Apple"s highly anticipated race car movie F1, starring Brad Pitt, has become the tech company"s highest-grossing film ever, earning about $293 million worldwide. Now, a fresh report by the Financial Times suggests that Apple is eyeing to bid for Formula 1 broadcasting rights in the U.S.
Notably, the company is aiming to deepen its investment in live sports and capitalize on the buzz created by its F1 movie. This move from Apple will challenge Disney"s ESPN, which is the current Formula 1 American broadcaster. Apple may go on the table next year when the rights officially become available in 2026.
Formula 1"s U.S. owners, Liberty Media, are optimistic that the momentum generated by the F1 movie and Netflix"s Drive to Survive documentary series will help increase the value of race rights by attracting a young and new audience to the sport.
As far as earnings are concerned, Formula 1 earns around $85 million yearly from ESPN. But thanks to the Formula 1-centric movies, analysts at Citi project that the next bid could surpass $120 million per year. Viewership has also seen tremendous growth, almost doubling since 2018. The current average viewership stands at 1.3 million viewers in America, tuning in 2024.
Moreover, having deals with Major League Baseball in 2022 and North America"s Major League Soccer, Apple"s push to enter the F1 scene suggests that the company intends to push its presence in live sports streaming. ESPN did had an exclusive window to renew its contract, however, the company didn"t opt for it. This opened doors for several companies, including Apple to bid for the broadcasting rights.
F1 is yet to make a decision on its future broadcasting, and as per a person having direct knowledge of the matter, ESPN is highly likely to retain the rights. None among Apple, Liberty Media and Formula 1 has commented on this matter, as of now.