Netflix simulcast Formula One’s Canadian Grand Prix in May, and now it’s looking for more.
The streamer struck a deal with Apple, which is currently in the first year of a five-year media rights partnership with F1, to simulcast the May race as part of a broader sublicensing agreement that allows Apple TV to stream season eight of the popular Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive.
In a recent interview with Sara Fischer of Axios, Netflix president of advertising Amy Reinhard expressed interest in expanding the agreement to cover more races. “I would imagine there’s going to be more possibility there,” she said.
The unique deal seems to have clear benefits for both Netflix and Apple. For one, Netflix was able to offer yet another one-off live sporting event on its platform, which surely has many F1-curious viewers due to the success of Drive to Survive. And on the other hand, Apple is able to leverage the popularity of the Netflix series to keep F1 fans, who are already subscribed to Apple TV for the races, on its own platform.
Apple is paying a reported $150 million per year for U.S. broadcast rights to all Formula One races, an increase of about $60 million compared to F1’s previous deal with ESPN.
Netflix has not released viewership for May’s Canadian Grand Prix. Considering it was a simulcast, meaning Apple TV was also broadcasting the event at the same time, it’s likely that most loyal F1 viewers still caught the race on Apple TV. However, Netflix was likely able to attract some casuals to tune in that otherwise wouldn’t have. The data was clearly encouraging enough for Netflix to want to pursue similar opportunities down the road.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.