Apple Reportedly Has Interest in Global F1 Racing Rights

Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass may have a new sibling streaming platform soon. According to Business F1 Magazine, Apple has interest in bidding on Formula One rights when they become available, and may make the racing league an offer it can’t refuse.

Business F1 reports that Apple could be willing to pay up to $2 billion per season for the rights. ESPN currently holds the broadcast rights to F1 racing in the United States, after beating out competitors like Netflix to acquire the rights until 2025. As with any potential sports deal, exclusivity is important to Apple, and it may register a bid that offers a sliding scale of rights payments that increases as the number of exclusive races Apple gets also rises.

The success of the first season of MLS Season Pass has emboldened Apple when it comes to chasing live sports. The platform first launched ahead of the MLS season in March but didn’t really take off until international soccer star Lionel Messi announced over the summer he was signing with Inter Miami CF. Almost 50% of the platform's subscribers have signed up to see Messi play, and now Apple has the confidence to go after other sports as well.

Indeed, the company was quite ready to partner with the Pac-12 before that conference dissolved like a sand sculpture in a rainstorm in August. Apple was also a finalist to land NFL Sunday Ticket late last year, but the lack of exclusivity of NFL games helped convince the tech giant to take a step back, and the package ultimately landed on YouTube TV.

Formula One has not been scared off by the smaller audience sizes that streaming platforms carry as opposed to linear TV. The company entertained bids from Netflix for its American broadcasting rights last year, and while that streamer ultimately lost out on hosting live races, it does carry the popular F1-themed series “Formula One: Drive to Survive.” F1 also partners with Paramount+ for advertising purposes, though no live races are currently on that streamer.

Apple could become the exclusive streaming home of F1 racing in the course of the next few years if it goes through with the bid that Business F1 Magazine reports it’s considering. That amount would be double what F1 is receiving for its rights now and would be a very hard offer to pass up, even if Apple can’t immediately match the distribution power of linear TV with its streaming services.