Apple wants to take over Formula 1 rights for $ 150 million a year!

Apple wants to take over Formula 1 rights for $ 150 million a year!

Apple has been heavily involved in the sports sector recently and is now planning to take over the transfer rights for Formula 1 in the USA. This would be an important step for the company, which made an offer of at least $ 150 million ($ 128.39 million) per year for the racing transfers from 2026, Krone .

The current right holder ESPN, which belongs to the Walt Disney Company, will probably not respond to Apple's offer. The exclusivity period of ESPN for a contract extension with Formula 1 expired in February. Apple could thus present Formula 1 with contemporary technologies and a new approach. Loud Yahoo Sports is Apple the leading bidder and is about to be awarded the contract.

Details for taking over the rights

The Apple bid exceeds ESPN’s current offer of around $ 85 million a year. ESPN had scheduled a counter offer of $ 95 million, but will not be able to beat Apple's offer. Liberty Media, the owner of Formula 1, tends to accept Apple's offer due to the considerable price differences. Apple Manager, including CEO Tim Cook, recently introduced your bid at the Allen & Company conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.

The success of the film "F1: The Movie", which recorded over $ 300 million worldwide, could also have a positive impact on the contractual discussions. In addition, the new technologies used in the film have the potential to improve the audience experience in Formula 1 broadcasts.

contextualization and challenges

Apple would start the sports area for the third time after it has already acquired rights to the Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer. At the same time, the change from traditional transmissions to streaming platforms such as Apple TV represents a challenge. Fans who adhere to regular cable television could feel that they feel. This change could exclude some loyal viewers, similar to other sports.

The popularity of Formula 1 has recently increased through Netflix 'successful documentary series "Drive to Survive", which attracted many new fans. This season, ESPN recorded an average of 1.3 million viewers per race, which is an enormous increase compared to other years. However, it remains uncertain whether Apple can reach these number of spectators, since the company does not offer transparency in the ratings of its sports programs.

These developments in the field of sports transmission rights are followed by a larger trend that we also observe in other countries. In Germany, the broadcasts of many sports such as basketball and ice hockey are increasingly disappearing from the free TV, which leads to a change to abomodels in platforms such as Amazon Prime Video and Telekom, as trial month