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A deal between ESPN and Formula One for U.S. media rights may not be dead.
F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali said at the Liberty Media earnings call Thursday that discussions with ESPN are still moving even though the exclusive negotiation period between the two has passed.
“The fact that at the end of the exclusivity period they have not put in place on a formal offer, doesn’t mean that the discussions aren’t going ahead. Actually, it’s the other way around. So there are still a lot of discussions to try to find the best solution,” Domenicali said.
Domenicali’s statement comes just two weeks after Puck News reported ESPN had dropped out of the running for the U.S. media rights of the motorsport league.
ESPN has held the broadcasting rights to F1 since 2018. In 2022, the two sides agreed to a deal reportedly worth around $75 million to $90 million over three years, which expires at the end of the 2025 season. Domenicali was also complimentary of the relationship of the two sides that started in 2018.
“We need to be thankful for what ESPN is providing to us. We are very happy about the quality of the service. We need to always remember that they were first to believe in our projects,” Domenicali said.
ESPN declined to respond to a request for comment.
Liberty Media president and CEO Derek Chang added that discussions for a new U.S. media deal are still in the early stages, though he would like to secure an agreement by the middle of this year.
Earlier this month, The Athletic reported Netflix is exploring a bid for the media rights. The streaming giant kick-started the viewership boom for F1 in the U.S. after the launch of the docuseries Formula 1: Drive to Survive in 2019. Netflix has been more aggressive in acquiring sports rights, airing one-off events like the Mike Tyson–Jake Paul fight and NFL Christmas Day games late last year.
It also began airing its first live weekly sports product this year with WWE’s Raw.
Revenue Up for Fourth Straight Year
F1 reported $3.65 billion in revenue for 2024, a 14% increase over the previous year. However, fourth-quarter revenue dipped to $1.17 billion from $1.23 billion, which can be attributed to weaker sales for the second year of the Las Vegas Grand Prix compared to its 2023 debut.
The company also reported total race attendance at 6.5 million, up 9% from 2023. F1 had a record 24 races last year, two more than the previous year (2023 was originally scheduled to have 23 races, but the Italian Grand Prix was canceled due to flooding). There are 24 races scheduled for 2025.
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