Formula One (F1) could be on its way to a new platform after ESPN has decided it would not be renewing its rights package, per a report from John Ourand at Puck News.
F1 executives met with NBC and Netflix during Super Bowl Week in New Orleans and discussed bringing the racing circuit to their platforms, per the report.
Since 2018, ESPN and its family of networks have been the home of the premier international racing league in the United States. The deal brought F1 coverage to ESPN platforms, including ESPN+ for $90 million per year. After the 024 Formula 1 World Championship season, ESPN announced that F1 reached nearly 30 million fans on its platforms. On a per-race average, viewership tied the 2023 season for the most-viewed season ever on US TV, the network announced.
Over the years, F1 viewership has nearly doubled on average on ESPN networks from 554,000 viewers in 2018 to 1.1 million viewers in 2023. Even with this increase, ESPN is looking to move on and focus on the launch of Flagship with “top-tier leagues,” per the Puck report.
From Ourand’s report:
ESPN liked being in business with F1, but decided that a price increase did not make business sense for programming that averages about 1.1 million viewers per race.
Ourand points out that ESPN’s focus is on the College Football Playoffs, NBA, WNBA, NCAA sports, and the newly acquired Inside the NBA from TNT as part of a settlement with Warner Bros. Discovery, among others.
What This Could Mean for Peacock & Netflix Subscribers
As sports continue to transition from dying linear networks to the growing streaming space, subscribers have noticed an increase in their monthly subscriptions. NBC’s Peacock has a study lineup of sports, including the NFL, PGA TOUR, the Kentucky Derby, WWE, Olympic coverage, and racing juggernaut NASCAR, among others. NBC Sports was home to the IndyCar Series for 16 years but after the 2024 season, the open-wheel car racing league signed a deal with FOX.
With the loss of IndyCar, acquiring F1 would strengthen Peacock’s motorsports coverage. F1 aired on NBC from 2012 to 2018, and if it returns next season, it would join the NBA as another reunited sport for NBC. These deals could mean another price hike as Peacock continues to expand its sports portfolio. The last time Peacock saw a price hike, it was a $2 increase in 2024.
For Netflix, its ventures into live sports have proved to be fruitful. The streaming behemoth signed a 10-year deal that brought WWE Raw to the platform, which had 4.9 million global views during its Netflix premiere. The first major live event on the streamer was inside the ring, but it was a boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson that was plagued with buffering and other technical issues. However, the streamer learned from those issues and streamed the NFL on Christmas Day without any problems. Netflix reportedly paid around $150 million to stream both of those games on the gridiron, and coincidentally, increased its prices earlier this year.
“As we continue to invest in programming and deliver more value for our members, we will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix,” the company said of the price increases.
For F1, from the outside looking in, a deal with Netflix makes the most sense. The two already have an existing relationship, with Netflix being home to F1’s Drive to Survive. Studies project the costs of streaming to increase by over 70% by 2035, as more sports head to streaming, the checkered flag could be waved sooner rather than later.
Credit: Puck News