Apple is reportedly in talks for the US TV rights to Formula 1. Buoyed by the Box Office success of its F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, it sees the rights as a big step on its ambitions for live sport and will challenge Disney’s ESPN — Formula 1’s current US broadcaster — when the broadcast contract becomes available in 2026, according to sources of the FT.Formula 1’s US owners, Liberty Media, are hoping the F1 film, along with Netflix’s Drive to Survive docuseries, will have increased the value of the rights for its races by attracting younger, female and US audiences to the sport.The F1 film has already generated over $300 million at the Box Office since launching on June 27th, making it Apple’s highest-grossing film, while representing a pivot into producing mainstream blockbusters after commercial disappointments with Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon.Formula 1 makes in the region of $85 million per annum from its existing US broadcast deal. Formula 1 also streams live races on its own streaming service in the US, charging fans directly.ESPN had an exclusive period of time to negotiate a deal without competition from other bidders. However, that window ended without a deal in 2024.Formula 1’s audiences on ESPN has doubled to around 1.1 million since Liberty took over in 2024. In the first 10 events this year, the sport averaged 1.3 million viewers.
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