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Formula 1 has, for as long as anyone can remember, flirted with breaking into the US market. Twelve different circuits have hosted a championship grand prix in the US since 1950.
However, despite sustained efforts, F1 has yet to make the car racing competition a success in the market it covets most. In fact, the US remains the country where one of its most farcical races took place, at the 2005 US Grand Prix at Indianapolis because of a tyre scandal. That threatened to do irreversible damage to the sport’s hopes of growing in the US.
But slowly, with uncharacteristic patience, F1 has continued its courtship with the US and is starting to see the rewards of that effort, in part because of its American owners. Liberty Media bought F1 in January 2017 and made it their goal to crack the US market.
They have started by adding more races there. On a packed calendar of 24 races, three are held in the US: Miami, Austin and Las Vegas. They allowed unprecedented access to Netflix, which resulted in the successful fly-on-the-wall documentary series Formula 1: Drive to Survive. And then there was the success of Apple’s award-winning Brad Pitt-led F1 film. But no one knows more than F1 itself that the interest in the sport remains comparatively low in the US compared with other sports.
Last season, ESPN held the rights to broadcast F1 in the US and averaged about 1.3mn viewers for the races. To put that into context, the Super Bowl typically draws well over 100mn viewers in the US. So it is little wonder that Apple took a look under the bonnet and decided to turbocharge the relationship between F1 and the US.
Last year, Apple won the rights to broadcast F1 for the next five years in a deal reported to be worth about $750mn in total. ESPN previously paid about $80mn-$90mn a year. Apple’s push is being fronted by Eddy Cue, its senior vice-president of services.
The Apple deal came after the success of the F1 movie, which has taken about $630mn worldwide at the box office, making it the biggest theatrical hit of Brad Pitt’s career. Cue says he went to screenings of the film when it was first released to ask people what they thought of it, adding that the responses were universally positive. When he then asked how many of them had been to an F1 race, only a few hands went up, but when he followed up with how many would like to go to one now after seeing the film, they all put their hands up.
“So we think there’s a huge opportunity for growth,” says Cue, a self-confessed F1 fan. “We’ve got retail stores, we’ve got incredible partnerships, and we’ve got a lot of great ideas. We’re going to take everything that Apple has available, whether it’s maps, whether it’s Apple News, whether it’s podcasts, whether it’s music.”
Apple has already made a move into sports, providing coverage of US Major League Soccer, but that is an additional charge over the usual subscription. F1, by contrast, is bundled into an Apple TV subscription, although the technology group knows it will need to throw everything at this for it to work and grow the audience base.
One of the partnerships they have announced is with fellow streamer Netflix, to show season 8 of Formula 1: Drive to Survive on Apple — it was released last week. In return, the Canadian Grand Prix on May 22-24 will be available to watch on Netflix in the US. It is a clever collaboration in which both sides will undoubtedly see their audience grow.
But Cue is eager to point out that the deal is not just about Apple TV. The US technology group has wrapped in many of its other services. As Cue says: “It’s not a single broadcast moment.”
Fans will be able to follow the weekend sessions live in the Apple Sports app and get more in-depth coverage in Apple News, while for those attending races, Apple Maps will include the tracks, entrance gates, road closures, pedestrian bridges and other information needed to get around the event. Apple says its coverage will also lean into features such as multiple camera angles and the ability to watch several live feeds at the same time. On Apple Music, there will be playlists throughout the season curated by the drivers, and Apple Podcasts will also heavily feature F1 podcasts. While most races will require a subscription, Apple says it will make some of them free, and that practice sessions will also be available free in the Apple TV app.
This “Apple-style” broadcast is only available in the US. Cue would not be drawn on whether or not the company would expand it in future years, but he says: “One of the things that I love about F1 is it’s a global sport. It’s the only sport in the world where all of the events take place all over the world, and that’s truly amazing.”
Cue is keen to point out that the ambition is to “partner and innovate together” in the US, while keeping an eye on the sport’s wider international audience.
‘‘I don’t think that the US is more important than Europe or that it’s more important than Australia or anything. It’s a global sport that’s growing so we’re very excited about partnering and innovating together, starting in the US.” He adds: “Who knows what things lead to from that standpoint? We’re not focused on that, we’re focused on growing the sport here in the US and doing some real innovative work together.” Apple has not held back in its offering, positioning the broadcast as a premium, product-led experience.
For now, it will carry full live coverage in the US. “This is just the beginning,” says Cue.
Apple will be hoping the fastest change is in the number of US fans watching F1.
