Following its landmark exclusive U.S. streaming rights agreement for Formula 1 races on Apple TV, Apple is eager to expand its F1 coverage internationally. However, long-term deals held by incumbents like Sky (extended to 2034 in the UK) and varying rights cycles across Europe mean a broader global push could take several years, with analysts pointing to Germany, East Asia, or Africa as potential future opportunities.
Reuters:
Apple hopes to enter other markets after securing a five-year U.S. streaming deal to show Formula One races on Apple TV. Yet differing media rights cycles may act as a brake on the $4.37-trillion tech company’s global ambitions.
The Liberty Media-owned single seater is a popular live sports championship amongst fans, streaming services and traditional broadcasters.
“We have a buy on F1. I think you can really see that the sport is exploding in popularity. I think it’s gaining ground even in some of the more mature markets like Europe and the U.S. has really gained ground,” said Matthew Harrigan, an equity research analyst for Benchmark Company.
Comcast-owned Sky agreed to extend its F1 media rights deal to 2034 in the U.K. and 2032 in Italy at a premium price of one billion pounds ($1.34 billion), according to industry sources, ahead of its original 2029 expiration year in the U.K.
The current incumbents in Europe have varying F1 media rights cycles: French broadcaster Canal+’s deal ends in 2029, while sports streaming platform DAZN has an exclusive agreement to broadcast Grands Prix in Spain until the end of the 2026 season.
“If Apple truly does want to make this kind of a more global push, they’re going to do it region by region… and wait until these deals expire just to be able to try and compete for them,” [Morningstar’s Senior Equity Analyst William] Kerwin said.
MacDailyNews Take: Slow and steady wins the race.
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