Apple Puts Formula 1 in its Streaming Garage

Starting in 2026, Apple TV will become the exclusive U.S. home for Formula 1 in a five-year deal that moves the popular racing series entirely to streaming, as first reported by Sports Video Group. The move ends F1's run on ESPN and parks all live races, qualifying, and practice sessions on the tech giant's subscription platform.

• From the box office to the grid: The deal comes after the two companies found massive success with "F1 The Movie." The Apple Original Film, starring Brad Pitt, became the highest-grossing sports movie in history and served as a proof-of-concept for Apple, showing it could successfully draw new audiences to the sport.

• A pricey pole position: Apple is reportedly paying around $150 million per year, a steep increase from the roughly $90 million ESPN currently pays. All F1 content, including the F1 TV Premium service, will be bundled into a standard Apple TV subscription, making it the latest major sport to pull its core product behind a streaming paywall.

The deal marks another major sport leaving traditional cable behind, cementing streaming as the new home for premium live events and giving Apple another high-profile asset to integrate across its entire hardware and software ecosystem.

The move is part of a broader trend of major sports moving to streaming, but don't expect an immediate global takeover, as F1's global rights picture remains complicated with long-term partners in other regions. For fans, the good news is that the popular 'Drive to Survive' series on Netflix is safe and won't be affected by the new deal.