Apple is never one to do things by halves. Thatโs why they coughed up US$2.5 billion (AU$3.97 billion) to become synonymous with Major League Soccer (MLS) for the next decade. And thatโs why theyโre apparently on track to pay even to ensure Apple also becomes synonymous with Formula 1.
The near-three-trillion-dollar tech giant is reportedly showing โstrong interestโ in acquiring Formula 1โs worldwide media rights, according to BusinessF1Magazine (via Front Office Sports).
So much so theyโre willing to put an eye-watering price on the much-hyped privilege: US$2 billion (AU$3 billion) annually โ which would effectively double what the grid currently generates.
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โWeโve looked at sports for a long time, mainly because my personal feeling is thereโs never been a better time to be a sports fan and never been a worse time,โ Eddy Cue, Apple Senior Vice President of Services, recently told BH during MLS All-Star Week.
โEveryone always wants the ability to watch multiple games at once, but itโs really hard to do because again, theyโre all distributed in different ways, different rights, all that kind of stuff. With us, itโs really easy.โ
Elsewhere, the company veteran โ who is actually a board member of Scuderia Ferrari โ added: โWeโre a global company. We have customers in every country in the worldโฆ and itโs not exciting for me to have something that you can have but you canโt have.โ
At the time of this writing, Formula 1 has quite the list of broadcast partners all across the globe: ranging from ESPN in the US and Sky Sports in the UK to Fox Sports in both Mexico and Australia. The earliest any of these contracts are set to expire is 2025 (ESPN) while some agreements are valid for at least five more years.
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โPer the report, Apple could start acquiring rights and pay a pro-rated fee until it attained 100% exclusivity,โ explains Front Office Sportsโ David Rumsey.
โIt is unclear when Apple could make an official bid.โ
Outside of races, Apple is currently producing Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinksiโs untitled Formula 1 movie starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris โ which actually rolled cameras on location at this yearโs British Grand Prix โ as well as a documentary about seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton.
All roads clearly lead to F1.
