- Rumours of MotoGP rider moves are rampant, yet media blackout still in effect.
- Delay reportedly due to disagreement between teams and Liberty over revenues.
- Technical development for 2027 has begun, creating strange “cold war” of info.
Fabio Quartararo to Honda? Reportedly, a done deal. Pedro Acosta to Ducati? Him too. Pecco Bagnaia to Aprilia? Jorge Martín to Yamaha? Yes, them as well.
So, why has the silly season that promised much drama been so silent officially? That’s because no constructor has confirmed their entry for next season. Well, technically speaking, just not yet.
“80%, 90% of the factory contracts are all done. They’re signed, they’re ready, they’re waiting,” MotoGP pit lane reporter Jack Appleyard said recently on the Motorsport Republica podcast.
“The reason that no one is announcing them just yet is because they’re waiting for the new agreement to be signed between MotoGP, Liberty Media, and the teams and factories in terms of how the revenue and profit are split between the teams.”
It’s been reported that teams are pushing for a percentage-cut model rather than taking a fixed fee. The proposed offer by Liberty is close to €8m (£6.96m) for the 2027-2031 period, an increase of around €1m (£870k) from the current deal, which expires after 2026.
As a result, factories are holding their horses as a deliberate ploy to get their demands. It’s not a delay in paperwork as much as it’s a structural power play.
“It seems unusual to have a signed contract and not announce it,” said Carlos Ezpeleta, Chief Sporting Officer of MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group, formerly Dorna, while speaking to AS.
“We have to sign the agreement with the factories and the teams, and I think we’re very, very close to doing so. There won’t be much time left to finalise it. It looks promising.”
Whose move next?
And this is telling indeed. All manufacturers have already moved on to developing their new 850cc machines under the revised regulations, with Honda even having tested theirs. So, they clearly aren’t going anywhere next year, and knowledge of this could hand some power back to Liberty.
MotoGP teams will be aware of Liberty Media’s track record of transforming F1’s landscape with Netflix’s Drive to Survive and more. They won’t want to regret not negotiating harder in case the premier class gains popularity in the same way. Case in point, the average valuation of an F1 team shot up to $3.6 billion (£2.67 billion) in 2025, a spike of 89% from 2023.
It’s why forgoing the short-term gains of an early announcement, like social media engagement, becomes a no-brainer. There are bigger fish to fry.
A new dawn for MotoGP
One of the few upsides to this stalemate is that riders don’t have to acknowledge the moves they’ve already made, for now at least. Even that limbo comes with the pitfall of awkward intra-team dynamics when there’s still most of 2026 to be contested. For instance, would Yamaha let Quartararo test their 2027 V4 even though they know he’ll race for a rival next year?
Sure, the open secrecy of rider moves has deflated one of the most highly anticipated transfer markets in MotoGP history. For true fans, though, that’s a small price to pay for the sport’s increased popularity.
It informs what Ezpeleta added, “It’s clear that right now everyone is betting on spectacular growth for MotoGP. Everyone wants to be a part of it, everyone thinks it’s going to keep improving, but we also want all the parties involved in the World Championship to support that growth.”
As 2026 marches on, Liberty seeks to steer the conversation toward the image of a thrilling and refined motorsport entity. However, the silence of the teams is a deafening bargaining chip. The question is: who will blink first?
