F1 Apple TV: Impact on Fans and Sponsors

Formula 1’s decision to shift its U.S. broadcasting rights from ESPN to Apple TV+ starting in 2026 represents a brazen prioritization of short-term cash over the long-term health of the sport’s explosive growth in America—and it’s the sponsors who stand to get burned the most.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

ESPN played a pivotal role in transforming F1 from a niche European import into a mainstream American phenomenon. Through accessible Sunday morning broadcasts on linear TV, commercial-free races, and synergy with Netflix’s Drive to Survive, ESPN helped deliver record-breaking viewership. The 2025 season, ESPN’s swan song, shattered records with an average of 1.3 million viewers per race across ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC—a 17% jump from 2024’s full-season average.

But now, all races, qualifying, and practice sessions will be locked behind the Apple TV+ paywall in a five-year deal reportedly worth around $750 million. Apple TV+ has a global subscriber base estimated at around 45 million (with an unknown but likely smaller U.S. portion), far less reachable than ESPN’s tens of millions via cable bundles and streaming.

F1 executives and Apple insist this move aligns with younger, streaming-native fans and won’t hurt growth. Yet history and data suggest otherwise: moving premium live sports exclusively to streaming often leads to sharp viewership drops due to friction—subscriptions, app discovery, and no casual flip-to-the-channel moments.

The real victims? The sponsors who have poured billions into F1 precisely because of its booming U.S. exposure.

In 2024, F1 teams collectively generated $2.04 billion in sponsorship revenue, with a massive chunk driven by American brands and the U.S. market’s growth (34% of new 2025 sponsorships came from U.S. companies). The U.S. now boasts 52 million F1 fans, fueled by easy access on ESPN.

Sponsor value in motorsport is heavily tied to TV exposure: logo impressions during broadcasts, onboard shots, replays, and podium celebrations. Linear TV has traditionally delivered the highest media value for brands due to broader reach.

If U.S. viewership drops 50% on Apple TV+—a plausible scenario given the paywall barrier and loss of casual viewers—the impact on sponsors would be devastating. That translates to roughly 15-20 million fewer impressions per race (based on 2025’s 1.3 million average dropping to 650,000).

Proportionally, U.S. TV exposure accounts for an estimated 20-30% of global sponsor media value (given the market’s size, premium demographics, and high sponsor concentration). A 50% cut in U.S. viewership could erase $200-400 million annually in effective exposure value for sponsors across the grid—money they’re paying for but no longer fully receiving.

This isn’t just theoretical. Reduced visibility risks devaluing partnerships, making it harder to attract new deals or renew at current rates. Brands in tech, finance, and luxury—sectors pouring hundreds of millions into F1—expect global prestige and massive eyeballs, not a gated streaming silo.

ESPN’s John Suchenski rightly noted that their success made F1 “more valuable,” but now F1 is cashing in at the expense of the ecosystem that got it there. Prioritizing Apple’s hefty rights fee over sustained audience growth sends a clear message to sponsors: your exposure is secondary to our bottom line.

F1 may pocket more upfront from Apple, but if viewership craters and sponsor ROI suffers, the sport’s commercial boom could stall. In chasing streaming dollars, Formula 1 is flipping the bird to the brands bankrolling its golden era. Sponsors deserve better than being collateral damage in this gamble.