via Reuters
Formula One F1 – United States Grand Prix – Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, U.S. – October 22, 2021 Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez during practice REUTERS/Brian Snyder TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
via Reuters
Formula One F1 – United States Grand Prix – Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, U.S. – October 22, 2021 Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez during practice REUTERS/Brian Snyder TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
F1 will stay with ESPN in the United States of America. After much negotiations over the new broadcasting rights deal for the sport, F1 has decided to continue its partnership with ESPN.
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ESPN, which comes under the umbrella of the Disney family, will share broadcasting duties with ABC. Previously, the broadcasting giant was paying around $5 million per year for rights.
As reported by Sportsbusinessjournal, the new deal has now increased to a total of $75-$90 million a year from 2023 to 2025. While there were several companies vying for the honor to get the rights to F1, it was ESPN that beat out the likes of Amazon and Comcast’s NBC.
READ MORE: Cost of holding an F1 race
With the growing interest in the sport in the US, F1 naturally wanted a bigger deal, involving more money from ESPN. There were intense discussions held between F1 and Disney for quite some time. Domenicali even revealed that they were looking for some other options.
F1 CEO comments on the broadcast deal for the sport in the US
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F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali did not really reveal the number that the sport was asking, but he mentioned that there were many players in the market. Companies like HBO and Peacock also threw their hats in the mix.
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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 07: Stefano Domenicali, CEO of the Formula One Group, looks on in the Paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on April 07, 2022, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
The F1 CEO said his team was “exploring all of the opportunities” and “not in a rush to make the decision.” While Liberty Media Head Greg Maffei gave a more detailed answer. “I don’t think, as you know, it’s a complete trade-off. There will be degrees of access, degrees of coverage, and there’ll be degrees of money,” said Maffei.
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Interestingly, even Netflix made a bid for the broadcast rights for F1, but the sport wasn’t ready to stream the races on the platform as of yet. Netflix and its series Drive to Survive have played a key role in the sport’s marketization in the US. The series has had a huge part to play in getting F1 the popularity that the sport enjoys at the moment. Do you want F1 to stream on Netflix?
