Apple is in talks to acquire the U.S. streaming rights to F1 races, once the organizers’ current broadcast contract ends in 2026, according to The Financial Times (a subscription is required to read the article).
This may be spurred by the success of Apple Original Films’ “F1” movie. However, securing the F1 broadcast rights is far from a done deal.
Disney-owned EPSN has the U.S. rights. Reportedly, ESPN did have an exclusive option to negotiate continuing the present contract, but that ended in 2024 without a deal. Consequently, ESPN can now face competition from Apple and, according to two unnamed sources, potentially other bidders.