A hostage situation is where one person or group threatens another person or group with material harms unless their demands are met. Usually, we think of bank robbers and thieves when you think of hostage situations. But that’s absolutely the case with how MotoGP’s executives are acting toward the teams and manufacturers in regards to their next Concorde Agreement.
See, every few years, Dorna, which is now MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group, meet with the teams and manufacturers and decide what the rules are going to be, championship purses, as well as how revenue is doled out. They end with what’s known as a Concorde Agreement that’ll stay in place for a predetermined set of years.
Neither party wants to compromise, but they end up doing so each and every time, as neither wants negotiations to drag out any longer than they have to. And for much of the last few decades, those negotiations were helmed by the Ezpeletas, both Carlos and Carmello, representing Dorna and now MGPSEG, a very silly acronym.
There was supposed to be a new Concorde Agreement months ago, as we’re already into the 2026 season, and the new set of parameters would take hold in 2027 when the new rules come into play. That hasn’t happened, and based on reports from those with knowledge about the negotiations, it all comes down to MGPSEG not wanting to pay the teams and manufacturers any more cash, despite record turnout, earnings, and revenue, i.e., a hostage situation.
“At the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), major decisions are most often made on the ground floor of the building that houses the pitboxes, at the end closest to the pitlane entrance. Most of the offices there have windows overlooking the paddock,” states Motorsport.
The outlet added, “On Sunday, hours before Marco Bezzecchi completed his perfect run of victories since the start of the 2026 MotoGP season, all of them were open except one, where a curtain prevented any curious onlooker from seeing who was inside. At that moment, the championship’s top decision-makers were hoping to finalise the commercial framework for the next five years – even if only with a symbolic handshake between the manufacturers (MSMA) and MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group (MGPSEG, formerly known as Dorna).”
That, however, didn’t happen.
The divide stems from the teams and manufacturers asking for an agreement that looks a lot like Formula 1’s Concorde Agreement, in that they’d see money based on MotoGP’s annual revenue sent directly to their coffers. MotoGP, however, sees that as a non-starter and wants to keep the current “fixed” payment system, where a predetermined sum is allotted. That seems like BS, and it seems the teams think so, too. Especially as MotoGP is asking more from the teams themselves, with wants for fully functional prototypes at promotional events, more marketing and self-promotion, and more press coverage throughout the season, with added staff in marketing departments.
Seems to me like MotoGP wants the whole-ass cake without having to pay for it, slice it, or even feed itself, while everyone else suffers around it. According to one source who spoke on condition of anonymity with Motorsport, “The current proposal offers an increase of €1m [to the last Concorde Agreement], but everything they are asking from us already costs significantly more than that.”
So as it stands, MotoGP is without an agreement going into the 2027 season as of right now, with neither side seemingly willing to budge on their demands. But given the power MGPSEG and the Ezpeletas wield, it feels like there’s a gun pressed against the teams’ heads. Hopefully, they stay the course and get what they’re owed.
Solidarity, folks.
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