Liberty Media discuss brand new US Formula 1 TV deal as 'good conversations' continue

Streaming players are set to be in the mix for the new deal as live sports viewing gets more popular on streaming platforms. Netflix had exclusive rights to Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul, an event which was streamed by 60 million households according to the platform.

The streaming service also holds exclusive rights over WWE, with every event streamed live onto the platform as its main longtime foray into the world of sports entertainment.

“We are having good conversations with potential partners on the US media rights deal,” Liberty Media CEO Derek Chang stated in a call with Wall Street analysts. 

"I think what's been sort of interesting here is the sport itself continues to grow, in particular in the US. Viewership across the weekend is up sort of 45% year over year. I think F1 TVs growth is up 20% here in the US. I think the overall health of the business continues to resonate," he continued.

Formula 1's boom in the United States started rapidly. The American market is huge for the sport, and three Grands Prix in Miami, Las Vegas and Austin show the healthy state that the sport is in.

F1TV is the streaming platform where many countries access Formula 1 on demand and live. As an example, in the United Kingdom with Sky Sports and the United States with ESPN however, there are middlemen, or broadcasters with rights deals, who play a major role in how the sport is shown.

“We will see what partners want in their deals, and we will see what makes the most sense for F1 in terms of balancing things like reach, but also having products like this for ourselves so that we can actually understand our customers as well as we can, because it goes beyond sort of what we're delivering to them on the content side, but what also we can deliver the most engaged fans across the board in terms of engaging with F1," Chang stated.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali acknowledged the positivity behind the speculations and the rise of potential partners, highlighting the growth in the younger audience, in which social media has played a pivotal role. Thus making an emphasis that the right social media strategy is key in selecting the top candidate for acquiring the broadcasting rights, not only in the US, but also worldwide.