Piastri factor puts heat on Formula 1 TV rights race

Nine is planning a swoop on the Formula 1 broadcast rights for its Stan Sport platform, with home-grown star Oscar Piastri’s championship lead adding extra value to the sport’s already-rapidly growing fan base.

The company’s chief executive, Matt Stanton, confirmed Nine’s interest in the lucrative rights package on Wednesday, joking that Piastri’s career-best form is pushing the price up.

Oscar Piastri celebrates another Grand Prix win this week.Credit: Getty

Asked if Nine was interested in the rights package, Stanton responded “yep, definitely”, while speaking at the Macquarie Australia Conference.

“I am the only person cheering he doesn’t actually win,” Stanton jokingly added on Piastri’s early-season dominance.

Stanton’s comments come amid ongoing speculation the company is also close to a deal with telecommunications giant Optus to take on its Optus Sport brand, home to the English Premier League in Australia. A deal for either would transform Stan’s sports tier offering. Optus’ current deal, worth about $100 million a year, still has three years to run.

Stanton did not address the Optus speculation during his appearance.

Optus Sport is also the broadcaster for the FA Cup and Women’s Super League, home to Matildas star Sam Kerr. Both a Nine and Optus spokesperson said there was no imminent deal, when approached last week.

Nine, meanwhile, is expected to complete a deal to sell its digital real estate business Domain to American firm CoStar in the next week.

Foxtel currently broadcasts every race of the F1 championship behind a paywall, apart from the Australian Grand Prix, which is aired by Network 10. Network 10 owner Paramount is also likely to consider a bid for the full rights package.

The rights to the F1 championship are soon to officially go to market, with Foxtel understood to be in the final year of its three-year contract renegotiated in 2022, worth about $45 million a year. Foxtel’s new parent company, DAZN, is the broadcast partner in Japan, Portugal and Spain.

Foxtel was approached for comment. Formula 1’s media team did not respond to a request for comment.

Formula 1 has emerged as a statistical anomaly among sports, with a rapidly growing fan base, in part owing to the success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive, with younger fans, and crucially, women, its highest growing demographic. About 41 per cent of its fans are now women.

The Australian Grand Prix, held annually in Albert Park and recently reinstalled as the season-opener, is broadcast by Network 10. The broadcast is protected by federal anti-siphoning laws, which demand certain sporting events of national interest remain free to access.

This year’s event in Melbourne attracted a record crowd across the four days.

Piastri, in just his third year, is leading the drivers’ championship for McLaren, and has won the three most recent races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami. He has emerged as a fan favourite globally and is tipped to challenge for the Drivers Championship for many years to come.

Optus, which broadcasts the Premier League, floated the idea of offloading its sports streaming service last year.Credit: Getty Images

F1 rights bring with it an audience of between 200,000 and 400,000 subscribers, according to industry figures. Across the past decade, the championship has added five more race weekends, with 24 different circuits on the 2025 calendar.

The F1 season would complement Stan’s motor sports offering, which includes Indycar, the World Endurance Championship, and the World Rally Championship. Stan also holds the rights to all four tennis grand slams, as well as the Summer and Winter Olympics and the Paralympics.

Last month, Nine agreed to a new broadcast rights deal with Rugby Australia worth $210 million across five years. Wallabies, Wallaroos and Super Rugby matches will air across Nine, 9Now and Stan. Nine owns Stan and is the owner of this masthead.

Stan’s subscriber base has stagnated over the past few years, facing increasing competition from international streamers with more money for programming.

Meanwhile, Foxtel has a much more extensive suite of motor sports rights, which includes NASCAR, MotoGP and the Supercars championship. Its rights package for Supercars also expires in 2025.

It is one of several negotiation battles Foxtel faces this year. Its partnership with the NRL is also set to be tested, and it recently lost its exclusive access to ESPN, the broadcaster of the NBA and NFL, now also offered as part of a Disney+ subscription.

F1’s broadcast rights are being sold separately in Australia to an ongoing process in the United States; however, a bid by Netflix for the global rights has been speculated. The sport’s interest has grown significantly in the US since its last renegotiation with ESPN, and the US now hosts three races.

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