Apple believes the sky’s the limit for F1’s growth potential in the U.S.

U.S. Formula 1 TV rights holder Apple sees potential for the sport to grow multiple times over, while downplaying comparisons with the National Football League, the nation's reigning top TV sport.

F1 enjoyed record U.S. viewership in 2025, with ESPN reporting an average of 1.3 million viewers per race in the final year of its contract. This year, F1 and Apple claimed a year-on-year increase compared to the same first three races of last season, but the figures still pale into insignificance compared to the 18.7m per game that the NFL attracts on average, something Apple does not believe should be a target at this stage.

“We are not focused on the NFL,” Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services Eddy Cue said. “There is the NHL, there is Major League Baseball – there is a lot of stuff to get to the top. My viewpoint around it is there is a huge amount of growth. It's a much younger audience than any sport. Female participation is way up – both young and female on Apple is way up.

“And so I don't know how many millions, but it's exponential. I think that's the beauty. I think it's grown from zero, so it's grown a lot. But it has a lot of room to grow.

“I think when people become aware… I still remember when we did the [F1] movie and we used to ask people, 'How many of you have ever seen a race?' and nobody raised their hand. After the movie, you always ask them, 'Would you like to see a race?' and everybody raises their hand. You experience it and you see it.

“I think there is a huge opportunity. It's not a 10 or 20 percent. I think it's a ‘how many times X can we grow it over the years?’”

F1's Domenicali (left) and Apple's Cue feel they're just getting started in connecting the sports to American culture. Mark Sutton/Formula 1 via Getty Images

As F1 looks to continue its growth in the U.S., its president and CEO Stefano Domenicali reiterates the importance of the Apple deal is founded in the additional touchpoints the sport can have to become part of wider conversations.

“From our perspective, I’ve said before that to be really strong in the U.S., you need to be in the culture of the U.S.,” Domenicali said. “Culture means you have to be in the daily life of the people. You need to be interesting from all the different topics where Formula 1 is hopefully relevant. That is basically technology-wise – we need to talk about technology, and we have the best platform, the best partner in terms of technology.

“We need to talk about the sport. On that, there is the right way to communicate, not only during the race if we can, but also every day about that, through the deal we have with Apple.

“In terms of social engagement, I think that they are the ones that are everywhere, with the right people, with the right dimension and when people are talking about Apple, now we're going to talk about also Formula 1. I think that is a situation where we see that there is a progression.

“It's just the beginning of this journey. The fact that we started with the Everest that is the NFL, if we are able in a couple of years to be seen by the NFL, ‘Oh what is happening here?’ it means for us it is incredible too.

“There are certain periods of the year where the NFL calendar is there. But to touch an NFL game for the Americans is to touch... I don't know – you understand what I want to say! So how can we be relevant in this moment where the life of the Americans is connected when they wake up to the big screen or when they wake up with a little phone – with that world.

“So we need to understand how we can gain advantage or gain traction in such a complex world. And the only way to be sure that we can do it is through Apple now.”