Cadillac joining the grid won’t be the only massive change for American Formula 1 fans next season. Apple announced on Friday that it will be F1’s exclusive broadcaster in the United States after signing a five-year deal with the world championship. The tech behemoth will air every F1 session to Apple TV subscribers (that’s right, it’s now just called Apple TV instead of Apple TV+) starting next year. F1 TV, the championship’s in-house streaming service, will no longer be available in the U.S. as a result, with its content moved to the Apple TV app.
F1’s partnership with Apple is viewed as the next step of the championship’s efforts to establish itself as a major sports entity in the United States. While not at its final destination, the deal is a massive financial windfall for F1. According to The Athletic, Apple is paying between $120 million and $150 million per year to broadcast F1. It significantly outpaced ESPN’s $90 million offer to continue their TV partnership. F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali said in a release:
“This is an incredibly exciting partnership for Apple and the whole of Formula 1 that will ensure we can continue to maximize our growth potential in the U.S. with the right content and innovative distribution channels. We are no strangers to each other, having spent the past three years working together to create “F1 The Movie,” which has already proven to be a huge hit around the world. We have a shared vision to bring this amazing sport to our fans in the U.S. and entice new fans through live broadcasts, engaging content, and a year-round approach to keep them hooked.”
Can Apple be a worthwhile broadcast home for F1?
Not many sports leagues have parlayed a movie into a $750 million broadcast deal. F1 has bounced around three of the four major TV networks over the past dozen seasons. The first big move was from FOX to NBC in 2013. Then, F1 moved to ABC/ESPN in 2017. To get a sense of where F1 stood in the American TV landscape back then, the NBC deal reportedly earned $4 million per year. F1 is now abandoning traditional television altogether.
While lucrative, a move to Apple TV is a massive gamble for F1. Major League Soccer signed a 10-year, $2.5 billion broadcast deal with Apple back in 2022. The move attempted to leverage global superstar Lionel Messi’s move to MLS club Inter Miami and vault the league’s mainstream popularity. While Apple doesn’t disclose its viewership, the ratings of MLS matches that are still aired on TV indicate that the move to stream has hurt the American soccer league’s public exposure. The Athletic reported that the 2024 MLS Cup, the championship match on FOX, suffered a 47% drop in viewership compared to the 2023 final. An audience of 890,000 viewers plunged to 468,000 people.
Formula 1 could be in a similar position if executives aren’t careful. Apple has already announced that several races in 2026 will be available for free, similar to previous deals which had a few races on network TV instead of cable. F1 is currently averaging 1.4 million viewers on ESPN, roughly half of NASCAR’s weekly audience in 2024. It’s not even in the same galaxy as the National Football League’s 18 million viewers per game. F1 claims it wants to reach new fans by moving to streaming, but I can’t see the B in this A-to-C plan.
