabilities with investors, and the support that we have. Finally, we wanted to share with you that we have recently published our SASB disclosure on our website as part of our ongoing ESG efforts. So with that, I'd like to turn it over to Brian to discuss our financial results in a little more detail.

Thank you, Greg, and good morning, everyone. Liberty SiriusXM Group had attributed cash, restricted cash, and liquid investments of approximately $1 billion, excluding $67 million of cash and restricted cash held at SiriusXM. This balance is prior to paying the Formula One Group, $384 million to settle the Live Nation call spread in April. The settlement of the Live Nation call spread was a nontaxable transaction among the tracking stock groups. We also have $1.1 billion of undrawn margin loan capacity at the parent level. Note that a portion of our cash will be used in 2021 to repay our 2.25% Live Nation exchangeable bonds. Based on the fair value of the bonds at quarter end, the amount of cash used would be $514 million. As of May 6, the value of the SiriusXM stock held by Liberty SiriusXM Group was nearly $19 billion, and the value of the Live Nation stock held was $5 billion. We have $3.2 billion in principal amount of debt against these holdings. The total Liberty SiriusXM Group attributed principal amount of debt is $13.2 billion, which includes $9 billion of debt held directly at SiriusXM. Formula One Group had attributed cash and liquid investments of $1.4 billion at quarter end. This excludes the $429 million of cash that's held directly at the F1 opco. Post quarter end, Formula One Group received the additional $384 million that we just discussed and proceeds related to the Live Nation call spread. The total Formula One Group attributed principal amount of debt was $3.6 billion, which includes the $2.9 billion of debt held directly down at F1, leaving $724 million at the corporate level. F1's $500 million revolver remains undrawn. Please note that during the three months ended March 31, 2021, F1 began reclassifying certain components previously reported as other revenue into primary F1 revenue to better align with the way management currently evaluates the business. Components reclassified in the primary F1 revenue generally related to F1 TV subscriptions, certain F2 and F3-related fees, broadcast origination and support fees, and digital advertising, among others. Additional detail on this reclass, including the impact on the years ended December 31, 2019, and 2020 can be found in Schedule 3 of our earnings release, which will be posted on the website. At quarter end, the Braves Group had attributed cash, liquid investments, and restricted cash of $218 million and attributed principal amount of debt of $676 million. Liberty and our consolidated subsidiaries are in compliance with their debt covenants at quarter end. And with that, I'll turn it over to Stefano to discuss Formula One.

Thank you, Brian, and good morning also from my side. So 2021 has begun with huge energy and momentum. In the past few weeks, we announced our segment rate in the U.S. in Miami Gardens with a huge and positive reaction from our fans, the teams, and all our partners. I think the second wave in the U.S. starting in 2022 provides a great opportunity for our sport, and we'll ensure we continue to increase our strong progress and fund growth there. Last week, we announced that we will have Saturday 100-kilometer sprint qualifying formats for our three races in 2021, following unanimous support from all the teams. The events will be exciting for all our fans, provide more on-track action over a race weekend, and give our partners and the teams greater commercial opportunities. Silverstone, one of the venues for the new format, already reported a surge in ticket sales following news that they would be hosting one of these events. We have announced a three-year extension of the Japanese Grand Prix. This has always been an important race for Formula One, and we cannot wait for the fans to cheer on their home driver, Yuki Tsunoda. We have extended our partnership with the Canadian Grand Prix by two years. We welcomed the new announcement last week by Data Bell Media, which has entered into an agreement to acquire the Montreal-based Canadian race promoter Octane Racing Group, which is great news for the long-term future of the race in Canada. While the global situation is still fluid due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Formula One has shown that it has the ability to overcome the issues thrown at us and continue to race safely. Just last week, we showed this to be the case. While we are not able to race in Canada this year, we have secured the replacement race in Turkey at short notice, meaning we have not reduced the number of races in the calendar for 2021. It is very exciting to see the level of interest from both new and historic locations to host the Grand Prix, and this gives us potential options if required for 2021, but also good opportunities for the future. We have had very good conversations with all our promoters, and all of whom expect the races this season to go ahead as planned. Just this week, we have had confirmation that 1,000 fans will attend here in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix, and that will allow approximately 40% of the capacity to the Grandstand for the race in two weeks' time. Alongside the busy start of the year off the track, the racing on the track has been equally exciting and dramatic. We kicked off our 23-race season in Bahrain and have had three races to date with close battles, overtaking, and the pack closer together than in recent years. As Ron has mentioned, with this battle for the Championship playing out, it could be a golden year for Formula One. The season operating in Bahrain did not disappoint with Verstappen securing pole position. It was a thrilling race between Max and Lewis that was only decided in the final laps. There were also strong showings by Norris and Perez, and the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda scored points in his first F1 race for AlphaTauri; it looks like he has a promising career ahead. The battle for first continues in McLaren, where Max had an amazing start in the rain and carried through for the win. Impressive given his start in third, behind his new teammate, Sergio Perez. Lando Norris made up for a mistake in qualifying and secured a spot on the podium, showing the continuous strength of McLaren. Last week in Portugal, Mercedes standard offerings turned challenging the Red Bull as Lewis Hamilton clinched a heartfelt victory with both the starting of pole and Lewis ahead of Max Verstappen at the start of the race. It once again shows that there is a real battle underway for this year's title, and we are only three races in. The competition for third is also fierce in the constructor standings. McLaren is making the early pace, but many teams in the midfield have something to prove. It is great to see Ferrari hitting stride again. The spectrum of Formula One is resonating with fans, and engagement is very high. To date, we have data for the first races across the 24 principal markets we monitor, and this showed TV viewership growth over both 2020 and 2019, with particular strength in Italy, the Netherlands, France, the U.K., the U.S., and Spain. On the digital front, unique users for F1 web and app have increased by 77% on the equivalent rates in 2020, and social engagement has also increased with over 30 million interactions in both of the first two races. We continue to grow our social media reach, having reached 36.5 million after Emilia GP, up from 35 million for the prior year-end. F1 TV, our OTT product has also started the season strongly with record viewing. Big concurrent viewership at each race weekend is around three times higher than the 2020 season average, and engagement measured by the minutes viewed over the course of the weekend is up by more than 60% on last year. We launched an updated version of the app for the season that provides many additional features, including higher video quality, and allows us to control the viewing experience. This new version also makes it easier to find content in a collection that includes over 2,000 hours of footage and coverage of all Grand Prix for the last 50 years, along with our latest series, F2: Chasing the Dream. F1 TV is now available in 188 territories, with the premium F1 TV available in 85. Season 3 of Drive to Survive launched on March 19 and continues to build mass global popularity for the sport, reaching number one on Netflix in 27 different countries and globally. On a daily basis, we receive feedback about how the show has brought in new non-typical fans. It was great to revisit the 2020 season and see the back story of the various drivers' transitions. I highly recommend Episode 9, which is both thrilling and exhilarating. The show has been nominated for a Sport Emmy for outstanding sports documentary and made the shortlist of the documentary category for the U.K. broadcast awards. Heading into the season, we have had numerous sponsorship announcements. We were pleased to renew our global partnership with DHL, a relationship that now spans several decades. This extended partnership will include enhanced involvement in F1 e-sports and a presence on F1 digital channels. As an official partner, we work in collaboration with Mastercard as a marketing partner, and Ferrari is the official toast of Formula One. Additionally, we announced that Exadee is an official supplier, and we welcome Global Citizen as a charity partner for our We Race as One initiative. We continue to engage fans through esports and have had a very successful series of virtual Grand Prix during the off-season. Current drivers, along with home stars and future prospects, competed to win a share of the $100,000 prize money for their charities. As part of our continued effort to improve diversity and inclusion in Formula One, as part of our We Race as One initiatives, we announced an all-female qualification route for the F1 Esports Series Pro Championship. This is our first female-only competition, and we hope it will encourage more female drivers from the passionate and talented gaming community with the goal of becoming the first-ever female driver to be signed by an official F1 Esports Series team. In closing, Formula One is off to a strong start in 2021, building on the foundation put in place in the last few years. The ecosystem is very strong, and the competition on the track is thrilling. I want to thank all the dedicated employees of Formula One for their continuous diligence and hard work, and I hope you will watch the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend. Now I'll turn the call back over to you, Greg. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Stefano, and thank you, Brian. To the listening audience, we appreciate your continued interest in Liberty Media. Hope you all stay healthy and safe. And with that, operator, we will open it up for questions.

We will now take our first question from Jeff at Pivotal Research. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

I have one on SiriusXM and one on Formula One. Greg, with a 77.3% ownership stake in SiriusXM, all else being equal, you're probably going to cross over to 80-plus in the third quarter, your dividends go tax-free. Just wanted to get your latest thoughts on whether SiriusXM is going to raise their dividend materially? Are you happy with the status quo and letting your buyback ride higher? And then on F1, just was wondering about the color on how the $145 million cost cap is going relative to your expectations?

Well, I'll take the SiriusXM, and then I'll let Stefano speak to the cost cap. On SiriusXM, look, I think your pace may be just slightly aggressive, Jeff. I think it might be, depending on the stock price and where SiriusXM is buying, but it might be in Q4. However, somewhere in one of those two quarters, we're likely to pass 80%. Obviously, any dividend policies that are put aside will be decided by the full Board there. But we have lots of alternatives in which we could either take advantage of those dividends to continue to go after the discount at Sirius, increase the dividend, or potentially sell into that buyback, hold ourselves above 80%, and use the capital to buy back our own stock. So there are really multiple ways to get the same result, which is we are going after the discount. Whether it's through their dividend increasing or selling of the buyback, we will be attacking the discount. Stefano, let me turn it to you about the cost cap.

I mean, Jeff, as you know, the cost cap has been one of the most important and significant things that Formula One introduced this year. This has had an effect not only because of the savings that the teams will make in the future but also in the change of mindset that the major teams have to apply with the organization to make sure they can really be effective with a different line of expenditure. This is just the first step into a new way of managing sports in Formula One. I think that if I see what is happening around the world, everyone is focused just on the revenue side. I think Formula One has just started the path with the cost cap and on the other way around. Of course, revenue is crucial. But now we have just taken the first step into the cost cap. We're going to take the cost cap in other areas that are not closed at this moment as we hedge for the future. But we are pretty sure that these are also the comments of the team. This has been a huge step in making sure that Formula One is sustainable for its future.

We will now take our next question from Dan at Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Greg, just on the cash balance at Liberty Formula One, I think it's $1.8 billion and all signs point to a strong year ahead. I'm just wondering, at what point does that become excess cash in the eyes of Liberty? And then Stefano, I have a couple of questions around drivers, which I'm wondering if you could humor me a bit. I have gotten questions from investors around the retirement of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. What that might mean to the sport and sort of the business? I know they're coming back for next year at least, but as you think about that and sort of the outsized impact they have on the sport, how do you see this affecting us, if it matters, and how you manage that? And then I was curious, moving to Miami, obviously, a huge opportunity in the whole U.S. market as well. Is an American driver important in F1 in terms of driving popularity here in the U.S.? And do you have any expectations that we might see one anytime soon?

So on the cash at Formula One, really at the holdco level, F1 level. I think a couple of things to note. First of all, we put that cash in place to ensure the health of the whole ecosystem, not only the Formula One business that we own but really the teams and to ensure that we had liquidity, and we did use some of that liquidity for some teams during the pandemic. We still have uncertainty about exactly what our revenues will be in 2021. You've heard already, we've had to cancel, for example, Canada and put Turkey in. We are getting paid for that, but those are at way-reduced levels compared to what we would get if we had full fans. We have a fairly large contingency in our own budgeting for the potential that we will not get the kind of revenues we hope. Therefore, that cash is useful. You may also know that we committed in the forward purchase agreement with Almac with SPAC that at least $250 million would go towards the PIPE in any transaction if we were to complete one. So I think we're going to see potential opportunities in that market that could be attractive to us as the SPAC market gets more turbulent. As I mentioned earlier, our strengths play to our favor, and we may want to put some of the cash there. But as the year progresses and we get more certainty about promoter revenue, we will look at what we do with that cash and how to utilize it and the most effective way to deliver value to our shareholders.

If I may now, Greg, to address the question related to the drivers regarding Lewis Hamilton. Surely, Lewis Hamilton is a great asset. He is doing an incredible job on the sporting side and in terms of image; he has been able to promote Formula One in areas that were not specifically related to the sport. But Formula One itself is solid and robust. Driver changes are always a point where one day they may retire. I don't know what Lewis is planning. We are talking with him, but of course, now he's focused on his actual season. He's fully motivated to make sure that he becomes the only driver to win eight titles in the history of Formula One. But Formula One is solid and strong. For sure, whatever decision Lewis makes, Formula One will react and move forward. The good news is that if Lewis stays, we will have an incredible season in front of him with new cars and new challenges. For sure, this will be very interesting for him. And if he decides otherwise, the good news is that in Formula One, we have so many good drivers today, and the challenge will be even stronger. Therefore, of course, whatever decision Lewis takes, we will respect; Formula One is really solid and strong. Regarding Miami, with the American drivers, the answer for me is very clear: yes. We are working with teams to understand what really the possibility for an American driver to come to the attention of Formula One in the short term. This could happen. I don't see that realistically occurring in the next two or three years, but maybe after that, yes. I know our team is monitoring good drivers, and if one is ready, it would be a significant boost for American fans since as we know, faces drive the enthusiasm and passion people want to see. Therefore, our hope is to have American drivers competing again.

We will now take our next question from Bryan from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Would you be willing to size the onetime settlement impact on the first quarter Formula 1 revenue for us? And then separately, it's great to see Miami on the calendar next year. I know it's something you've been working on for three or four years. What can you tell us about your plans for the event, maybe contrasted to Austin? And how significant do you think it will be for growing the sport in the U.S.? And related to that, your broadcast contract with ESPN is up for renewal, I believe, after next season. So how are you thinking about the opportunity with ESPN, given their focus on ESPN+ with now Miami on the calendar and also just the general progress you've made so far in growing in the U.S.?

Yes. As it relates to the settlement, we can't comment on the specific details, but it did impact our results. However, when you look at the year-over-year results, the fact that we had one race versus zero last year and the proportion of revenue recognition was the material driver of that, but we can't comment on the specific settlement.

On the issue of the U.S. and ESPN, look, when we put that deal together among the various broadcasters and alternatives a little over a year ago, Chase and I were in total agreement that we were going to grow in popularity in the U.S. and that our position would be strengthened. Due to both the Miami announcement and Drive to Survive and all the other things we have going on from fan festivals to digital engagement, all of those are building our interest in the U.S. As Stefano noted, in many groups that previously weren't interested, I've had people come up to me saying, 'I'm obsessed with Formula 1 because of Drive to Survive.' Now this audience includes demographics we haven't seen before, such as women and teenagers. When we did the ESPN deal, we intentionally took a shorter deal with broader exposure for us in terms of their eyeballs, but it was not the highest current deal we could get, nor was it the longest deal we could secure. It was the opposite; it was the least amount of money for the most eyeballs over the shortest period. We believed we would have a much stronger hand as we went forward among various bidders. I think that's a good bet, one we are winning. The reasons I outlined before give me confidence that we will be much stronger when we go to renew that agreement with ESPN and other alternatives. Stefano, what might you add?

Yes, absolutely. The good news is that we are talking about another race in the U.S. in Miami, with a different culture and structure surrounding the event. The incredible news is that just a couple of weeks after our announcement, the attention towards this event is already massive, exceeding expectations. This is why we are building a solid series of communications and programs to maximize our message within the American community. We want to ensure we extract everything from this occasion. I cannot disclose just yet, but we will share a fantastic initiative: we will coordinate with the state of Miami Gardens and the Miami Dolphins to create a shared atmosphere for the Monaco and Miami events. This foundational strategy will help elevate the value we generate from the U.S.

So we will now take our next question from Vijay of Evercore. Please go ahead.

I have a couple of questions on Formula One, primarily probably for Stefano. So when we think about rate promotions this year, obviously, you have 23 races, but without fans and different proportions of fans. How should we think about that? Are you getting full promoter revenues? Are you splitting some of it based on fans? Or getting none just hosting the race? Any thoughts, because that's sort of the segment that has the most variability? And then we've been seeing a lot more press releases coming out regarding sponsorship on Formula One with your new sponsorship head. Is there a resurgence on that? Or is it just more like a formalized process of letting us know what's going on? That seems to be one of the biggest growth drivers for the business in the long term.

Thank you, Vijay. I mean the first question relates to the fact that we have an evolving situation regarding the attendance of people at the track. Greg has already mentioned that we need to monitor this race by race, case by case. Of course, the more we move forward, the more it'll likely be that opening up to the fans will directly affect revenues. However, we have certain content where we don't expect that the attendance of people will influence our earnings. So it's a mixed situation that we need to evolve and manage. Regarding your question on sponsorship, it is simply to show that the interest in Formula One is returning to the level we truly believe is appropriate. So the fact that despite the pandemic situation, there are big companies willing to engage and partner with us is a great sign of trust regarding what we are building for the future. We can also expect this approach to strengthen in the future.

And as far as structural changes, we have no plan or intent today. Obviously, the only ATB we have at Liberty Media is the Braves. Having a second ATB gives us flexibility if we want to create other spins, but we have no plans today.

We will now take our next question from David at JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

On F1, we've seen Disney move to shut down its Star Sports channels in parts of Asia. Just kind of interested to know how this impacts you first directly as they believe to carry the series, but at a higher level, how do you think this pivot to streaming will impact demand for sports content in some of those regions? And then maybe just separately, Stefano, as you noted, viewership seems to be having a nice uptick through the races so far. Would be interested to get your thoughts on how much you attribute this to the Red Bull, Mercedes dynamic versus the actions that you've taken off the track like Drive to Survive and the social media outreach?

Well, if I may start on the second, David, it's clear that a better show provides better engagement and better entertainment for the people, there's no doubt about it. But I think that is just one element. The other element is that we are engaging with more people that love Formula One. The fact that we are able to attract other audiences through different means that we weren't using before is also supporting the fact that viewership and engagement are increasing. We are talking about not only TV; we are discussing social media platforms and other OTT content showing that there is significant attention and interest. What is happening on the track is indeed vital, and that is a strong indicator for us.

I would totally agree. But Stefano, why don't you comment on the rest of it and then I'll add, first part?

Absolutely. We have an agreement in place with Disney. Therefore, we expect this contract to be fully enforced. We perceive this instead as a significant opportunity for the growth of TV and the engagement figures in that part of the world by finding alternative solutions, of course. Financially this year, we don't expect any adverse effects.

So I think more broadly, if you think about it, more platforms create positive opportunities for us. Yes, some of the legacy platforms may decline or even be eliminated. However, we're witnessing new platforms forming, which presents opportunities. We saw this happen here in the United States when satellite emerged, and eventually, when fiber alternatives arrived, this led to upward pressure on content costs because of competitive bidding. I believe we will see similar opportunities as Formula One expands globally. As usual, we may encounter trade-offs regarding exposure that free TV offers against potentially higher short-term rates from over-the-top platforms or other forms of media. We'll evaluate how to maximize our total dollar revenue against our promotional value in advertising and sponsorship, and I don't believe the slower growth platforms being eliminated by companies like Disney will significantly harm us. I am much more excited about the opportunities presented by digital platforms, especially as they gain scale.

We will now take our next question from David Beckel at Berenberg. Please go ahead.

I've got two on F1. I just wanted to talk a little bit about the Sprint race format and maybe get a little insight into the thinking behind that. It obviously adds incremental value to your partners, but more specifically, as it relates to future economics. Do you expect this to add to the value you receive from your partners, or is it more a part of just adding value to existing agreements? And then secondarily, going back to the U.S. market and with the TV deal coming up in a few years, I'm curious if you noticed what WWE did with Peacock. I'm wondering if there's potential to leverage the F1 TV over-the-top platform in a way that can augment the overall value of your U.S. broadcast and TV distribution rights.

Thank you, David. Regarding the Sprint format, I think it will benefit everyone. To directly answer your last question, we certainly expect to derive more value from it. First of all, there will be action that will be very positive from an effect on the organizer. From Friday to Saturday to Sunday, there is something to talk about, resulting in more action and intensity. This will have a direct effect on the people who attend the race and has been overwhelmingly well-received by all the organizers. Additionally, we are providing our media partners with new content—new opportunities for entertainment by adding a format that has never been deployed before. For those on the partner list, they have the opportunity to be present on the grid for two times instead of one over the race weekend, with the main event still being on Sunday. Overall, we believe this will have financial implications on top of adding excitement. On the topic of the U.S. market and our TV deal and the integration of our wealthy OTT platform, we believe that the growth in interest in our sport will enable us to find innovative ways to integrate our TV and OTT offerings moving forward.

Yes. If I could add to what Stefano said about the opportunities, we certainly monitor what WWE did with Peacock, and I think it’s somewhat representative of a broader trend. Very few sports have enough content to run their own over-the-top service as their primary vehicle; they generally don’t have the content volume. If you look at WWE, they have significant content compared to us. F1 TV is a valuable asset for connecting with fans, especially our most dedicated fans. However, I don't believe it can replace traditional broadcasters or other over-the-top broadcasters looking for a breadth of content and relationships. So we’ll certainly watch that trend, and it aligns with our overall perspective. Moreover, I believe we'll encounter opportunities with larger digital platforms, as F1 TV can be an integral part of that future.

We will now take our next question from David Joyce at Barclays. Please go ahead.

Two topics. One is just another clarification on the promotion. When you say it was onetime, does that mean it was just one promoter, or are there any others lingering out there? And was it within the range of a typical promotion fee? And then secondly on sponsorship, how should we think about the range of sponsorship types of contracts? Like how many are based solely on particular races versus the proportion of revenue that is really allocated across the season? And are there any other types of sponsorship structures?

It was one race that is disclosed in our earnings release. Regarding the typical range of promoter agreements, we have a wide range; it falls within that range, yes.

So David, regarding sponsorship, the range depends on what is the package we have. We have official partnerships and we have other kinds of relationships that are all tied to the races they will participate in. We have various packages that align with the whole season, not solely based on individual events.

We will now take our next question from John at Gabelli. Please go ahead.

Shifting gears, sports gambling is hot. You probably saw, I think, DraftKings, Fox, and so on. What are the benefits you might see from your RSM with Jim Clare or Bowley as it is now? Is there anything that could actually help you?

John, I'll take a shot at that. I think those benefits will be secondary, not primary. They'll help increase fan engagement. Georgia is soon to open; it appears gambling will become legal in the near term in Georgia. It has been on the ballot and seems favorably inclined in the next few cycles. I think this would provide us some marginal revenue opportunities, but I wouldn't expect it as a major revenue line for us directly. I see it more as secondary interest. If we and baseball MLB capitalize on this more broadly, it'll continue drawing in fans, but it's not clear there will be direct revenue growth in the P&L.

And just a second broader question on sports. You've probably seen some of the disruptions in England, where fans became engaged around the Super League. Just generally, a fair amount of disruption there, a lot of talk of private equity companies purchasing into Serie A, but nothing happening. Is that an area where you might see some opportunities, or is the fact that soccer teams can be relegated just too risky?

No, John, we have looked at those opportunities as much as possible. We find it interesting and can debate what is going on at different leagues and where they stand concerning their broadcast revenue and other opportunities. We continue to look to our experience, both at Formula One and the Braves. We like to think we've made positive contributions with the league at Formula One and how we've aided the Braves. We have been good, long-term, strong owners, possibly different than some of the other Americans perceived. We have yet to discover where our goals align with someone else's, but we keep searching. I do believe that the disruptions there will create opportunities. We watched the Super League discussions closely because prior to our involvement in Formula One, there was considerable talk of a breakaway at Formula One, which ultimately did not materialize. We're confident we understand breakaway scenarios, and I believe we effectively eliminated that potential at Formula One as a separate point.

We will now take our final question for today's conference from Matthew at Benchmark. Please go ahead.

Even apart from Max Verstappen literally banging wheels with Lewis Hamilton, they seem relatively close off track. You probably had the most competitive season since I think 2012; Ferrari is coming back, McLaren, Lando Norris, et cetera. And I was just curious, you've got a broad suite of changes coming next year to make the competition on the track more competitive. Does it give you any pause that you're making a lot of revisions next year, even if this year seems to be proceeding so strongly right out of the gates? And do you have the ability to reassess any of this, or do you just continue to roll along?

Matthew, the changes have already been discussed. The teams are already working on new cars and new regulations. The train has already left the station. We are very pleased because we are convinced that this year is already a great season, but next year, with the planned changes, will provide another great opportunity to showcase what Formula One is capable of in terms of consistently keeping attention at the center of the sport. Therefore, there is no need to reconsider all the measures for quality management; instead, we see this as a massive opportunity for greater competition, not only between two or three drivers but potentially many more, which is our objective.

Yes, if I could add just that, we are fortunate this season has been so good. The groundwork laid by Chase, Ross Brawn, and others has given us the opportunity to increase competition next year. We are excited, as Stefano noted, about what's happening now and even more about what we can achieve in the future. I think with that, operator, we are done for the day. Thank you very much to all of you listening for your interest in Liberty, and we look forward to speaking with you again next quarter or sooner.

This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.