ESPN’s exclusive negotiating window with F1 has expired without a deal, according to reports and a source familiar with the matter, an indication that the racing property could be seeking a major increase in the value of its media rights.
ESPN signed a three-year deal with London-based F1 for the ’23-25 seasons and has been immersed in talks for months. During the F1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix in November, ESPN confirmed to SBJ that it would like to extend.
Last week, the London Times reported that Netflix is considering a bid for F1’s rights in the U.S. and that ESPN’s exclusivity period had lapsed. A person familiar with the matter independently confirmed that to SBJ. ESPN declined to comment when contacted Monday night.
ESPN has been paying between $75M-$90M a year for the rights to F1, which is owned by Liberty Media. But given the continued interest around sports rights and the curiosity that F1 has generated, F1 is likely to seek a major increase in the value of the rights, according to multiple industry experts. An exact figure could not be confirmed, but a sizable leap from $90M would take the property into the nine figures in U.S. media revenue annually.
“If I’m Formula 1, I’m looking at the growth of Tier 1 sports in this marketplace and I’m saying I want my cut, and I’d be going to market very aggressively,” said Dan Cohen, executive vice president of media rights advisory at Octagon, which is not working with F1 on the search but has advised other motorsports properties on media rights.
“(F1 is likely) talking about not only the fact that I’m bringing in 1.3-1.4 million [viewers] consistently week in, week out, but I also give them global reach as a sport, which is unique to Formula 1 versus other motorsports – NASCAR, IndyCar – in this marketplace. It’s also the best in my opinion motorsport property to work with if you’re trying to attract high-end, high-value brands to your platform or network.”
Other companies with rights in motorsports include NBC Sports, Fox Sports, Prime Video, WBD and The CW. Netflix famously spurred F1’s growth since the pandemic through the “Drive to Survive” docu-series, the seventh season of which will be released next month.
NASCAR makes $1.1 billion in annual rights fees in the U.S., while IndyCar is closer to $20 million.
While not putting a specific figure on it, Cohen predicted that F1 will earn an increase, as the property “will continue to grow in popularity in this market, A) because there’s still the ripple effects of ‘Drive to Survive,’ B), because more U.S. companies, brands and agencies are representing and getting involved with the sport and C), you’ve got three races now in the U.S. that will continue to become buzzy certainly around the weeks leading up to the race.”
He cautioned against putting all of F1’s races behind a paywall akin to what MLS has done with Apple TV, noting that the racing series may not be mature enough in the U.S. to do that and still keep growing. F1’s viewership has somewhat plateaued in the U.S. since 2022, as it averaged 1.12 million viewers for races in 2024 versus 1.1 million in 2023.
Still, there’s reason for optimism this year as seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton makes a highly anticipated move from Mercedes to Ferrari and as Apple prepares to release its new feature film with Brad Pitt around the series.
ESPN originally got F1’s rights for free in 2018, after NBC Sports previously licensed them, and ESPN agreed to pay $5M a year from 2020 through 2022. F1 then earned a major increase for the ’23-25 cycle after the sport’s popularity exploded.
