The Walt Disney Company and Formula 1 have extended their ties with a new contract that will keep races on the ESPN network in the US through the 2025 season, it was announced Saturday at the Formula 1 Aramco Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
Under the agreement, ABC and ESPN will air at least 16 commercial-free races each season and include expanded direct-to-consumer rights, giving ESPN additional ways for fans to watch, including ESPN+, over the next three years. Offering facility available. Details of that plan will come later.
“Formula 1 and ESPN have been a strong and successful team and we are delighted to continue our relationship,” Burke Magnus, ESPN President, Programming and Original Content, said. “We look forward to serving fans in some new and innovative ways over the next three years as we continue to bring the reach and relevance of The Walt Disney Company Network and platform to Formula 1.”
A record was set in 2021 for the most-watched Formula 1 season in the US, with an average of 949,000 spectators per race; ESPN has moved from an average of 1.2 million viewers on the network to an average of seven figures in 2022. Earlier this year, the broadcast of the Miami Grand Prix on ABC earned an average viewership of 2.6 million, the largest US audience on record for a live F1 race.
All race weekends will include live broadcasts of all three practice sessions and qualifying (including F1 sprints), as well as pre-race and post-race coverage.
Formula 1 returned to its Native American television home in 2018 – the first race broadcast in the country was on ABC in 1962. F1 races also aired on ESPN from 1984–1997.
Sunday’s US Grand Prix will air live on ABC with coverage starting at 1:30 p.m. ET. The next event in the 2022 F1 season is the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday, 30 October. The race will air live on ESPN at 3:55 p.m. ET.
