New F1 Broadcast Deal Worth Up To US$90 Million

According to Sports Business Journal (SBJ), Formula One (F1) has renewed its broadcasting rights with ESPN until 2025, after rejecting bids from Comcast, Amazon and Netflix.

The three-year deal, which doesn’t have a signed contract yet, is reportedly worth between US$75 million and US$90 million per year, a large increase from the US$5 million ESPN is currently paying.

SBJ said the deal gives the media company flexibility, with most races being aired on ESPN or ABC and an undetermined amount of events being shown exclusively on streaming platform, ESPN+..

Comcast, who is a major F1 partner through its subsidiary Sky, also made an offer similar to ESPN’s, however, linear coverage would be on NBC and USA Network, additionally, Comcast’s offer  would’ve seen several races broadcast on its streaming platform, Peacock.

Amazon put forward a reported $100M per year bid, including the right to sublicense to a linear broadcast network, with a Netflix bid also being rejected after F1 executives said they weren’t ready to put races on streaming services.

With races in several cities across North America, media executives have had the opportunity to expand the championship’s viewership, and as a result has seen F1’s market grow.