Liberty Media Continues Dominance With Q4 Earnings

Liberty Media, the parent company of Formula One Group, Braves Group, and SiriusXM Group, reported fourth-quarter earnings on Friday, one day after Formula 1 announced it would be canceling the Russian Grand Prix following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

As a $17.2 billion group, the company Forbes dubbed the world’s largest sports empire last month continues to grow. 

Liberty reported $11.4 billion in total revenue across its three divisions.

Formula One Group’s revenue rocketed 62.3% from $485 million to $787 million, primarily attributed to increased race promotion revenue — the same period the previous year saw limitations on fan attendance.

• F1’s media rights revenue was flat, but sponsorship revenue increased during the quarter.
• Before the cancellation of the Russian Grand Prix, F1 had a record 23 races on its calendar for the year.

Domestic Divisions

The Atlanta Braves had a successful quarter, too, with revenue nearly tripling from $35 million to $102 million. It also completed the sale of its minor league teams in January.

Baseball revenue, which includes ballpark operations, local broadcast rights, and shared MLB revenue streams, grew from $23 million in 2020 to $93 million in 2021. Development revenue, derived from the Battery Atlanta mixed-use facilities, fell from $12 million in 2020 to $9 million in 2021.

SiriusXM, which hosts a variety of sports programs covering NASCAR, ESPN, and others, brought in record revenue for the year at $8.7 billion, exceeding all 2021 financial and operating guidance. As of Jan. 28, Liberty Media owns 81.2% of SiriusXM.