Netflix expected to bid on broadcast rights to Formula 1

After the success of the Drive to Survive series, Netflix are expected to make a bid on broadcast rights to stream Formula 1 live.

Netflix is considering a bid to cash in on the success of its Drive to Survive series by trying to secure the US broadcast rights to Formula 1.

It would be the first significant foray into buying season-long mainstream sports rights by the streaming platform, but there has been huge growth in F1 fan numbers in the United States — which has three of the 24 F1 races — and the rights would be relatively cheap.

ESPN holds the rights at the moment under a $90 million (£72.5 million) deal, but it is understood that the broadcaster’s exclusivity period to negotiate a new contract with F1 has just expired, which has opened the market for bids from any other interested party. Industry sources have said that Netflix is expected to bid for the rights starting from the 2026 season.

Formula 1 could be live on Netflix from 2026. Picture: Getty Images

Netflix has also hired Kate Jackson, ESPN’s vice-president of production, who oversees the network’s F1 coverage, to be its director of sports and “manage the live sports projects that Netflix has in the works”, the Sports Business Journal has reported. Netflix has been approached for comment.

The next set of rights is expected to bring an increase in value, but still far below the kind of fees that other US sports, such as American football, command — Amazon is paying about $1 billion (£800 million) a year for NFL games on Thursday nights.

The streaming giant is looking to expand its’ live sport coverage. Picture: AFP

Other platforms such as Apple have also been linked with bidding for the F1 rights, and ESPN could also come back in despite failing to agree a renewal deal during its exclusivity period. Apple has the global rights for Major League Soccer but sources close to the process said it was highly unlikely that F1 would entertain a worldwide rights deal, as selling to individual territories works better for the sport.

Sky Sports has the UK live rights until 2029, and has a deal with Channel 4 for it to show the British Grand Prix live and highlights. Netflix’s interest in F1 would not appear to threaten the Sky/F1 partnership at the moment as it would be US-focused, but it certainly introduces another big player on to the global sports rights scene.

Netflix has so far restricted its live sports content to one-off or short-term events — it had the rights to two Christmas NFL games and has agreed deals with FIFA for the US rights for the 2027 and 2031 women’s World Cup.

However, it attracted incredible numbers for the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight in November — the most-streamed sporting event ever — and appears to have woken up to the fact that live sport can attract new subscribers in large numbers.

A poster for Formula 1: Drive to Survive' Season 4.

The Drive to Survive series, which gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the F1 season, has a cumulative audience of more than 800 million across six seasons — a third of those are in the US, which is the sport’s largest growth market.

TV audiences of F1 races have doubled in the US since 2018, with organisers citing research findings that there are 45 million fans there, and 50 per cent of those started following the sport only in the past five years.

The Tyson-Paul fight and the two NFL games — one featured a half-time performance by the singer Beyoncé — helped to drive astonishing growth in subscriber numbers, up by 19 million in the most recent quarter to bring the platform’s total to more than 300 million, and generated tens of millions of pounds in advertising.

Netflix last month launched its weekly coverage of World Wrestling Entertainment’s Raw after striking a ten-year deal worth $5 billion.

Originally published as Netflix expected to bid on broadcast rights to Formula 1