AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – Liberty Media-owned Method One and the Walt Disney Firm introduced an extension of their broadcast partnership on Saturday, retaining the game on ESPN networks in the USA till 2025.
The brand new three-year settlement contains expanded direct-to-consumer rights, with particulars but to be introduced, and extra races than earlier than proven on ESPN and ABC with protection offered by Sky Sports activities tv.
ESPN has had the printed rights since 2018, when it took over from NBC Sports activities, and audiences have grown strongly as the game takes off in the USA and reaches a brand new and youthful viewers.
Las Vegas will debut subsequent 12 months as a 3rd U.S. race after Austin, which hosts Sunday’s U.S. Grand Prix on the Circuit of the Americas, and Miami.
Final 12 months was the most-viewed season ever on U.S. tv with a mean 949,000 viewers per race, in line with Method One. That has elevated to a mean 1.2 million after 18 of twenty-two races in 2022.
The inaugural Miami Grand Prix broadcast on ABC tv this 12 months generated a mean viewership of two.6 million, the most important U.S. viewers ever for a reside Method One race.
Subsequent season is scheduled to have a report 24 races
“We’re delighted to announce that our partnership with ESPN will proceed,” mentioned Method One chief government Stefano Domenicali in an announcement.
“Method One has seen unimaginable progress in the USA with sold-out occasions and report tv audiences… The ESPN networks have performed an enormous half in that progress with their devoted high quality protection.”
Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, modifying by Clare Fallon
