American Popularity Strikes Again as F1 Prepares for Broadcasting War in the US

F1 has seen some tremendous growth in viewership in the USA over the last few years. The growth can be majorly credited to Netflix’s docuseries Drive to Survive. Currently, fans of the sport can catch the races on ESPN; however, this might see a change soon.

ESPN’s current deal with F1 over broadcast rights in the USA is about to end. More importantly, a new deal is not going to be cheap.

New F1 broadcasting deal

ESPN took over the broadcasting rights in the USA from NBC back in 2018. The 3 year deal between F1 and ESPN is set to end this year and renewal is going to cost them big. Liberty Media President Greg Maffei recently said, “we have a lot of interest. And it’s likely to be at a much better price for us that’s hopefully still good for our broadcast partners too.”

The increase in viewership in the States has been steady year on year. The first 2 races of the 2022 season have seen around 1.4 million viewers on ESPN. That number is only going to increase with the years as F1 is in a period of massive Americanization.

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They have also recently announced a 3rd US Grand Prix set to be held in Las Vegas from 2023. Chiefly, this will help in capturing audiences in the states.

Broadcasters fight it out

Many companies are looking to secure broadcasting rights to the sport in the USA. Some of the biggest names in the space including HULU and Netflix are ready to splash the cash to land the deal.

There are also reports of Amazon entering the talks. The company is already a part of the sport with their AWS collaboration. Even Apple wants to get the races for their Apple Tv platform.

Formula 1 as a group made nearly $770 million in Q4 of the last financial year. This is a 67% increase from last year’s figures. The financial success will increase Liberty Media’s asking price for the renewal.

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However, Disney-backed ESPN currently looks to be in a prime position to get an extension and will not be shy to put in a hefty bid.