Formula 1 News: A single media rights deal in USA expected

When Formula 1’s American media rights deal expires after the 2025 season, Liberty Media expects to award the new broadcast rights deal in the USA to a single network

Per the Sports Business Journal, F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali said that multiple packages for the circuit’s media rights didn’t appear to be on the cards. Domenicali claimed having multiple media partners could create “more confusion” among viewers.

This year has been an especially strong one for F1 on ESPN, with May’s Miami Grand Prix, the Monaco Grand Prix, and June’s Canadian Grand Prix all setting record viewership.

The 2024 Formula 1 season continues with the Dutch Grand Prix on August 25th.

F1 on ESPN

Formula 1 returned to ESPN in 2018 – in 2022, the championship enjoyed its most-viewed year ever on American television as an average of 1.21 million viewers watched each race, and in 2023 F1 enjoyed its second most-viewed season ever. In the fall of 2022, ESPN and Formula 1 announced a three-year renewal that will keep F1 races on ESPN and ABC through 2025.

In 2024, ESPN and ABC is again televise all races in the championship as well as practice and qualifying sessions, with selected races also streaming on ESPN+. The first Formula 1 race ever aired in the U.S. was on ABC in 1962.

An award-winning team of broadcasters convey the excitement of F1 to American viewers in 2024 as ESPN, Sky Sports and Formula 1 join forces to bring Sky Sports’ presentation of the championship to the U.S. Sky is a leading entertainment company in Europe, serving 22.5 million customers across five countries – UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy.

Sky Sports’ comprehensive coverage includes commentary and analysis from a lineup of former world champions and current F1 drivers as well as expert presenters. The agreement for ESPN to air the Sky Sports coverage was arranged by Formula 1, with the approval of ESPN and Sky.