Apple buys the right to broadcast Formula 1 in the US for $750 million
Photo: EPA

Company Apple has signed a five-year contract with Formula One, according to their joint statement. Under the terms of the agreement, Apple received exclusive rights to broadcast all stages of the championship in the United States starting in 2026.

The parties did not disclose the financial details of the contract. Pros information CNBC, the deal is worth $140 million a year. This is significantly higher than the $90 million that Walt Disney-owned ESPN paid for Formula 1 each season.

Publication arstechnica і Variety valued the deal at $750 million.

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Under the terms of the agreement, the Apple TV streaming service will broadcast training sessions, qualifying, sprints and the F1 Grand Prix. Some content, including individual races and training sessions, will be available for free on the Apple TV app.

The F1 TV Premium platform will remain available in the US only through an Apple TV subscription.

Apple emphasized that the partnership was a continuation of the successful cooperation started during the work on the movie "F1 The Movie" з Brad Pitt. It became the highest-grossing sports movie in history, grossing $630 million.

The film will make its global streaming debut on Apple TV on December 12.

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Apple already has experience in showing sporting events. Since 2022, the company has been broadcasting Friday baseball games and also shows American football games.

The popularity of auto racing in the United States has increased dramatically in recent years, thanks in part to the Netflix series Formula 1. Survival Drive" series from Netflix. Since 2018, the TV audience for the races has doubled and amounted to 1.1 million viewers for each round in 2024. The first ten Grand Prix of 2025 gathered an average of 1.3 million people in front of the screens.

According to Nielsen Sports, the number of Formula 1 fans increased by almost 90 million last year.