World’s largest tech corporation all set for major F1 $150M per year breakthrough

ESPN currently holds the broadcasting rights for F1 in the US and streams the race live along with F1TV. However, as ESPN’s broadcast deal comes to an end, the World’s largest technology corporation, Apple, has come out as the surprise contender for the F1 broadcasting rights in the US starting in 2026.

Apple Original Films, F1: The Movie, has received worldwide success since its launch a few weeks ago and has a global revenue of around $400 million. The movie featured Brad Pitt & Damson Idris, and was directed by Top Gun Maverick director Joseph Kosinski.

Following the success of the F1 Movie, Apple has reportedly shown interest in taking the US broadcasting rights for the F1 races. The biggest tech corporation with a market cap of $3.172 billion has reportedly been in contact with Formula One Management over the same.

ESPN, the current F1 broadcaster in the US, for the rights in 2018 after NBC decided to opt out of the deal. Although ESPN acquired the rights for no cost, it was set at $5M a year for the 2022 season following the global boom of the racing series, courtesy of the Netflix docuseries, Drive to Survive.

F1 continued growing over the next few years following the Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton rivalry in 2021, the new regulations in 2022, social media and of course the new seasons of the Netflix docuseries. The current ESPN F1 dealmfie the US broadcasting rights, is believed to be worth $75-90M.

As per the latest reports, Apple has reportedly offered the Formula One Management $150 million a year for the F1 broadcasting rights. With the sport growing and the F1 movie's success, viewership is expected to skyrocket. Hence, FOM is reportedly wanting a deal between $150-180M for the US market.

If FOM gives Apple the F1 broadcasting rights, they reportedly will continue streaming the races on the F1 TV. Apple is already working on a document about Ferrari's F1 driver and seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.

Apple CEO on the Lewis Hamilton F1 documentary being in the works

Lewis Hamilton was one of the co-producers on the F1 Movie and reportedly played a huge role in bringing realism to the movie. The F1 movie was Apple’s biggest success on the screen, and the tech giant has already started production of a Hamilton documentary.

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke about the documentary as he said,

“Lewis is very inspiring for me. He came from a working-class family. He broke all of the 'then rules' about who was going to be driving and who couldn't drive. Started with a go-kart and now he's an F1 driver. That's an incredible life story.” “Fortunately, we're also doing a documentary on Lewis, and I can't wait. I can't wait, because I think it's the ripple in the pond that will inspire millions of people,” he added

As the negotiations continue between Apple and FOM, ESPN reportedly doesn't have any interest in paying the amount of $150M for the contract renewal.

Edited by pranavsethii