Formula 1 could be coming to Apple as it mulls offering up to $2 billion a year to show races, report says
- Apple is interested in the exclusive global rights for Formula 1 races, Business F1 reported.
- The iPhone maker could offer up to $2 billion a year for the rights, per the report.
Apple is reportedly considering making a bid of up to $2 billion a year for the rights to show Formula 1 races, according to a report by Business F1.
The iPhone maker has "wargamed" the idea and is now seriously mulling an offer, according to unnamed sources quoted by the magazine.
Apple did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.
The ridicule Apple CEO Tim Cook attracted for lackluster flag waving at the US Grand Prix in October last year has seemingly not knocked his interest in the sport.
Offering $2 billion a year would be about double what Formula 1 Group now makes from the global TV rights. It's owned by Liberty Media, which also controls Live Nation and Sirius XM. Formula 1 Group declined to comment to Business F1 and didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Apple's success with the rights for Major League Soccer (MLS) is thought to have sparked its interest in other sports, Business F1 reported.
Last year, it won the global broadcast rights for MLS in a 10-year deal worth $250 million a year. Apple has not released any figures itself, but in July Sports Business Journal said the number of subscribers for an MLS Season Pass was close to one million.
Apple TV+ added about 110,000 MLS subscribers on July 21 – the day Lionel Messi made his debut for Inter Miami, according to figures from analytics firm Antenna reported by The Wall Street Journal.
An MLS Season Pass costs $14.99 a month or $29 a season, while Apple TV+ subscribers pay $12.99 a month or $25 a season.
Due to existing contracts with ESPN and ABC, Apple wouldn't be able to secure all the US rights for F1 until 2025, per Forbes. In the UK, satellite broadcaster Sky and Channel 4 have the rights to show races in a deal that runs until 2026.
It could be worth the wait for Apple, which has been trying to win more subscribers to its streaming service amid intense competition in the sector. Revenue from sports streaming and cable subscriptions in the US is expected to increase from $13.1 billion last year to $22.6 billion by 2027, according to intelligence firm Parks Associates.
Apple isn't the only streaming giant getting into the sports arena. Amazon won the rights to Thursday Night Football last year and the opening game of this year's season in September attracted a record 15 million viewers for its streaming platform, Sports Media Watch reported.