MotoGP in the USA - "I knew it was going to be hard, we're making headway"

Dorna Sports’ chief commercial officer Dan Rossomondo says MotoGP’s efforts to expand its presence in the United States of America have been “definitely making headway”.

Rossomondo, formerly head of global marketing and media at the NBA, joined Dorna as CCO in 2022 in what was seen at the time as a clear push to grow MotoGP in the American market.

At one point, MotoGP made two trips to America per year, while in 2013 it did so on three occasions.

At that time, Formula 1 had only just returned to the US after a hiatus from 2008 to 2011, but has staged three races in the country since last year.

MotoGP now only makes one annual visit to the US at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, though talks for a second event in the country are ongoing.

Dorna’s acquisition by F1 owner Liberty Media - which is on hold while the EU probes the purchase - is also set to see a greater push for exposure in the US.

Reflecting on MotoGP’s efforts to grow in the US, Rossomondo told the Sports Business Journal: “I don’t know if it’s been tougher – I knew it was going to be hard.

“It’s up to me and my team to start prioritising where we want to push in what direction.

“But I think the fact that we can’t quickly go from one to three races because our tracks require some specific safety considerations, we’re going to have to do a lot of other methods to get there.

“I definitely feel like we’re making headway, 100%. The amount of people who said, ‘I’ve never heard of your sport 12 months ago, and now I watch it,’ the amount of people I’ve uncovered who are sort of closet MotoGP fans, we’re definitely making headway.

“And I think you’ll see a lot of the fruits of that labour this year.”

The series gained a US-owned team in Trackhouse Racing last season, after the Justin Marks-run operation took over from RNF following its collapse at the end of 2023.

MotoGP has altered its branding for the 2025 season, introducing a new logo at the end of last year in a bid to start building better brand recognition.

It will also stage a season launch event in Thailand on 9 February, before kicking the 2025 campaign off in the country at Buriram at the end of the month.