ESPN ‘battles’ to retain the F1 broadcasting rights in the United States with Liberty Media

ESPN ‘battles’ to retain the F1 broadcasting rights in the United States with Liberty Media

United States Grand Prix

ESPN started telecasting F1 in the United States, again in 2018 after it left the network back in 1997. ESPN later signed another renewal deal for three years with F1 in 2019, which will expire at the end of this season.

F1 is gaining immense popularity in the United States, partially credited to Netflix’s Drive to Survive, which was launched in 2018. The boom in the US is so influential that in the 2023 season, F1 will race thrice in the country in Austin, Miami, and the latest addition, Las Vegas.

ESPN appears to be hopeful about the new deal. The company’s director of programming and acquisitions, John Suchenski, said in August 2021, “We obviously would love to continue to partner with F1 long-term on this, and continue to grow the sport here and their property in the US, so we’re hopeful. We still have the rest of the season to get through as well as next season. But we’re definitely hopeful that we can continue our great partnership with them. They’re obviously very pleased, as are we. It’s a great mutual partnership, and something that we hope can continue for many years into the future.”

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What’s Liberty Media’s view of the deal with ESPN?

ESPN
ESPN

Liberty media revealed that there are several networks contending for the broadcasting rights, and ESPN is one of them. The CEO of Liberty Media, Greg Maffei, which controls F1’s broadcast, as quoted by GP Fans, said, “This year we’re on ESPN and next year we’re looking for a broadcast partner. We have a lot of interest. ESPN has been a great partner, they got a very good deal because we’ve had a rise in popularity and they have capitalized on that as well.”

He added, “Our hope is we’ll find a great partner going forward which could be ESPN or could be somebody else and it is likely to be a much better price for us.”

Given the rising popularity of the sport in the US, all the broadcasters would be ready to bid for the new deal. ESPN, which already has an edge with Liberty Media wouldn’t hold back on the new deal.

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