Apple just secured a game changer, the exclusive U.S. Formula 1 broadcast rights, and it might be the company’s boldest streaming play yet. We are talking about approximately $140-150 million annually over five years, a 55 percent jump over ESPN's current $90 million contract. The check size says it all. Apple is not only buying content, it is positioning Apple TV as the exclusive home of all F1 races in the United States beginning in 2026 while staking a claim as the premium destination for next-generation sports entertainment.
What’s actually included in this blockbuster deal?
Let’s break it down. Starting in 2026, Apple TV will carry every practice session, qualifying round, Sprint event, and Grand Prix across the F1 season. Here is the simple part, everything runs through Apple TV’s standard $12.99 monthly fee, with no add-ons, no tiers, and no additional logins. One app, one price, no fuss.
Apple is also seeding the funnel. Select races and all practice sessions throughout the season will also be available to watch for free in the Apple TV app. Let people sample the speed, then invite them into the full-season experience.
What about existing F1 TV subscribers? The switch matters for wallets. F1 TV Premium will continue to be available in the U.S. via an Apple TV subscription only and will be free for those who subscribe. That effectively moves dedicated fans from the current $85 annual F1 TV plan to $155.88 per year for Apple TV. The trade, access to Apple’s broader entertainment ecosystem and a promise of tighter tech integration.
Why Formula 1 makes perfect sense for Apple’s ecosystem
Apple’s F1 grab does not live in a vacuum. The company has been expanding its sports portfolio through partnerships with Major League Soccer (MLS) and Major League Baseball (MLB), but F1 is the clean fit, a sport whose audience lines up with Apple’s core customers and whose week-to-week drama rewards premium production.
The timing hits. The U.S. fanbase for F1 reached 52 million in 2024. Forty-seven percent of new U.S. fans are aged 18-24, and over half of new U.S. fans are female. Young, digital first, curious. Apple territory.
The movie test run mattered. Apple co-produced the F1 movie, which grossed over $628 million worldwide and will debut on Apple TV on December 12. F1 The Movie remains the highest-grossing sports film and the highest-grossing original feature of the year. That is not just synergy, it is proof that the audience shows up across Apple’s screens.
How Apple plans to revolutionize F1 broadcasting
Apple is not planning to just park F1 on a menu and call it good. Apple will amplify the sport across Apple News, Apple Maps, Apple Music, Apple Sports, and Apple Fitness+. Picture race alerts in News, playlists in Music, even venue discovery in Maps. The whole stack working in concert.
The tech canvas is big. Industry experts suggest ideas like 360-degree cameras for Apple Vision Pro headsets and custom rigs for immersive broadcasting. Apple treats these partnerships as laboratories for interactivity, immersion, and cross-device integration. In other words, F1 could become the test bed for what comes next in sports viewing.
Look at MLS for a preview, sleek graphics, rich stats, blackout-free streams. Now bend that to F1’s rhythm. Race weekends are concentrated, the sport is technical, the data is endless. Think real-time telemetry overlays, control over multiple camera angles, AR callouts for tire wear or fuel levels. That kind of depth is tailor made for Apple’s ecosystem, and it is a lift traditional TV has struggled to match.
What this means for the streaming wars and sports rights
This is a line in the sand. The partnership means that F1's time on ESPN will draw to a close at the end of the current season, ending a run where ESPN had been the broadcast partner since 2018 and through the explosion of popularity of F1 in the United States.
The money is a statement. Yes, Apple has felt some bumps, the 2024 MLS Cup Final delivered all-time low viewership for the match, despite being available to stream for free. F1 is a different beast, a global fanbase used to digital platforms, appointment viewing on race weekends, a tech-forward crowd that seeks out premium experiences.
F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali framed it as more than a rights deal, calling it an incredibly exciting partnership for both Formula 1 and Apple that will ensure continued growth potential in the U.S. with the right content and innovative distribution channels. The focus, bringing this amazing sport to fans in the U.S. and enticing new fans through live broadcasts, engaging content, and a year-round approach that leans on Apple’s ecosystem in ways traditional broadcasters could not.
Where do we go from here?
Bottom line, Apple’s F1 deal resets expectations for premium sports in streaming. By locking in a fast-growing global property, Apple is not just adding a tile to a homepage, it is building a destination for a highly engaged, affluent audience that fits its broader strategy.
The big question is execution. Can Apple deliver an innovative, immersive experience that justifies pulling F1 away from traditional TV? Apple's approach to streaming F1 will leverage its other apps and services like Apple Music and Apple News. That hints at something more than race broadcasts, a year-round ecosystem designed to convert curiosity into loyalty.
Put simply, F1’s U.S. growth, Apple’s integration playbook, and a digital native fanbase give this partnership a real runway. Success still depends on whether Apple can turn that built-in engagement into sustained viewership while rolling out the tech touches that make the premium label feel earned.
Lights out in 2026. Both sides are betting they sprint, not stumble, to the first corner. If they hit their marks, this could reshape what we expect from sports broadcasting in the streaming era.
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