Liberty Media Corp Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

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

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

Question: David Karnovsky - JPMorgan - Analyst : And welcome to Derek. On Las Vegas, as you noted, the race missed your budgeting and I get the need to look at this holistically, given its impact to sponsorship and other rights. But I wanted to see if you could dig in a bit on the past year in 2025 in the next few years, specifically growing revenue and also managing the cost base to get tend back towards some of those original stand-alone targets you had laid out, if that's still the goal. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. FEBRUARY 27, 2025 / 3:00PM, FWONA.OQ - Q4 2024 Liberty Media Corp Earnings Call

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

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

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

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

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

Question: Stephen Laszczyk - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Two, if I could. First, on the media rights opportunity internationally for Stefano and Derek, if you want to jump in on this one. I'm curious if there's anything you've learned so far through your US media rights negotiation that has made you more or less optimistic on the man backdrop for media rights for F1 more globally? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. FEBRUARY 27, 2025 / 3:00PM, FWONA.OQ - Q4 2024 Liberty Media Corp Earnings Call

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

Question: Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : Okay. Great. Welcome, Derek, and congratulations. I had two questions. So first, on the heels of several high-profile race promotion renewals, how did the results of those renewals line up with your expectations that race promotion is increasingly becoming a revenue growth opportunity. And then the second one is -- I know you don't want to give guidance, but could you just talk broadly about the media rights revenue outlook in 2025 relative to 2024? It seems like growth in that line should accelerate this year. I would appreciate any color there. Thank you. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. FEBRUARY 27, 2025 / 3:00PM, FWONA.OQ - Q4 2024 Liberty Media Corp Earnings Call

Question: Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : It's similar in strength as last year from a growth perspective? Or would you expect any acceleration this year, Brian?

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

Question: Barton Crockett - Rosenblatt Securities, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. I was interested in terms of the broadcast rights. There's been a lot of focus on the US as a solitary market, but there's rights that seem to be potentially up for renewal across the Americas, maybe even elsewhere in Japan. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. FEBRUARY 27, 2025 / 3:00PM, FWONA.OQ - Q4 2024 Liberty Media Corp Earnings Call Are we in a place now where it could be more interesting perhaps to get closer with some of the global streamers to negotiate large regional packages, not exactly global, but large regions that go just beyond like the US, sorry if you could discuss that.