Apple has signed a five-year contract with Formula 1, as said in a joint statement from the parties. According to the agreement, starting in 2026, Apple will receive exclusive rights to broadcast all stages of the championship in the United States.
Financial terms have not been officially disclosed, but CNBC reports that the contract is worth $140 million annually. This is significantly more than the $90 million that ESPN, owned by Walt Disney, paid for showing Formula 1. Experts have estimated the total value of the deal at $750 million.
According to the agreements, the Apple TV service will broadcast all sessions of the championship: practice, qualifying, sprints and the Grand Prix. Some of the content, including individual races and training sessions, will be available for free in 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 with Formula 1 was a logical continuation of the successful collaboration during the creation of the film “F1 The Movie” with Brad Pitt. The film became the highest-grossing sports film in history, collecting $630 million. Its world streaming premiere will take place on December 12 on Apple TV.
Apple has experience in broadcasting sports events: since 2022, the company has been showing Friday baseball matches, as well as American football games. At the same time, the popularity of Formula 1 in the US has grown dramatically in recent years thanks to the Netflix series “Formula 1. Survival Drive”. Since 2018, the race’s television audience has doubled, averaging 1.1 million viewers per race in 2024. The first ten Grands Prix of the 2025 season have already attracted 1.3 million viewers each.
According to Nielsen Sports, the number of Formula 1 fans worldwide increased by almost 90 million people last year alone.
