The United States broadcast rights for Formula 1 could be set for a bidding war.
According to a report from Samuel Agini and Michael Acton at the Financial Times, Apple is in discussion with the racing series to take over the rights to broadcast Formula 1 in the United States. Those rights are currently held by Disney’s ESPN, but their agreement ends at the conclusion of this season.
Apple has already established extremely close ties with Formula 1, having recently produced the film F1 starring Brad Pitt with a huge buy-in from both the drivers and the ownership groups of the racing league. Should Apple go through with the deal, it would add another heavy hitter to the tech company’s growing roster of sports rights, which currently includes Major League Soccer and a weekly package of MLB games.
Beyond Apple, it would not be surprising to see Netflix, whose documentary series Drive to Survive helped spark interest in the sport in the United States, make a bid for the broadcast rights moving forward.
According to the Financial Times, ESPN currently pays roughly $85 million per year for the rights to broadcast Formula 1 in the U.S. That number is expected to drastically increase with the next deal, regardless of which company ultimately lands the prize.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Apple Could Dive Further Into Formula 1 Partnership After Success of ‘F1’ Film.