Liberty Media Corp Q1 FY2024 Earnings Call

Welcome to the Liberty Media Corporation's 2024 First Quarter Earnings Call. As a reminder, this conference will be recorded, May 8. I would now like to turn the call over to Clare Adams, Senior Manager, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

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 Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed by Liberty Media and Atlanta Braves Holdings with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this call, and Liberty Media and Atlanta Braves Holdings expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Liberty Media or Atlanta Braves Holdings' 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, SiriusXM and Atlanta Braves Holdings, including adjusted OIBDA and adjusted EBITDA. The required definitions and reconciliations for Liberty Media, SiriusXM and Atlanta Braves Holdings Schedules 1 through 3 can be found at the end of the earnings press releases issued today, which are available on Liberty Media and Atlanta Braves Holdings' websites.

Thank you, Clare, and good morning to all. Today, speaking on the call, we will also have Formula One's President and CEO, Stefano Domenicali, and Liberty's Chief Accounting and Principal Financial Officer, Brian Wendling. Also during Q&A, we will answer questions related to Atlanta Braves Holdings, and Braves management will be available as well. So beginning with Liberty SiriusXM, the LSXM SIRI transaction is progressing well. The regulatory process is on track, and we still expect to close early in the third quarter. Turning to SiriusXM itself, it had a solid first-quarter performance, with revenue up 1% and EBITDA up 4%. They are continuing to benefit from cost optimization across the organization. They expect net adds and improvements in the second half and in fiscal '24 versus '23. They reiterated the 2024 guidance, maintaining margins while investing to support future growth. Management is focused on a couple of key strategic initiatives, and we've seen some early, but promising metrics on the new app. We continue to move engagement for lower listening cohorts to higher listening levels, and we've been able to adapt to consumer feedback more quickly utilizing this application. SIRI exclusive content continues to attract new customers. James Corden's series, which was recently initiated, quickly moved into the top 3 talk shows. Notably, we're also progressing with the rollout of 360L. There was an expanded Hyundai Genesis partnership, which will integrate 360L, and adoption of 360L leads to better consumer trends, including higher conversion. Now turning to Formula One Group. We were thrilled to announce in April the acquisition of MotoGP. I want to reiterate the attractive qualities of this asset, a global league-level sport with incredible racing. For example, across the first 4 races, we've had 10 riders across 7 teams reach the podium, and the average time to decide the race winner has been about a second. Recently, the new technical regulations for the sport were announced for the 2027 timeframe, and they expect even closer racing and more overtaking utilizing these new technical rigs. Attendance at the races is performing very well. For example, the Portuguese GP at Portimao is up 41% versus the prior year. The Spanish GP had the highest attendance since 2015. The sport is awesome, and Liberty has experience to help hopefully grow the exposure across the world. A couple of deal updates here: We're also progressing on required regulatory filings. We have syndicated the financing commitments and hedged our foreign exchange exposure, and we still expect to close by year-end. Turning now to F1. We've had successful races in several key growth markets. We returned to China for the first time since 2019, and it was our first race with a Chinese driver. It was a sold-out race, and live viewership on CCTV was up 50% versus 2019. Miami was an exciting and competitive race. I want to congratulate Lando on winning his first GP after 15 podiums. McLaren upgrades are working well, and we expect more competitive racing from that going forward. We continue to see growth in the U.S. engagement. Miami was sold out with a new attendance record of 275,000. F1 achieved its largest live U.S. TV audience at 3.1 million, with a peak of 3.6 million. We also had our largest audience for a Sprint race since the format was introduced in 2021. We hosted the second F1 Academy event of the season in Miami. We are excited that we are contributing to the continued momentum in women's sports. We are attracting more diverse audiences that are exciting and relevant to all. At F1 Academy, Instagram followers are 55% female and 45% male. Everyone watches women's sports. We recently announced a new docuseries with Netflix and Reese Witherspoon's production company, Hello Sunshine, about F1 Academy, and we look forward to seeing the series grow. Turning now to LVGP, a few updates. We redefined the product ladder to reach a greater range of the fan base. We are now integrating the commercial and marketing functions across F1, LVGP, and related entities more closely to achieve better harmony and cost savings. We think this will allow us to align sponsorship and sales efforts across the organization. We kicked off the events business at Grand Prix Plaza in Las Vegas, hosting exciting brands, including a Super Bowl media party, Autodesk, CrowdStrike, and our own QVC's Age of Possibility. Now touching briefly on Quint. We closed the acquisition in early January. Some of the first quarter highlights were the 2024 All-Star game, which was NBA Experience's largest event ever for ticket packages and revenue. F1 Experiences saw solid demand across the first 3 races of F1, including an increase across all products in Australia. We believe there is strategic value in having Quint and F1 under the same roof. The data sharing across companies allows us to know the fan better and improve our touchpoints, and leveraging Quint's sales and marketing will create efficiencies and enhance the sales process, including at LVGP, as I mentioned. I want to reiterate, we expect Quint to be adjusted OIBDA accretive to F1. Turning on to Live Nation briefly. Global fan demand continues to surge. First quarter revenue was up 21%, and AOI was up 15%. They had a record first quarter for sponsorship, also up 24%. Indicators point to another record year. Over 85% of the large shows were booked versus 75% at this time last year, and concert ticket sales for arenas and amphitheaters are trending up double-digit levels. We see continued success in international markets and in the Venue Nation strategy. Ticket sales for Latin markets were up double digits in the U.S. We expect to open at least 12 major global venues in 2024, with the capacity for an additional 8 million fans, and we think we can enhance the consumer experience and generate strong returns. Finally, touching on the Braves, they are off to a great start to the season despite early injuries in a tough Dodger series last weekend. We had a great win last night in the ninth inning, as usual with us. Strong demand continues, and we've seen multiple sellouts already this season. We're trending #4 in average attendance per game across MLB and have sold 93% of our ticket capacity season to date. We've completed renovations at Truist Park ahead of the season, including new premium boxes and expanded retail store capacity. The Jim Beam Bourbon Decks now feature bars replicating the distance between the pitcher’s mound and home plate, and these upgrades are already generating incremental revenue this season. We announced several new sponsors this season, including Ball Corp and Lexus, and we are creating more inventory around the ballpark, including LED signage, and leveraging demand for renewals on our existing partnerships. The Braves are positioned for another great year on and off the field.

Thank you, Greg, and good morning. At quarter end, Liberty SiriusXM Group had attributed cash and liquid investments of $64 million, excluding $71 million of cash held at SiriusXM. During the quarter, Liberty SiriusXM paid down $65 million under the SiriusXM margin loan using cash on hand. There's $1.1 billion of undrawn margin loan capacity related to our SiriusXM margin loan as of quarter end. As of May 7, the value of our SiriusXM stock was $10 billion, and we have $1.2 billion in principal amount of debt against these holdings. Total Liberty SiriusXM Group attributed principal amount of debt is $11.1 billion, which includes $9.3 billion of debt at SiriusXM. Turning to the Formula One Group. At quarter end, Formula One Group had attributed cash, liquid investments, and monetizable public holdings of $1.3 billion, which includes $1 billion of cash at Formula One. The Quint acquisition closed in January and was funded with $205 million of Formula One Group cash on hand, net of the Quint cash that was acquired. Total Formula One Group attributed principal amount of debt was $2.9 billion, which includes $2.4 billion of debt at Formula One, leaving $531 million at the corporate level. F1's $500 million revolver is undrawn and their leverage at quarter end was 1.7x. Looking at the F1 operating business, as we've reiterated multiple times, it is best analyzed on an annual basis giving variability in the year-over-year calendar. With that said, I will make some brief remarks on the first quarter. There were 3 races held in the first quarter compared to 2 races in the prior year period. F1 recognized an additional race promotion fee this year as well as a higher proportion of season-based income due to 3 out of 24 races occurring during Q1 '24 compared to 2 out of 23 in the prior year. Other revenue increased due to the start of the F2 vehicle cycle, which is largely offset within other costs of F1 revenue as well as higher hospitality revenue and freight income. F1 also recognized revenue and costs related to the F1 Academy due to the earlier start of the season compared to last year. Adjusted OIBDA grew alongside revenue in the quarter. Team payments increased due to higher pro-rata recognition and the expectation of increased payments for the full year. It's important to analyze team payments on an annual basis. Revenue recognized from the mix of flyaway and European races affects how team payments are represented as a percentage of pre-team shared EBIT when viewed quarterly. As F1 has grown EBIT over recent years, the payout percentage has adjusted, acknowledging a larger share of the economic upside as pre-team shared EBIT has reached specific thresholds. We anticipate continued leverage on team payments going forward. It's important to note that the incremental payout percentage on pre-team shared EBIT growth recognized in 2023 should not be applied to future growth. Other costs of F1 revenue and SG&A continue to be best viewed as a percent of total revenue for the year. Looking at corporate and other results, which as of this quarter includes the consolidation of Quint, corporate and other revenue includes Quint results and approximately $7 million of rental income related to the Las Vegas Grand Prix Plaza. Corporate and other adjusted OIBDA was a loss of $6 million in the quarter. This includes the rental income, Quint results, and other corporate overhead. Note at the start of the year seasonally live for Quint with modest event activity while the business still incurs ordinary course fixed operating expenses, with the largest events taking place in the second and fourth quarters. We expect corporate and other adjusted OIBDA will benefit from rental income and Quint results through the rest of the year. At the Liberty Live Group, there's attributed cash, liquid investments, and monetizable public holdings of $423 million, which includes ETF assets. There's a $400 million of undrawn margin loan capacity related to our Live Nation margin loan. As of May 7, the value of our Live Nation stock held at Liberty Live Group was $6.7 billion. We have $1.2 billion in principal amount of debt against these holdings. Liberty and our consolidated subsidiaries are in compliance with their debt covenants at quarter end. And I will turn quickly with that to AVH. There were no regular season home games played in either the first quarter of '23 or '24. Revenue growth primarily reflects higher broadcasting with more away games in the current year held due to the earlier start of the regular season as well as higher game day-related revenue from increased demand and attendance at spring training home games. Braves continue to invest in payroll, which is reflected in increased baseball operating costs, and the Battery grew revenue 13% and adjusted OIBDA 9% in the quarter. CapEx related to the capital improvement projects completed at Truist Park ahead of the '24 season will total approximately $15 million across Q4 of '23 and early '24. These projects are generating incremental revenue, as Greg said, for the Braves already. And at the Battery, the Truist headquarters project remains on budget and on schedule. With that, I'll turn it over to Stefano to discuss Formula One.

Thanks, Brian. The 2024 season is off to a great start with lots of action on the track, and the gaps between the teams across the grid are getting closer. While Red Bull and Max Verstappen continue to show their strength, we have seen regular improvements from Ferrari, including positions 1 and 2 in Melbourne, showing their ongoing improvement as well as increasingly strong performance from McLaren, including a great first race win by Lando Norris in Miami in front of a sellout crowd. The battle in the midfield is the closest it has been for many years, and we look forward to this continuing as the season progresses. We have 24 races this year with 6 Sprint events and are also delighted to have the F1 Academy alongside us at 7 F1 events. The return to China after a full year break was incredible, and it was great to see a sold-out event, with over 200,000 weekend attendees. Interest in the events underline a growing younger fan base in the country, with all our Chinese fans cheering on their home hero Zhou Guanyu. Over 1.5 million viewers watched the race live on CCTV-5, far beyond the audience of 1 million when we last visited in 2019. China was also host to our first sprint of the season, won by Max Verstappen and Red Bull with Lewis Hamilton taking second place. The sprint continues to deliver great action for our fans, broadcasters, sponsors, and promoters. There has been plenty of driver news off the track at the start of 2024. We have the exciting announcement that Lewis Hamilton will join Ferrari in 2025. Fernando Alonso has committed to remaining with Aston Martin. Hulkenberg will go to Sauber in 2025, and we have yet to see where Carlos Sainz will be next year. This continues to create huge excitement and anticipation for our fans with 10 drivers still left to confirm their seat for the next year. We have seen records being broken for attendance at our races at the start of 2024 and expect very strong figures throughout the season. Bahrain saw record race day attendance, and in Melbourne, we had a huge crowd of 452,000, beating last year's record attendance of 445,000. We saw good growth in Japan, welcoming 229,000 fans, up 3% on 2023. Alongside this, we continue to see very strong demand for the Paddock Club with over 11,000 tickets sold for the first 4 races of the season where we operate the Paddock Club. We had a sellout in Bahrain and Saudi for the second year running with 2,500 race-day guests in China compared to just 1,100 when we last raced there in 2019. F1 continues to grow our overall engagement and fan base. We are evolving our view data methodology to ensure we are capturing all our audiences globally and are working with Nielsen to build a model that captures a fuller scope. We had over 70 million cumulative TV viewers for the opening Grand Prix weekend in Bahrain, with 12 million in Germany, thanks to extensive free-to-air coverage on RTL. Through the first 3 races, we've seen particularly strong viewership in growth markets such as China and the Middle East. We now have 79 million total social media followers, up 24% year-on-year, with new follower growth also boosted by the introduction of new platforms like Threads and WhatsApp. On Instagram, our most popular social platform, 75% of our followers are under 35, 40% are under 25, and 30% of our under-25 followers are female. The U.S. has gained 500,000 new followers in 2024, which is up 90% over the follower growth for the same period last year. We also have a year's worth of follower growth in one week in the Chinese market surrounding the Chinese Grand Prix. In the U.S., we've also seen year-on-year growth across other digital platforms. U.S. F1 TV subscribers are up 16%, page views across f1.com are up 28%, and registered users or those who sign up for an account on F1 platforms are up 32%. Globally, unique users visiting F1.com and the app are up 4% year-on-year, with page views up 29% and registered users up 28%. The total number of F1 TV subscribers has seen strong growth, with lower churn rates at all-time high customer satisfaction. Season 6 of Drive to Survive premiered on February 23. We reached the top 10 on multiple streaming platforms in over 40 markets and continue to have among the highest completion rates for viewers compared to both unscripted and scripted content. Production continues for the Apple series, which is on pace for the expected release in summer 2025. On the commercial side of the business, we had a very strong first quarter. We had growth across all revenue streams, benefiting from one additional race held compared to last year as well as growth from new sponsorship and media rights agreements, alongside underlying escalators. We continue to see our business and partners benefiting from the growth in overall fandom and the value F1 brings to partners. Especially with regard to sponsorship, last week, we announced that a world-leading software provider and digital consultant has joined as an official partner in a new multiyear agreement. In March, we announced McDonald's as a regional partner of Formula One in Latin America, marking the first of its kind for F1 in the region as the sport audience continues to grow in Latin America. On media rights, we continue to see strong demand and impressive work by all our broadcasters to bring our sport to millions of fans around the world. We recently announced a 5-year renewal with Viaplay in the Netherlands and across northern markets. The deal retains our partnership structure in the region, creating a strong position for our F1 TV Pro product that will continue to generate substantial additional fees. We also announced a new 2-year agreement with FanCode that sees the sports streaming platform become the exclusive broadcaster partner to Formula One in India until the end of the 2025 season. This is a huge opportunity in a market with a growing fan base, especially among younger and female supporters. Our estimates show that we have 60 million fans in India, with one in two having started following F1 in the last 4 years. F1 TV Pro would also remain in the market in India. The 2024 results are also benefiting from the new beIN SPORTS agreement in the Middle East, which we referenced on our fourth quarter earnings call. We recently announced a subscription-free streaming channel for fans in the U.S. to watch F1, F2, F3, and F1 Academy race replays and highlights, as well as full rounds of classic Grand Prix and popular racing documentaries. The new channel will be distributed on leading platforms, including Samsung TV Plus, Amazon TV, and Pluto TV. In addition to generating revenue, we expect it will drive more fans to both ESPN and F1 TV Pro. We are confident heading into our U.S. media rights renewal for 2026, with strong growth in our U.S. market, as sports content remains highly attractive to broadcasters and newer players continue to compete for sports rights. In addition to the U.S., key media rights renewals post-2025 include Latin America, Brazil, Canada, and most of Asia, including Japan. Also on media rights, following its successful first season, F1 Kids will return in 2024. The program has proven to be an effective way to engage children in Formula One in a way that's accessible and enjoyable for them. So I'm delighted it’s back for a second season. Turning to race promotion, we announced our 2025 race calendar in April for what will be the Formula One 75th anniversary year. We expect to announce details of the 6 2025 Sprint venues in due course. The calendar features 24 races and will commence in Australia on March 16 and conclude in Abu Dhabi on December 7. We will have just 1 Saturday night race in Las Vegas, while Saudi and Bahrain will return to the traditional Sunday race days. Announcing the calendar earlier than ever allows us to focus on optimizing the schedule for future years and plan logistics more efficiently for 2025. It also makes our promoters more sustainable partners by giving them greater certainty around planning their races and other events for next year. There continues to be huge interest and demand for our races worldwide, and our focus is to maintain the right strategic balance of location and opportunities while being clear. We currently believe that the 24 race schedule is the optimal number of events. Turning to Vegas, we are looking forward to year 2 of the race building on the success of last year's event. LVGP continues to generate great demand on the sponsorship side, both locally and for the sport more broadly. For example, we could not be more excited about our partnership with American Express and their engaging activation on-site across the F1 ecosystem as well as their support for F1 Academy. In March, we enjoyed a successful American Express pre-sale to kick off ticket sales for the 2024 Vegas race, and we look forward to the continued growth of our partnership. We also continue to see progress on off-track action for fans. Our F1 Sim Racing series got underway recently, providing exciting action for fans and competitors. F1 Arcade recently opened its first of several planned U.S. venues in Boston as it seeks to take advantage of F1's continued momentum in the U.S. Boston is off to a strong start, hosting 672 guests with extensive media coverage. F1 Arcade London saw a 14% increase in attendance this quarter compared to the same period last year, while the Birmingham Venue is also performing very well. The F1 exhibition is moving to other venues worldwide, having opened in Vienna in February and Toronto last week, following a successful residency in Madrid, which was Spain's biggest selling temporary exhibition of 2023. Turning to sustainability and diversity and inclusion initiatives. In April, we were pleased to publish our first F1 impact report, providing an update on our journey to net zero by 2030. We are on track to meet our targets. We achieved a 13% reduction through increasing our remote operations, using renewable energy in factories, offices, and events, and from reducing the volume of freight. We have a strong pipeline of action to deliver the remaining 37% reduction target by 2030. For D&I efforts, our first group of students from the Formula One engineering scholarship took placements with the F1 teams. By 2025, we will have funded the studies of 50 students from underrepresented groups pursuing studies in mechanical engineering. The F1 academy started its second season in Saudi and joined us for their second event in Miami, featuring exciting races and great driving across the field. In Miami, American racer Courtney Crone joined the grid as the wildcard entry in a deal with reigning team champion PREMA Racing and the QVC. The F1 Academy series will be shown live in over 160 international territories, will also be on F1 TV Pro, and streamed live on F1 Academy's social channels. We are delighted to announce Charlotte Tilbury, Puma, Tommy Hilfiger, and American Express as official partners of the series. We recently launched the F1 Academy Discover Your Drive program aimed at supporting young female karters in getting into grassroots levels of our sport. The first initiative was launched by Motorsport U.K. to identify and nurture U.K. karting talent from the age of 8. The number of female participants aged 11-16 qualified for the British Indoor Karting Championship has more than tripled, and engaging programs will run alongside all 7 F1 Academy events in 2024. We are proud of this work and remain very focused on making the sport a more open, diverse, and sustainable place. 2024 will continue to be an exciting time for our sport, and I'm looking forward to the on-track action and opportunities we have as a business as we continue to go from strength to strength. Avanti tutta! 'Full speed ahead.' And now I will turn the call back over to Greg. Bye-bye.

Thanks, Stefano and Brian. To the listening audience, we appreciate your continued interest in Liberty Media and the Atlanta Braves Holdings. Now operator, I'd like to open the line for questions.

First question comes from Vijay Jayant with Evercore ISI.

Can you talk about the trajectory of team payments as a percentage of pre-team EBITDA? Over the last couple of years, that's sort of declined about 300 basis points. I know there are structures in the splits of the teams that we're not aware of, but could we assume that kind of operating leverage again in 2024? And then anything you could say about the sponsorship pipeline at Formula One? It seems to be that revenue stream is slowing down a bit.

Yes, Vijay, this is Brian. I'll take the team payment one. We'll try to give you the most information we can here without giving you the full model. But over the past few years, as F1 has grown pre-team share EBITDA and EBIT under the current Concorde Agreement, we've moved through various bands of pre-team share EBITDA, where the payout to the teams has decreased as a percentage for each band. We're now at a point where the percentage to the teams is fixed for incremental EBITDA and EBIT through the end of this current Concorde Agreement. We do expect to continue to have leverage in the team payments as a percentage of pre-team share EBIT this year or adjusted OIBDA on our reported results, but not at that incremental rate that you noted that we saw from '22 to '23.

Stefano, do you want to touch on sponsorship?

Yes. Thank you, Greg. I would say, Vijay, just to talk about our sponsorship pipeline. The situation is very positive because looking back, we had only 4 global sponsors. Now we have 10 global sponsors, along with many regional partnerships, and the pipeline is very strong. While we aren't providing any specific expectations, the situation is very solid. Today, it's not only about the quantity of sponsorships but also the quality, ensuring that everyone investing in Formula One has the right quality in terms of exposure and experience. So I would say this is a very, very positive trend that we will see together with our partners who believe in Formula One.

If I could just add, I agree with everything Stefano said. I feel very good about where we are recognizing sponsorship revenue for the balance of this year and into 2025, and we're working hard to build that pipeline for '26 and beyond.

Our next question comes from Jeff Wlodarczak with Pivotal Research Group.

First of all, congrats on Lando's win at the Miami GP. It's always good to get a new face at the top of the podium. I have two questions not related to F1, one on Live Nation and one on SIRI. Greg, on Live Nation, can you comment on the pending antitrust case against Live Nation?

On the discussion around Live Nation and the trust issues, the management team led by Joe summarized it well on their call last Thursday. The DOJ investigation appears focused on specific business practices within divisions of the company, not the merger or the business structure. Live does not believe that the breakup of Live Nation Ticketmaster would be a legally defensible remedy, and beyond that, we're kind of limited to what was said on that live earnings call if you listened to that. Turning to SIRI, I think it's early days. We would hope during the balance of this year to see a positive impact and greater learnings from the new app. The way the app is being rolled out will allow us to continue to introduce new modules and opportunities at SIRI, which will help us capture benefits. I believe that you'll see some learnings early on and hopefully more growth over time. But the exact timing of these and how the consumer will respond remains uncertain. On economic growth, I do believe that we can start to drive better numbers in '24 compared to '23 on SP&A. Over time, this app will be critical to helping us achieve growth and get back on a positive trajectory at Sirius.

Our next question comes from David Karnovsky with JPMorgan.

First, Stefano or Greg, can you talk about F1 TV and how we should consider this as a possible growth driver for media rights this year? I want to understand how the price increases have been received thus far, along with the new user experience. And on Quint, I appreciate the commentary on the strategic value to F1, but could you discuss Quint on a stand-alone basis, the market for premium hospitality? What are the growth drivers over the long term? And just for Brian, any notes on seasonality for Quint regarding revenue or margin?

Do you want to start?

Yes, if that's okay, Greg. F1 TV, as mentioned, provides additional entertainment options for our fans who are very knowledgeable and can analyze all the data we provide. So far, the numbers we have seen are very encouraging; for instance, we had almost record subscribers in Miami. It's an important aspect of our media evolution. There haven't been any negative comments regarding price increases, which could be because they were too low before. Ultimately, maintaining the quality of the product and content is essential, and we will further develop this with artificial intelligence.

Great. Thank you, Stefano. I’ll briefly touch on the Quint business drivers. The opportunity to enhance our sales efforts through Quint is significant, particularly for Formula One itself, especially around LVGP. They've been integrated into our sales arm, helping us leverage their customer knowledge for better sales. Another driver is their ability to assist other F1 promoters and teams sell their products, such as their work with Qatar to help sell tickets and events. Adding new sports and events is also a driver for growth. They have been expanding in this area and we expect that Liberty can help them open doors to new sports over time.

On seasonality for Quint, while we can’t provide specific details, Q1 is probably the lowest quarter for Quint, followed by Q3. Q2 and Q4 ramp up due to the Kentucky Derby and many larger F1 events that Quint participates in. Thus, we'll see material differences between Q1 and the more active quarters.

Our next question comes from Ben Swinburne with Morgan Stanley.

Greg, now that you've had the public announcement for MotoGP, do you have any updates on opportunities that may have emerged or conversations regarding what you can do with that business now that all the MotoGP partners know that Liberty is acquiring the majority of the company?

After the announcement, we saw great interest from potential broadcast partners, OEMs, and potential sites, all of which are very intriguing. However, due to the nature of the regulatory process, we will formulate our plans amongst ourselves and can't engage with the MotoGP management team to avoid any conflicts until we have regulatory approval. We are crafting plans and have some exciting ideas, and we hope to get permission to execute those shortly.

On the Concorde agreement update, as we always said, it expires in 2025. We are in discussions with the teams. The most important point is to keep the situation as stable as possible. These are the points of discussion, and we cannot go into specifics at this time, but we will share information as soon as we are able.

Our next question comes from Stephen Laszczyk with Goldman Sachs.

Can you elaborate on the strategy and some of the renewals with F1 media rights? I noticed that you took on additional duration in MENA, perhaps aligning the Nordics with Sky. I know some contracts in the Americas and Asia are up in '25. Can you provide insights into media rights strategy?

In general, we've been pleased with the renewals and interest we've observed. Those renewals that have been attractive. We continue to see robust demand. F1 TV proves to be a valuable asset working with our media partners.

I also noted that ten races are up for renewal over the next two years. Stefano, you mentioned that 11 cities are serious contenders for GPs this past weekend. Can you provide more context around the supply-demand dynamic you're observing, and what that means for promotion step-ups, hospitality investments, and fan experience?

Certainly, we have seen strong demand for our product, and this is reflected in the increasing quality of demand. Because of our standard, our promoters are also experiencing a positive economic impact. Our aim is to balance demand across different continents requesting various Grand Prix.

I think we may have lost Stefano.

The line is still connected.

We can move on to the next question.

I wanted to switch gears a bit and get your thoughts on baseball, specifically the Braves and TV and Diamond Sports. What can you tell us about what the Braves could do if Diamond isn't viable? What are your long-term thoughts on the Braves' TV rights situation?

I can offer some initial thoughts and then defer to Derek. We have visibility into the Diamond Holdings situation not only through our experience with the Braves but also through our experience with Charter. We are closely monitoring the situation. We have a strong territory, and think we have options if they can't complete their emergence from Chapter 11. However, I’ll let Derek expand on that.

Thanks, Greg. To your point, carriage disputes are common. We hope that Comcast and Bally find a resolution. We're monitoring the bankruptcy proceedings and doing our part to protect our rights. Currently, Diamond Bally fulfills their obligations to us, including full payment. However, if rights revert to us, we're optimistic given our large territory with about 35 million people. There's substantial demand for the Braves, and we do believe there will be more upside to our TV situation moving forward.

If I could follow up, it seems that other baseball teams facing RSN carriage losses moved to a lower revenue model with broader exposure but less revenue. Is that what you expect for the Braves?

You are hearing me correctly. The other situations in baseball involve different marketplaces that don't necessarily correlate to ours. We have a large territory and are optimistic that should opportunities arise, the revenue will follow.

Our next question comes from Bryan Kraft with Deutsche Bank.

I have one for Greg on Sirius and one on F1 for Stefano if he's back or for Greg. Greg, can you walk us through the sequence of steps for the Sirius transaction to close and if you think it might get pulled into early June?

I'll let Renee cover the steps for SIRI.

Regarding the SIRI closing, we are making good progress with the SEC and the FCC. We're still on target to close during the summer. We expect to file within the next few weeks now that we have completed our quarterly audits, but we cannot predict an exact timeline yet.

Stefano, do you want to discuss race promotion?

In terms of race promotions, prior to COVID, some were concerned about revenue streams in that area. Thanks to the increase in demand, the projections for maximizing race promotion fees now seem promising. It will be crucial for us to ensure a balanced approach as we continue to engage with promoters.

On Las Vegas ticket sales since they went on sale in late March, we had a successful presale through American Express. We're seeing a trend towards last-minute purchases, particularly in the U.S. and Las Vegas. We are making great progress with product differentiation and have created about 10,000 new general admission tickets that appeal to last-minute market consumers.

Additionally, we have different zones at tiered pricing and a new entry-level price point in Flamingo for fans to enjoy racing live. This will also provide unique Vegas-style entertainment throughout the tracks.

My last lingering MLP question might be more for Derek. What's your present view on how the rule changes are fostering interest in the game? It seems there's quite a bit of interest, but are there any downsides?

The rule changes have been overwhelmingly popular, and I’ll let Derek elaborate.

The rule changes were embraced among fans, media, players, and teams. They make the game shorter and more dynamic. However, it’s still difficult to link specific changes to individual outcomes, as sample sizes are limited. We'll wait for a full evaluation from MLB and the Players Association.

Thank you to our listening audience for all of your questions and your interest in Liberty Media and the Atlanta Braves Holdings. We look forward to speaking with you again next quarter, if not sooner.

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.