After indications to the contrary, ESPN is reportedly parting ways with Formula 1.
John Ourand of Puck reported Thursday that ESPN has chosen not to renew its expiring Formula 1 rights package, marking an about face after network executives expressed their interest in holding onto the rights. The news comes as Netflix, home to the F1 docuseries “Drive to Survive,” is said to be interested in acquiring the package.
F1 executives met with counterparts at Netflix during Super Bowl week, per Ourand, as well as with representatives from NBC — which held rights to the series prior to ESPN. Both Netflix and NBC were said to have bid on the rights the last time they were available in 2022.
Amazon was also said to have bid in 2022, and to have offered a higher rights fee than eventual winner ESPN, but was not mentioned by Ourand Thursday.
ESPN acquired rights to Formula 1 in 2018 and its tenure carrying races has corresponded with a sharp increase in viewership. The past four F1 seasons have been the four most-watched ever on U.S. television, and over the course of the deal, viewership has doubled from the 558,000 ESPN averaged in year one.
Much of the credit for the rise in F1 viewing has been attributed to the Netflix “Drive to Survive” series, which launched in 2019 and thus has spanned nearly the entirety of the upswing.
There is no way to know for certain which has been the primary catalyst for F1 growth — a docuseries on the most prominent streamer or regular exposure on the most prominent sports network — though those questions may be answered when the new media rights deal begins in 2026. (It should be noted there is little precedent for a docuseries driving viewership for live games, as the popularity — or lack thereof — of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” has rarely impacted NFL viewership one way or the other.)
