Why Apple is looking to expand its F1 footprint

10/07/2025 14:00

According to multiple reports, Apple is making a big play for F1 broadcast rights. Here's why

Apple wants a bigger bite of the Formula 1 apple, as it were.

Fresh off the worldwide release of the F1 movie, an Apple TV+ original production starring Brad Pitt and produced in part by Lewis Hamilton, the company is making a move towards securing broadcast rights in the United States. According to multiple reports, first in the Financial Timesand then from Dylan Byers at Puck, the company has submitted a bid to F1 and Liberty Media, the owners of the racing series, to secure TV rights in the United States.

The Financial Times first reported on the bid, followed by Byers who reported on the staggering offer from Apple. According to Byers, the company offered "in between $150 million and $200 million per year — far above the reported $85 million to $90 million that ESPN is currently paying per annum, and far beyond what ESPN can rationally afford."

The reason behind this bid? According to the Financial Times, Apple is persuaded by F1's popularity due in large part to the success of F1 at the box office. Over this past weekend, the movie crossed the $300 million mark at the box office, making it the most successful Apple TV+ original production ever.

The movie surpassed the $250 million global milestone in just ten days, and is showing no signs of slowing down.

This reporting comes on the heels of another successful weekend for ESPN on the F1 front. The network reported on Tuesday night that last weekend's British Grand Prix "averaged 1.5 million viewers, a 19 percent audience gain over last year's race and the largest audience ever for the event on U.S. television, per Nielsen."

In the press release, ESPN noted that the 2025 F1 season has been a "record-breaking" campaign for the network, as "11 of 12 races held so far this season have had year-over-year viewership growth and seven of the 12 have set event viewership records."

Those numbers, and the success of F1 at the box office, are certainly reasons why Apple would be interested in getting deeper into the sport. But there are two more reasons, both of which arrive on the grid next year:

Ford, and Cadillac.

For years the expansion of F1 into the United States market has been a focal point for the sport, its owners, and those of us who cover the series daily. Many point to the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive as a reason for the sport's growing popularity in America, but ESPN certainly played a role as well as the sport's TV rights holders. That growing fan base in the United States has seen the F1 schedule add two new races stateside, first the Miami Grand Prix and then the Las Vegas Grand Prix, to join the United States Grand Prix in Austin.

At this year's Miami Grand Prix the sport announced a massive ten-year extension of the race, keeping the event on the calendar through 2041. F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali spoke to the media, including SB Nation, about the importance of the Miami Grand Prix and the United States market.

"Well, first of all, it's great to announce that because as always in this moment of an incredible period of growth of Formula One, we want to make sure that we stay tuned and work together with the best partner that we have," began Domenicali during a press conference in Miami back in May.

"Then secondly of course confirming that Miami will be part of our bigger strategy to be even stronger in the United States of America, and this is a place where it's crucial to be," continued the F1 President.

"We have shared a lot of thinking together to make sure that this event will be as it has been incredibly successful, but also could be one of the most important pillars for our growth in this country that, as you know, is representing the place where we do believe we can do a lot of things together."

But next year two flagship American manufacturers arrive on the grid, Ford in a power unit partnership with Red Bull and Cadillac as the 11th team on the F1 grid.

Apple's bet with this reported bid on F1 rights in the United States is that a combination of the F1 movie, coupled with Ford and Cadillac joining the grid, is going to power another explosion in the sport's popularity in the United States.

This will of course be a big decision for F1, and Liberty Media. ESPN currently offers a reach for the sport beyond what Apple TV can offer. According to Byers, if ESPN wants to retain F1 broadcast rights the network "will inevitably have to persuade Liberty [Media]'s John Malone and Derek Chang to take less from ESPN in order to maintain the reach and marketing that ESPN provides."

ESPN can certainly put marketing muscle behind their products, and last year's United States Grand Prix is a great example. As luck would have it Texas hosted Georgia in a matchup of two Top-5 teams in the nation in Austin on the Saturday of race weekend, which meant that ESPN's College Gameday crew was in town.

Meaning we got to see Nick Saban take a hot lap around Circuit of the Americas:

Of course, with reports that Apple spent $100 million in marketing for F1, they can certainly put some muscle behind a campaign of their own.

But then there is the question of reach. According to one source, ESPN was in approximately 70 million households in 2023, and while that number may have dipped to around 68 million in 2025, ESPN can also point to around 24 million subscribers to their ESPN+ streaming service.

There may be some households that have both, however.

Compare those numbers with the number of subscribers to Apple TV — which comes in around 45 million — and you can see where a concern over the smaller reach Apple offers could factor into play for Liberty Media.

What might offset that concern is the success of F1's own streaming service, F1TV. In a call with investors in May Liberty Media CEO Derek Chang spoke about the success of the streaming product, and how that product will need to fit in alongside any television rights holders.

"Viewership across the weekend is up sort of 45% year over year. I think F1TV's growth is up 20% here in the US. I think the overall health of the business continues to resonate," said Chang during the call in May, as relayed by noted F1 scribe Adam Cooper.

"And what that means is I think – and not even this year and this renewal negotiation – what that means for the long term is pretty significant.

"I still think we're in the early stages of growth for F1 in the US, and having the take up of F1TV being what it is in the US at this early stage, it speaks volumes about the passion for the sport, and I think puts us in a great position well into the future."

Chang then addressed the idea of reach, as well as the sport's F1TV product.

"When you zoom back in and think about how you balance F1TV and a broader media rights deal, we will see how things play out," said Chang.

"We will see what partners want in their deals, and we will see what makes the most sense for F1 in terms of balancing things like reach, but also having products like this for ourselves so that we can actually understand our customers as well as we can, because it goes beyond sort of what we're delivering to them on the content side, but what also we can deliver the most engaged fans across the board in terms of engaging with F1."

That standalone product could ease fears over a lack of reach with a move to Apple.

Still, ESPN's success this season, and their broad reach, could keep them players in this discussion.

Ultimately, Apple has seen the growth of the sport here in the United States, the success of the F1 movie, and with two big American manufacturers joining the grid next season, a potential for even more eyes on the sport come next year.

Which seems like a bet they are willing to make.