Netflix is streaming, so far canned. However, rumors of new live streaming content are making the rounds and are now gaining momentum. The industry leader pulls out his wallet and wants to secure the rights to broadcast Formula 1 races – the competition is already trembling.
Netflix wants Formula 1: Sky and Co. may soon get nothing
Netflix primarily stands for series, films and increasingly for reality and show formats. The latter, however, do not take place live. However, Netflix also wants to broadcast live content in the future. Amazon, for example, is already leading the way and has already secured one or two games in the Champions League. Netflix is also interested in sports, specifically they have an eye on Formula 1 (Source: Augsburger Allgemeine).
As a result, Netflix would like to secure the rights to the Formula 1 races in order to broadcast them live. However, the transmissions for this and next year are not up for discussion. As a reminder: In this country, Formula 1 runs exclusively on the pay channel Sky, while the former “Formula 1 house channel” RTL is allowed to show a few races in parallel on free TV. From 2024, however, this could end if Netflix were to win the bid. Liberty Media, the company that owns Formula 1, wants to renegotiate the contracts by then, the previous agreements are expiring. If Netflix brings in enough money, the competition could have to back down.
June has new things to offer on Netflix:
Why Formula 1 of all things?
But why Formula 1 of all things? Two reasons speak in particular for Netflix and their motives. Point 1: Formula 1 is not entirely new territory for Netflix. So far there have already been four seasons of the exciting documentary series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive”. So there is definitely experience and contacts, the live transmission of the races would only be logical. Maybe even more important: Interest in Formula 1 is growing in the US market. The land of IndyCar and NASCAR series ignored the international racing circuit for decades, but is now even hosting two races – in Miami (run in May) and Austin (October).
Mainly series are still watched on Netflix, you should have seen the following tips:
In short: Netflix and Formula 1 are a pretty exciting team. Should Netflix actually secure the worldwide broadcasting rights, this would probably be a mega coup that neither motorsport nor the streaming landscape has seen before.