Netflix joins NBC, Amazon among suitors for F1’s US TV rights

Netflix joined NBC and Amazon among bidders seeking to become Formula One’s US broadcast partner as the contract for the TV rights of global motorsport series with Disney-owned ESPN approaches its renewal date.

ESPN, which has broadcast the series in the US since 2018, has confirmed an interest in renewing its contract.

However, ESPN's initial bid was around US$70 million, well below the US$100 million that Formula One is reportedly expecting.

ESPN agreed to pay a low annual fee for the Formula One rights in 2017 and has enjoyed considerable growth in its broadcast audiences after extending its contract in 2019 for an estimated US$5 million per year charge.

The considerable increase can be attributed to the sport's increased popularity in recent years. On May 8, the Miami Grand Prix attracted a record-breaking 2.6 million viewers on Disney-owned ABC, making it the greatest ever audience for a live Formula One telecast on American television.

Netflix, the company behind the Formula One docuseries Drive to Survive, has never entered the live sports market previously, making the bidding process challenging owing to a lack of in-house sports negotiators.

However, after losing 200,000 subscribers at the start of this year, taking US$50 billion off its market value, the streaming behemoth has begun the process of developing live programming capabilities.

In comparison to other major US sports, Formula One would be a very low-cost investment for Netflix, and would most likely lay the groundwork for the launch of the company's advertising-supported subscription tier, which is set to debut at the end of this year.