Apple Vies With ESPN for U.S. Formula One Rights

Apple is “challenging” ESPN to be the Formula One broadcaster in the United States, according to a report from the Financial Times. 

ESPN’s rights agreement with F1 has been worth about $90 million annually, and the deal is up at the end of this season. The Wall Street Journal reported in April that F1 was seeking in the range of $150 million to $180 million a year in its next rights deal. 

The FT report indicated that ESPN “may yet retain the rights” for the global racing league. 

ESPN declined to comment and spokespeople for Apple did not respond to a request for comment from Front Office Sports. 

The news that Apple is in the mix corresponds with the release of “F1: The Movie,” starring Brad Pitt, which was backed by the tech giant and drew about $300 million in global box office revenue since its debut in late June. 

ESPN announced earlier this week that F1 races are averaging 1.3 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC this season, up 17% from last year. While F1 has a global audience, significantly more people in the U.S. watch NASCAR. 

“When you look at where the NFL, NBA and baseball are in the U.S., we’re not a major player, but globally we are,” Liberty Media CEO Derek Chang said at a JP Morgan conference in May. Liberty Media is F1’s parent company. 

The news of Apple’s bid comes as tech giants have continued making encroachments into live sports rights. Amazon Prime Video has major NFL and NBA packages, while Netflix airs WWE Raw in addition to an NFL Christmas doubleheader and the upcoming Canelo-Crawford megafight. Google’s YouTube will also air its first NFL game, on the second night of this upcoming season live from Brazil. 

The Apple TV+ streaming service airs Friday night MLB games and has a 10-year, $2.5 billion rights agreement with the MLS.