After months of negotiations over a rights deal, Apple and F1 have finally waved the checkered flag.
Apple and F1 have announced a five-year agreement that will see all F1 races in the United States available exclusively on Apple TV starting in 2026. Apple said it will offer F1 programming with a “more dynamic and elevated viewing experience,” and both parties expressed optimism that the deal will attract new motorsports fans in the U.S. in the coming years. The company is rebranding its video streaming service, which launched in 2019, as Apple TV+ and removing the plus sign.
This is another big move into sports by Apple, which also has streaming deals with MLB and Major League Soccer. The F1 deal follows Apple’s partnership with F1 for the original film F1 The Movie, starring Brad Pitt, which grossed $629 million worldwide this year. It is the highest-grossing sports film of all time and Pitt’s highest-grossing film to date. “F1 The Movie” will debut on Apple TV on December 12, 2025.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Apple will pay F1 an average of about $150 million a year under the deal, which will be worth about $750 million over the period, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that F1 was seeking up to $180 million a year for broadcast rights in the United States. Apple is paying a hefty premium over the $90 million a year ESPN currently pays, but ESPN has held the U.S. broadcast rights since 2018 and its F1 broadcast deal expires at the end of 2025.
Starting next year, Apple TV will deliver every F1 practice, qualifying, sprint session, and grand prix race to U.S. subscribers as part of a $12.99 monthly subscription. F1 broadcasts are in English and Spanish. Additionally, a ‘selected’ number of races and all practice sessions will be available to watch for free on the Apple TV app throughout the F1 season (no subscription required).
Apple’s deal with F1 goes beyond streaming on Apple TV. Apple said it would “expand” the sport in Apple News, Apple Maps, Apple Music, Apple Fitness+, and promote F1 in brick-and-mortar Apple Stores. The free Apple Sports app for iPhone features live updates of qualifying, sprints and races for each Grand Prix during the season, as well as real-time leaderboards and seasonal driver and constructor standings. The app also lets you follow the F1 key on your iPhone’s lock screen, and Apple plans to introduce a designated F1 widget to your smartphone’s home screen.
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Apple said it will announce additional information about the F1 partnership in the coming months, including production details, product enhancements and how fans can access F1 content across a variety of products and services.
Eddie Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, said on a call with reporters that he is a “big F1 fan” and has been since he was 10 years old growing up in Miami, when F1 races weren’t even shown on American TV. “There’s no better content than F1,” he said. “I think there will be more new fans.”
Apple’s contract with F1 runs from 2026 to 2031, but Cue said: “I hope this continues forever.”
F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali said the motorsport league has been working with Apple on F1 The Movie for the past three years. He said the expanded partnership, which gives Apple TV the U.S. broadcast rights, will help the league “further penetrate the U.S. fan culture.”
“We have a shared vision to bring this great sport to fans in the United States and attract new fans through live broadcasts, engaging content and a year-round approach to keeping them engaged,” Domenicali said. “We know the power of what Apple can do…Apple is more than just a platform. It’s a social movement.”
Under Apple’s agreement with F1, the F1 TV premium streaming service (priced at $16.99 per month) will continue to be available in the U.S. only via an Apple TV subscription. F1 executives say the changes will improve value for fans by making all Apple TV and F1 content available for a monthly fee.
Apple TV (formerly Apple TV+) has traditionally offered a limited amount of sports. Under a deal with Major League Baseball, the service will stream two regular-season “Friday Night Baseball” games starting in 2022. In 2023, based on a 10-year agreement with Major League Soccer, the company launched MLS Season Pass, a subscription add-on for Apple TV.
Looking ahead, Apple would like to acquire more sports rights, but Cue said there must be something “unique and special” the company can do in the production and presentation of live sports. “You don’t have to play sports the way they are. There are plenty of people who do,” Cue said this week at the Autosport Business Exchange conference in New York. Apple certainly has the wherewithal to make big moves in this space. The company reported net income of $23.4 billion in the June quarter and had $55.4 billion in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet as of mid-year.
Disney-owned ESPN has rejected a bid to renew its F1 contract until the end of 2025. The first F1 race to be broadcast in the United States was in 1962, and ESPN broadcast the race from 1984 to 1997. F1 is owned by John Malone’s Liberty Media, which signed a $4.4 billion deal with the league in January 2017.
ESPN “has been very instrumental in our growth in the United States,” Domenicali told reporters. “I’m really grateful to ESPN…They invested in us when no one else was ready to invest in us.”
The racing league is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, with a U.S. fan base reaching 52 million by 2024, according to F1.
Photo above: Sparks fly behind Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving an Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix in Singapore on October 4, 2025.
