F1 broadcaster announces new TV deal after losing rights to Apple

Charles Leclerc drives his Ferrari around the Sakhir circuit — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Off The Track

F1 broadcaster announces new TV deal after losing rights to Apple

An F1 broadcaster has just secured a new deal

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Wednesday 25 February 2026 16:57

An F1 broadcaster has received a boost after losing exclusive rights to televise the sport.

Last year, Apple signed a five-year deal with F1 and replaced ESPN as their exclusive broadcaster in the US.

The deal is said to be worth about $750million (£558million) in total, which was approximately $150million (£111.6million) a year, compared to ESPN's deal of about $80million (£60million) a year.

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Nevertheless, ESPN have strengthened their relationship with F1 and signed a extension in Latin America (excluding Mexico and Brazil) and the Caribbean, that will last through to the 2028 season.

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ESPN retains F1 rights in Latin America and Caribbean

ESPN will continue to broadcast the sport in 18 different countries, every practice and qualifying session, sprint and grand prix, alongside feeder series Formula 2 and 3 and the F1 Academy.

Their coverage can be watched on its OTT service, Disney+, on ESPN Premium in Chile, and via the Fox Sports networks in Argentina.

According to F1, there are now over 150 million fans in the region, a 5 per cent increase on 2024. The rise also reflects F1's generally altered fanbase, with 45 per cent being female and 43 per cent under the age of 35.

Ian Holmes, Chief Media Rights and Broadcasting Officer of Formula 1, said: "ESPN has been a trusted broadcast partner for many years, so we are excited to continue our collaboration, and take our sport to even more fans as we witness incredible growth across Latin America and the Caribbean.

"This has been helped enormously by the dedication and passion of the ESPN team to bring our fans the latest F1 action through world class broadcasting. We look forward to working with them into 2026 as the next generation of regulations come into force, which will shake up the competition and create huge excitement and drama."