With the announcement F1 and Live Nation are set to split into two separate Liberty holding companies, F1’s Q3 financial results read ‘steady’ but one eye on the future.
Liberty Media, the owner of Formula One Group (F1), revealed in its third quarter 2025 financial report that it will explore splitting Liberty Media into two separate entities.
Under the ‘Corporate Updates’ section within the financial report, Liberty confirmed it will hold a virtual special meeting with shareholders of Liberty Live on December 5, 2025 to vote on the proposed split.
This would see Liberty Live Group, the owner of Live Nation, ringfenced from Liberty Media to become a new public company, Liberty Live Holdings.
The proposal was first announced in November 2024 in an attempt to “simplify Liberty Media’s capital structure”.
If shareholders agree to the split-off proposal, Liberty Media will continue to be the sole owner of F1, MotoGP and other related sports investments.
Race calendar affects F1 Q3’ 2025 revenue
Despite a minor decrease in primary revenue due to hosting one less Grand Prix than the same period last year, Liberty highlighted the success of F1’s ability to capitalise on its “global popularity” and “driving record attendance”.
F1 was able to renew agreements for the Austin GP until 2034, Azerbaijan GP until 2030, and the Monaco GP until 2035 this past quarter. Q3 also saw Apple TV obtain the US broadcast rights for F1 away from ESPN in a five-year, $140m annual deal set to start in 2026.
While the future appears to be bright for F1, Q3’ 2025 only saw a slight increase in revenue from $861m to $869m year-on-year . Revenue so far for 2025 is also up from $2.285bn to $2.498bn from the same period last year.
Primary revenue saw the most meaningful decline in Q3, decreasing from $758m to $738m YoY. Primary revenue encompasses a majority of F1’s revenue from race promotion, media rights and sponsorship fees.
Six races were held in Q3’ 2025, one less than the seven held in the same period last year. F1 notes this race calendar variance from last year will impact the year-over-year revenue and cost comparisons on a quarterly basis.
This was offset by an increase in sponsorship revenue from new partners, such as LVMH, as well as increases in F1 TV subscriptions, which it is currently scaling with investment.
F1 focused on funding its media imprint
Income operating losses also increased from the same period last year for F1. This saw the franchise spend $22m more in Q3 y-o-y, from $146m in 2024, to $168m in 2025. This was attributed to increased costs to service new sponsors and higher costs of delivering F1 TV to a growing subscriber base.
While no subscription numbers for F1 TV have been released, investment has been made into the streaming service, such as offering 4K streaming and expanding the platform into new markets. F1 TV will not be available to US customers from December 8, 2025 due to the exclusivity of the Apple TV broadcast rights agreement.
Other losses relate to team payments, which were impacted by the one less race from last year and offset by expected higher team payments for the full year. Other costs include higher Paddock Club costs from increased attendance and costs from activities at Grand Prix Plaza that didn’t occur in the prior year.
“Formula 1 delivered robust financial performance and is capitalising on its global popularity, driving record attendance at races and continuing to expand ways to reach new and existing fans.
“Finally, we are approaching the final stages to complete our split-off of Liberty Live in December which will better highlight the value of our position in Live Nation,” said Derek Chang, Liberty Media President & CEO.
