ESPN’s relationship with Formula 1 racing is on its last lap.
Puck News reported Friday that ESPN will not pursue the U.S. broadcast rights to F1 once the network’s media deal expires after the 2025 season.
ESPN has aired F1 races since 2018 and is entering the final year of a three-year extension that has the network paying about $90 million per season for media rights.
The expected split comes even though ESPN had anticipated last fall that other networks would offer competing bids.
“There was (competition) the last time around, and it’s kind of the downside of doing what we do really well and bringing a larger audience to these events and the success we’ve added,” John Suchenski, ESPN’s director of programming and acquisitions, told Front Office Sports last August. “Unfortunately, the nature of the business is to create more demand and more competition.”
NBC Sports and Netflix are potential replacements after both met with F1 last week, per Front Office Sports.
NBC Sports broadcast F1 from 2012 to 2017, while Netflix has helped boost F1’s popularity in the U.S. with its “Drive to Survive” docuseries, which is set to release its seventh season next month.
ESPN averaged a record 1.21 million viewers per race in 2022, but that number dipped to 1.1 million in 2023 and stayed there in 2024.
The 2025 F1 season begins in Melbourne on March 16 and includes stops in Miami (May 4), Austin, Texas (Oct. 19) and Las Vegas (Nov. 22).
–Field Level Media
