On Friday, Sports Business Journal reported F1 and ESPN have reached an agreement to renew their rights deal through 2025. The publication reported ESPN will pay $75-$90 million annually for the next three years, a gigantic raise from the $5 million ESPN is currently paying the racing league each year. (That 2019 deal, so pre-pandemic, was also for a span of three years.)
The 2021 Formula 1 season was the most-watched ever on American television. All told, with races airing on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, the 2021 F1 season averaged 934,000 viewers per race in 2021. That shattered the previous season-long record of an average of 748,000 viewers way back in 1995. Through nine races in the 2022 season, viewership is up big from last year’s record. The current season is averaging 1.3 million viewers per race, which is about 40 percent better than 2021. Last month’s Miami Grand Prix averaged 2.6 million viewers, the most ever in the U.S. for a live F1 telecast. Of course, all of that linear television success follows the streaming success of a very popular F1 docuseries. Season 4 of “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” debuted as the number five show on Netflix for the week of March 7-13, with more than 28 million hours viewed in just five days, according to the streaming service’s Top 10 website. The following week, Season 4’s first full week of availability, it climbed to fourth with just over 29 million hours.
“Formula 1: Drive to Survive” debuted in 2019; Netflix was not publicly sharing viewership data when any of the previous three seasons premiered. In May, Netflix renewed “Drive to Survive” for another two seasons. For the real thing, check out ESPN. After this price hike, they could use the advertising revenue. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
