🍎 Formula 1's $750m Gamble in the United States

Last week I wrote about the fascinating decision made by La Liga to host a league game in Miami in December.

That decision has not gone down well and this past weekend the players expressed their distaste.

It began on Friday night. Immediately after kickoff, players for Oviedo and Espanyol both stood stationary on the pitch for 15 seconds not moving. The same happened at Sevilla v Mallorca, Villarreal v Real Betis, Barcelona v Girona and Atletico v Osasuna.

Interestingly, when this happened the TV cameras cut away to show the outside of the stadium!

I thought it would be racism in football. Then I thought it would be the Super League. I am not sure when but soon football players are going to revolt against the footballing machine. Players will walk off the pitch mid-match or a game that’s meant to start will not take place and it will really force the hand of the powers that be. So far, there hasn’t been a straw that has broken the camel’s back but I sense it coming very very soon.

Players have more power than they think. You can only push powerful people so much…

Alas, the worst kept secret in F1 is now officially public.

Apple TV+ has agreed a deal to be the broadcast home of Formula 1 in the United States.

Apple will pay $750m over the next five years to take the rights away from ESPN and at $150m per year it is a notable uplift on the current ESPN deal ($90m/yr).

Whilst this is a brilliant deal for Formula 1 revenue wise, Apple’s attachment to sports fascinates me.

Every time Apple buys sports rights, whether it’s MLS, MLB or now F1, it’s a customer acquisition play. If you’re not in the Apple ecosystem, live sport gives Apple a reason to get you in. If you already are, it gives you another reason to stay. Once you’re inside that tight-knit rosy aesthetics-based garden, Apple’s entire product machine goes to work with iPhones, iPads, Macs, AirPods, iCloud and Apple Fitness subscriptions thrown at you.

Their problem though, is visibility.

The MLS was supposed to be Apple’s proof of concept.

Apple bought the rights and put the league behind the Apple TV+ paywall, a platform that still trails Netflix, Prime Video and even Peacock in terms of reach. Fans complained. Viewership in the US hasn’t grown as the league hoped. Two years in, Apple quietly made one match a week free-to-air! The match still requires a download of the Apple TV+ app but they removed the second paywall to access it (MLS Season Pass). That tells you everything about discoverability. You can’t grow the game if people can’t find it.

F1 has spent the past five years trying to crack America.

Netflix’s Drive to Survive began the narrative and ESPN’s machine increased the exposure. The F1 Movie has done wonders for the western audience. However apple changes that equation. If races sit behind Apple TV+, the sport risks losing casual reach just as it’s starting to become mainstream. At some point one of the parties, probably F1, will need more eyeballs than Apple’s garden can provide.

If Apple releases viewing data from the first season, it will tell us whether this gamble worked.

Until then, an interesting decision from F1.

Finally, before we go a word on Kevin Durant.

This week he signed a 2yr/$90m contract extension which made him the highest paid player in NBA history.

NBA players fascinate me. Unlike in European sport, there seems to be no fall in value to the team as players age. By comparison, Durant at 37 years old can still command $45m per year in salary despite him being nowhere near the peak of his powers wheras Kevin de Bruyne was deemed surplus to requirements at Manchester City and was shipped off to Naples at 32.

Durant not only has an elite NBA player resumé, he also has a massive Venture Capital fund called 35 Ventures.

That fund is run by a man called Rich Kleiman a dream interview guest of mine. They’ve worked together for many years and have shaped a business that will bear fruit for decades to come.

I will be bringing more of these stories to you in 2026.

See you next week.