Derek Chang, CEO of Formula 1 parent Liberty Media, did not mention Apple by name but said Monday that the company is “pretty far along” in talks with a U.S. media rights partner.
Several weeks ago, press reports said Apple had made an aggressive bid on the rights, emboldened by the box office success of Brad Pitt blockbuster F1: The Movie. The Athletic reported in July that Apple has offered between $120 million and $150 million a year for the rights, significantly more than the roughly $90 million bid of current rights holder ESPN.
“I think it’s been pretty well-documented in terms of the negotiations, we are pretty far along, and we’re pretty happy and comfortable with sort of where we’re going to end up,” Chang said during an appearance at the Goldman Sachs Communcacopia & Technology Conference. “Hopefully we’ll have something to talk about relatively soon.”
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Given recent shifts in the media landscape, Chang added, “the more substantive question is what we are looking for” from a partner. Unlike with conventional sports dealmaking, he said, the current environment begs the question, “Is your media partner even just a media partner, or are they also a sponsor?” If it’s the latter, he said, “they have other ways that they’re going to monetize and commercialize the relationship” and can help the sports entity do likewise.
Long a mainstay of the sports world in the U.K., Europe and other parts of the world, F1 has recently made gains in the U.S., scheduling annual races in Austin, Miami and Las Vegas. The company called out the feature film, which has taken in more than $600 million globally, for helping second-quarter revenue jump 40% year-over-year. The circuit wants to capitalize on that surge of interest. Just as F1 is sure to become the top streaming title on Apple TV+ when it lands there later this year, the tech company sees it as a potential driver of interest to the races on the service. “Bringing in a partner who amplifies a lot of that for us on an overall holistic basis and driving that engagement with fans is what’s important,” Chang said.
As more and more live sports migrates to streaming, Apple has forged rights deals with Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball, even co-creating a subscription streaming outlet in partnership with the MLS. While the MLS teaming broke ground with its streaming focus, the soccer league also did a linear deal with Fox. Netflix, which has bulked up its sports offerings of late with the NFL and the Women’s World Cup, has also expressed interest in F1 rights, given the fit with its long-running Drive to Survive franchise.
Chang, a member of the board of directors of Liberty, a diversified holding company controlled by media billionaire John Malone, became CEO of Liberty earlier this year.