Netflix is interested in becoming the new media rights partner for Formula 1 in the United States from 2026 as discussions continue over the future broadcast platform for the sport. ESPN currently holds the rights to televise F1 in the U.S., having …
Netflix is interested in becoming the new media rights partner for Formula 1 in the United States from 2026 as discussions continue over the future broadcast platform for the sport.
ESPN currently holds the rights to televise F1 in the U.S., having taken over from NBC Sports for the 2018 season. F1 has signed short-term deals throughout the ESPN era as it felt the region would be a key growth market and it wanted to be able to take advantage of future opportunities, with the latest ESPN deal running until the end of 2025.
While ESPN remains in the running to retain the rights, RACER understands its period of exclusivity in negotiations has now expired and F1 is able to discuss potential plans with other interested parties. Executives from F1 are believed to be in active discussions in the U.S. at present.
One of the suitors is understood to be Netflix, with the streaming giant having hired ESPN’s vice president of production Kate Jackson to become its new director of sports late last year. Netflix and F1 have a strong relationship courtesy of the huge success of the docuseries Drive to Survive that first aired in 2019. It also broadcast the Netflix Cup golf and F1 crossover event in Las Vegas in 2023.
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Netflix has been branching out into live sports coverage in recent months, with 2024’s Christmas NFL games going out to a global audience, an exhibition boxing fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, and WWE’s weekly “Raw” event all part of its portfolio. Netflix also holds the U.S. rights to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in both 2027 and 2031.
While there are set to be more NFL games on Netflix again in Christmas 2025, it is not alone in adding live sports events to its selection. Both Amazon and Apple also operate in the space — the former through NFL and the latter the MLB and MLS — and are expected to be among those who hold an interest in F1.
Both of those companies similarly have links to the sport, with Amazon Web Services a global partner of F1, and Apple producing the upcoming self-titled movie starring Brad Pitt.
The motorsport scene in the U.S. has also recently seen IndyCar’s primary broadcast partner transition from NBC Sports to FOX, starting this coming season.
Approached about the situation surrounding the F1 rights, an ESPN spokesperson declined to comment “due to a corporate policy of not commenting on ongoing negotiations.”
Has it gone perfectly? No, not at all. The Tyson-Paul fight, in particular, was a fiasco. There was constant buffering. You basically had to watch the fight in 480p. It was a disaster. And, yet, 60 million households tuned in, according to Netflix.
Are those numbers real? Probably not completely. Netflix has a history of fudging numbers to make itself look good. But the numbers were huge. That fight was a Super Bowl-level event for us here at For The Win. So, even if the numbers weren’t exactly what Netflix says they were, the event was still a massive undertaking.
Since then, things have only gotten better. The Beyoncé Christmas Day games were broadcast with no problem. And, obviously, Monday Night Raw went smoothly. We’ll have see if things go well again next week, but regardless of what buffering problems the future may hold, one major thing has become increasingly clear.
Netflix can do this.
The one thing missing from the company’s massive IP portfolio through the years was live sports. It’s the thing its competitors held over its head. Amazon Prime had the NFL. TNT and Max broadcast live NBA games. Hulu had every sport that Disney and ESPN had available.
Live wasn’t Netflix’s thing. Not until now. And, now that it’s doing it, it’s doing it big.
That’s great news for sports leagues and entertainment properties as they venture into the next frontier of broadcast television where streamers are the worldwide leaders. That’s terrible news for cable network providers, who are slowly, but surely, losing every property that means anything to the viewers they covet.
Tweakin’ on Tweaker
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
LiAngelo Ball’s new song “Tweaker” is stuck in my head. My wife is going to kick me out of the house if I enter another room screaming “MIGHT SWERVE AND BEND THAT CORNER, WOAAAAHOOH.”
The funny thing about it is that I don’t even like the song. It’s just a catchy tune. Hit play at your own risk.
WARNING: There’s a whole lot of NSFW language in this video
“Already played in NBA locker rooms (including the Bulls and Cavs) as well as NFL locker rooms (including the Lions), this song has garnered more than 2.7 million listens on YouTube since it debuted on WorldStarHipHop.
It is the number one trending song on YouTube music (ahead of artists such as Tyler, The Creator as well as Lil Baby, Bad Bunny, and Drake).”
There’s a late-90’s early 2000’s No Limit Records vibe to this thing. It’s not exactly it. It’s definitely not as good as some of that stuff used to be. But the vibe is there. And I guess that’s kind of fun.
But, please, y’all. Play something else for a sec so I can get this earworm out.
Drama on the Banks
Mandatory Credit: Melissa Tamez-Imagn Images
There’s a lot of drama swirling around Rutgers star freshman Kiyomi McMiller these days.
She was mysteriously benched by head coach Coquese Washington ahead of a marquee matchup against USC and Juju Watkins on Sunday, which prompted her to actually call her coach out on Instagram.
“The DMV native has quickly made a name for herself, and as her stardom has ascended, so have the number of eyes on her game. More people want in on the McMiller experience, including when the Scarlet Knights play ranked matchups. As expected, fans were excited to see the young guard in action when Rutgers played USC on January 5. But hours before tipoff, McMiller revealed she wouldn’t be suiting up, creating so many questions.”
We don’t know what’s going on here. Washington, herself, has been mum on things.
But, regardless of the details, what a great shame this is. McMiller is a huge talent. Her being benched is a bummer.
Hopefully cooler heads can prevail between McMiller and Washington and we can see her back on the court soon.
Quick hits: Fox Sports drama … Tyreek Hill is out … and more
NFL Legend Drew Brees shares his thoughts on Kansas City #Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’ success | @EdEastonJr
The Kansas City Chiefs’ Christmas Day victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers clinched the top seed in the conference and served as a historic broadcast. Netflix debuted its NFL coverage with the Week 17 game, and one of the best quarterbacks in league history was an analyst.
Clutch Points host Rob Lepelstat recently interviewed New Orleans Saints legend and Netflix NFL analyst Drew Brees about what makes Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes an all-time great and so hard for opposing defenses to stop.
“He’s extremely smart. He can make every throw. He knows he can make every throw, he’s got ultimate confidence.” said Brees. “He’s wise, though. He takes care of the ball; He knows situations… He knows how to manipulate the game.”
“He can make EVERY throw.”
NFL legend Drew Brees on what makes Patrick Mahomes so difficult to stop for opposing defenses
Brees will likely be a first-ballot Hall of Famer once he’s eligible after a record-setting career. Mahomes has outpaced him in several statistical categories since his first year as a starter and could be on his way to achieving the first-ever Super Bowl three-peat.
According to Nielsen, the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans (24.3 million average minute audience) and the Chiefs vs. Steelers (24.1 million average minute audience) were the most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history.
The Houston Texans held up their end of the bargain when it comes to ratings for the NFL Christmas game on Netflix.
LeBron James said that the NBA is made for Christmas.
He’s right, but the league better be ready to make room for the NFL.
Netflix set records as the most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history while the NBA had its best holiday numbers in five years according to Nielsen.
The Kansas City Chiefs bested the Pittsburgh Steelers en route to securing the No. 1 seed in the AFC while the Baltimore Ravens dominated the Houston Texans in a 31-2 debacle.
According to Nielsen, 65 million U.S. viewers tuned in for at least one minute of one of the two NFL games.
These are fast nationals so finals will be slightly different. Good thing is, this is Nielsen (3rd-party, unlike Netflix’s 1st-party Tyson-Paul data) and measured as AMA (Average Minute… pic.twitter.com/Q6ASdiAeGV
Baltimore’s lopsided victory behind an MVP-worthy performance from Lamar Jackson drew in the second-most views for a Netflix livestream at 24.3 million average views. Meanwhile, Kansas City’s 29-10 road win against the AFC North franchise averaged 24.1 million.
The Nov. 14 fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson still holds the title, despite its glitching errors and multiple complaints on the format. That bout averaged a worldwide audience of 60 million and peaked at 65 million total streams.
Both games surpassed the previous streaming mark for an NFL game at 23 million for last season’s AFC wild-card game between the Chiefs and Miami Dolphins on Peacock.
And don’t forget about Queen Bey. Her 13-minute halftime show drew in the larget numbers from “The Hive,” with an average of over 27 million viewers. The Beyoncé Bowl also broke record-setting numbers on subscriptions globally.
Netflix NFL Christmas Gameday was a record-breaking day, reaching 65 million US viewers according to Nielsen!
With an average of more than 24 million people watching each game, Chiefs-Steelers and Ravens-Texans are now the top two most streamed NFL games in US history.… pic.twitter.com/m3CVRv41sq
The hashtag #NFLonNetflix also trended, reaching top-five status in Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil and France. It ranked as high as sixth in the United States, according to the Global rating scale.
Christmas falls on a Thursday next year, so expect there to be two games at the minimum. Three? Given that “Thursday Night Football” will get one and the success of Netflix, one could assume a trio of matchups should be on display.
But, if for some reason you missed Beyoncé putting other halftime performers to shame, the whole thing is now available on Netflix. That’s right. You get to watch the Houston native tear it up in her hometown as often as you like, and maybe you’ll catch some more hidden easter eggs that she snuck into her show.
There were too many good moments and cameos to pick just one as the “best” from her live concert of Cowboy Carter hits, but one moment that got as much attention as any was her performance and choreography for SWEET HONEY BUCKIN’ with Shaboozey and when she recited the lyrics “look at that horse.”
Apparently there was more to that part than originally thought. Right after the show, Beyoncé used her social accounts to post the caption “Look at that horse” with a teaser video for something being released Jan. 14, 2025.
As someone who doesn’t follow Beyoncé the closest, I won’t pretend to know what fans should be expecting, but my best guess is it’s probably a music video for the song. Whatever it is, all eyes will be on that horse when the day rolls around.
There was actually a good reason for the red cloth.
By and large, Netflix’s NFL Christmas coverage through the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader was a success. The broadcast moved along without a hitch, the Chiefs won and everybody was happy — unless they were rooting for the Steelers.
But once things kicked back to the studio crew of Kay Adams, Robert Griffin III, Manti Te’o and Mina Kimes ahead of Ravens-Texans, NFL fans finally found something to complain about: RG3’s outfit.
When Griffin stood up to do a breakdown on the full screen, it was hard not to notice his shiny shoes, colorful socks and the strange red cloth hanging from each of his pant legs. It was almost too distracting to even pay attention to what he was trying to show us.
With the new Superman trailer out, my mind immediately went to those being some kind of Superman-themed socks and the red cloth being a cape attached to the top of the socks. That guess wasn’t too far off. Griffin actually explained at the top of the broadcast that the socks had faces of his wife and daughters and the red cloth was a cape, meant to be a tribute to them being his heroes.
It’s Christmas, and to be a part of the NFL taking the Global stage on @netflix in a way like never before with an amazing crew is truly a blessing. Thank you to my Mom and Dad for sacrificing for us every Christmas and I pray my Wife and Kids love this SURPRISE pic.twitter.com/N3d3yQOhIs
Jonathan Vilma cited Drew Brees’ knowledge and work ethic as reasons he will have a bounce-back performance as a part of Netflix’s NFL broadcasts:
Drew Brees is making his return to the broadcast booth as a part of Netflix’s Christmas Day broadcast. Though Brees’ first attempt at broadcasting wasn’t well received, Brees is confident being in the booth is where he would shine and can excel.
One man that agrees with Brees is his former teammate with the New Orleans Saints, Jonathan Vilma. Vilma is no stranger to the broadcasting booth. The former linebacker has been calling games for the last five seasons.
He used that experience to give Brees a bit of public advice: “Just go out, be natural, be relaxed. And look, if you flub something, move on, right? If you mess something up, who cares? Because it’s three hours of football. It’s meant to be fun. It’s not meant to be perfect. Just go out and enjoy it.”
Because of Brees’ work ethic, Vilma believes Brees “watched his tape 20 times over how to improve.’ That seems to align with who Brees has shown us to be over his career. You don’t become one of the greatest quarterbacks ever without a detailed approach to the game.
Brees has flashed his knowledge in media before, and it’s easy to believe he can do it in the broadcast booth as well.
Netflix promised its NFL Christmas games won’t buffer much, but we’ll see.
As you get settled in for a lovely day with your family, filled with NBA Christmas Day and NFL Christmas goodness, you’re probably wondering about a new potential problem.
Per Yahoo, it has “learned from past issues” and expects to be prepared for Christmas Day by doing things like “adjusting its content delivery, encoding, and streaming protocols.” And for what it’s worth, Netflix expects about 35 million concurrent viewers for its NFL Christmas games, but the audience could be in line with the Tyson-Paul fight, which had about 60 million viewers domestically.
That doesn’t sound super encouraging until we see it in practice. We’ll see whether these non-buffering promises hold up.
Here’s the lineup for the Netflix NFL pregame show.
Netflix is broadcasting NFL games for the first time, and we’re all hoping the buffering issues that plagued the streamer during the Mike Tyson and Jake Paul fight don’t happen again.
But we’re here to focus who’s on the pregame show, with the streamer bringing in a crew to preview the Chiefs-Steelers contest before the Ravens-Texans tilt later in the day.
Who’s on the broadcast? Glad you asked. Here are all the names.
First, there’s the crew in Los Angeles:
Kay Adams
Drew Brees
Robert Griffin II
Manti Te’o
Mina Kimes
In Pittsburgh, there’s:
Laura Rutledge
Devin McCourty
Jason McCourty
They’ll also be joined by Nate Bargatze and Bert Kreischer for some comedy!
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