As Comcast-owned Sky moves early to lock up its F1 media rights in the UK and Italy, Apple may be facing an even more competitive path to expanding its Formula One deal beyond the US. Here are the details.
Apple has made no secret that it wants to expand its F1 broadcast rights beyond the US.
Earlier this month, ahead of the Miami GP, Apple’s senior vice president of Services and Health Eddy Cue spoke to the press about, among other things, the company’s growing involvement in this sport.
As Reuters reported at the time:
“Sport does not obtain licenses worldwide,” he added. “Do I hope we can grow in other areas and markets? Yes, I hope so.
“But starting in the US, which is a huge market for us, and being able to build from there, is definitely the right way to do it. And that’s what we’re focused on right now. The easiest way for us to continue to grow is to make sure this is a huge success.
“And then, of course, it would be great to expand it.”
Now, as Reuters notedSky has “agreed to extend its F1 media rights deal until 2034 in the UK and 2032 in Italy at a premium price of £1 billion ($1.34 billion),” adding that the UK deal was reached “ahead of its original expiration year of 2029.”
This means that if Apple was hoping to secure F1 media rights in either country, it will now have to wait several years for another chance.
It could also signal an uphill battle for Apple in other regions, as broadcasters could also take steps to protect sports rights that, ironically, appear to be becoming more valuable in part due to the attention that Apple has drawn to sport.
For context, Formula One, owned by Liberty Media, does not sell its media rights as a single global package. Instead, it licenses them on a market-by-market basis, typically through multi-year deals that can cover traditional TV, streaming, or both.
This means that Apple can obtain the rights in one country, as it has in the United States, without automatically gaining access to the same races elsewhere.
read Reuters‘full report, follow this link.
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