- F1 debuts on Apple this year in deal worth reported US$150m per season
- This year’s Canadian Grand Prix is on the same day as Indianapolis 500
Apple has agreed a deal with rival streaming giant Netflix that will see the Canadian Grand Prix aired on both platforms for the US audience.
The collaboration will also see Netflix’s Drive to Survive docuseries made available to Apple TV subscribers in the US. This is the first time the two streaming giants have collaborated on an offering like this as Netflix looks to expand its live sports programming capabilities.
In fact, Netflix credited its live sports events with driving “disproportionate excitement and signups” in the fourth quarter of 2025, as the streamer’s global subscriber base passed 325 million.
This year, Formula One has a new broadcast home in the US thanks to a new deal with Apple worth a reported US$150 million per season. Formula One leaves behind a successful media rights partnership with ESPN which averaged a record 1.32 million viewers in its final year.
The cross-promotion of the sport between both Apple and Netflix provides a great marketing platform for Formula One to reach more viewers, which will be key in the short term as the sport loses its linear route to market.
“I do believe that the reach that we’re going to have through the streaming platform, through Apple, will be even bigger in the future and it is what we want to test in a market that is more mature than the others,” said Formula One president and chief executive Stefano Domenicali on a preseason media call.
“It will allow us to enter in the houses of other people in a different way, in great quality that is very important for us. So, that is what I believe the Apple relationship will bring to us in the American market.”
The decision to choose the Canadian Grand Prix for this experiment is also interesting as this year’s race takes place on the same day as the Indianapolis 500. IndyCar’s flagship race starts around three hours earlier, but any rain delays could see the two races clash.
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