Formula 1 and Sky have concluded a new long-term TV deal: rights in the United Kingdom and Ireland remain with Sky until 2034.
Formula 1 and Sky have agreed a new multi-year extension of their cooperation, confirming that Sky Sports will retain the exclusive broadcast rights for Formula 1 in the United Kingdom and Ireland until the end of the 2034 season. According to British media reports, the value of the new arrangement is estimated at around 1.4 billion dollars, or approximately one billion pounds. Formula 1's official announcement does not state the financial details of the contract, but it confirms that the partnership in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland is being extended for an additional five seasons and that races and related content will continue to be shown on Sky Sports platforms and the NOW streaming service.
The agreement is important for the sports media rights market because it comes at a time when the global battle for premium sports content is increasingly being fought between traditional television companies, pay-TV operators and major streaming platforms. Formula 1 has recorded strong audience growth in recent years, especially among younger male and female viewers, and the long-term agreement with Sky shows that in key European markets it still relies heavily on the model of an exclusive television partnership. For Sky, this is one of the most important sports portfolios: broadcasts of all practice sessions, qualifying sessions, sprints and races remain at the centre of the Sky Sports F1 channel's offering.
What the new contract brings
According to Formula 1's official announcement, the new agreement covers the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, Sky will have the rights until the end of the 2034 season, while in Italy Sky Italia will retain the rights until the end of the 2032 season. In practice, this means that viewers in those markets will continue to have access to all key parts of a race weekend: free practice sessions, qualifying, sprint races and the Grands Prix themselves. The offering will also continue to include supporting competitions that are an important part of the wider Formula 1 ecosystem, including Formula 2, Formula 3, F1 Academy and the Porsche Supercup.
It is particularly important that the model of complete pay-TV exclusivity will not be entirely closed off from free-to-air television. Formula 1 has announced that in the United Kingdom highlights of all races will continue to be shown on free-to-air television, while the British Grand Prix will remain available live on free-to-air broadcast. In Italy, alongside full broadcasts on the Sky Sport F1 channel, free-to-air television channel TV8 will continue to show part of the content, including live coverage of every Italian Grand Prix. Such a model makes it possible to maintain broad reach for the most important domestic races, while the complete rights for the full race weekend remain in the paid offering.
Estimated value and message to the market
The financial amount was not disclosed in Formula 1's official statement, but British media state that the contract in the United Kingdom and Ireland is worth around one billion pounds for an additional five seasons, or approximately 200 million pounds per year. According to the same reports, this would represent significant growth compared with the previous contract, which was estimated at around 129 million pounds per season. If those estimates are correct, this is a strong commercial signal that Formula 1 rights in the United Kingdom and Ireland retain high value even in a period when part of the sports market is facing more cautious investment in broadcast rights.
That amount should be viewed in a broader context. After the pandemic period, Formula 1 continued to expand its calendar, strengthen commercial partnerships and develop additional formats aimed at new audiences. Sports rights today are not only a question of linear television broadcasting, but also of digital clips, social networks, documentary formats, analytical shows, applications, data displays and interactive race tracking. In that structure, Sky is more than a broadcast distributor for Formula 1: it is a partner that produces hours of programming throughout the entire weekend, from technical analysis and interviews with drivers to paddock content and studio shows.
Audience growth as the key argument
Formula 1 states in its official announcement that 2025 was the most-watched Formula 1 season on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland. According to the data cited in the announcement, total viewership in those two markets has risen by 90 percent since 2019, when Sky became the exclusive home of Formula 1 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Even stronger growth was recorded in the group of viewers under the age of 35, where Formula 1 cites an increase of 120 percent, while viewership among women has more than doubled. In the period from 2023 to 2025, viewership rose by a further 14 percent, and the 2025 season ended with 162 million hours watched.
These data explain why Sky was willing to tie itself long-term to one of the most recognisable sports products in its offering. Over the past decade, Formula 1 has changed the profile of its audience: it no longer relies only on traditional motorsport fans, but combines sporting spectacle, technology, drivers' personal stories, team rivalries and the global entertainment industry. Documentary series, social networks and digital content have increased the sport's recognition, but live races remain the central product around which commercial value is built.
Sky strengthens its position against streaming competition
The new contract comes in a period in which streaming platforms are entering sports rights increasingly aggressively. In the United States, Formula 1 has already taken a different path, as Apple has become its new American broadcast partner. In the European context, however, the agreement with Sky shows that Formula 1 is not abandoning traditional media partners when they can offer stable reach, production experience and financial security. Sky has been present in Formula 1 since 2012, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland it has held exclusive rights since 2019.
For Sky, retaining Formula 1 is strategically important also because of the wider competition in the subscription-content market. Premium sport is one of the few television products that still strongly encourages users to subscribe because the most valuable part of the content is watched live. Formula 1 races, unlike many entertainment formats, quickly lose part of their value after the event ends, which makes them especially important for television operators. The long-term contract until 2034 gives Sky security in planning its sports package, marketing campaigns and technological investments in broadcasts.
The contract fits into Formula 1's new era
The 2026 season marks a new technical and sports-commercial phase for Formula 1. According to the official Formula 1 and FIA calendar, the 2026 championship has 24 races on five continents, with new rules for cars and power units and the use of 100 percent advanced sustainable fuels. The calendar begins in Australia from 6 to 8 March and ends in Abu Dhabi from 4 to 6 December. In that season, Madrid enters the calendar as a new stop, while the sport expands further through the arrival of new manufacturers and teams, including Audi and Cadillac.
That is precisely why long-term stability of media rights carries additional weight. New rules in Formula 1 usually bring changes in the balance of power among teams, uncertainty in the standings and increased public interest. For a television partner, this means a period in which a new generation of narratives can be built: technical changes, a shift in the hierarchy, the entry of new brands, the development of young drivers and the market battle of major teams. Formula 1 and Sky emphasise precisely that combination of sporting content, production and long-term audience development in their statements.
Statements from the heads of Formula 1 and Sky
Formula 1 President and Chief Executive Officer Stefano Domenicali described Sky in the announcement as a committed, reliable and passionate partner. He pointed out that Sky's approach to live broadcasts, content production and behind-the-scenes analysis had played an important role in the growth of the sport in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy. Domenicali said he looked forward to the continuation of the partnership in the next decade, thereby clearly linking the contract extension with Formula 1's long-term growth strategy in key markets.
Sky Chief Executive Officer Dana Strong emphasised that Sky is proud of the role it has played in the growth of Formula 1 through, as she stated, premium sports storytelling, innovation and long-term investment. According to her statement, the new contract secures Sky's status as the home of Formula 1 in the years ahead, at a moment when the sport is entering a new period with a larger number of British talents on the grid and young stars such as Kimi Antonelli. The statements from both sides show that the agreement was presented not only as a rights purchase, but as the continuation of a production and commercial partnership.
What remains open for viewers and the market
Despite the long-term contract, several questions remain important for the future development of Formula 1 broadcasts. The first is the question of the access price for viewers, because pay-TV models as a rule limit the full availability of sport compared with free-to-air channels. The retention of highlights and broadcasts of the British Grand Prix on free-to-air television softens that problem, but the full race weekend remains tied to a subscription. The second is the question of digital distribution, especially the development of Formula 1's own F1 TV service and the relationship between Formula 1's official platform and national rights holders.
The third question is how much sports rights in Europe will continue to rely on major television operators and how much they will gradually move towards global technology companies. The new contract with Sky shows that Formula 1 is not choosing a single global model at this moment, but is adapting its strategy to individual markets. Where there are strong long-standing partners with a large subscriber base and developed production, the traditional model remains very competitive. Where the market is structured differently, there may be greater room for streaming partners.
Wider significance for Formula 1
The extension of the contract with Sky confirms that Formula 1 is one of the most sought-after sports media products in Europe. Long-term rights until 2034 give the sport predictable revenue and stability in a period of major technical changes, calendar expansion and strengthening global partnerships. At the same time, they show that the British-Irish market remains one of the most important for Formula 1's commercial picture, not only because of the audience but also because of Silverstone's historical role, the presence of numerous teams in the United Kingdom and strong interest in drivers from that market.
For the media industry, this contract confirms that the most valuable sports content can still be sold for very high amounts if it delivers a loyal audience, growth in younger demographic groups and the possibility of all-day programming packaging. Formula 1 and Sky are thus entering a new decade of cooperation in which races remain the central content, but their value is increasingly built through a combination of television, streaming, additional formats and the sport's constant presence in the digital space.
Sources:
- Formula 1 – official announcement on the new long-term partnership with Sky in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy (link)
- The Times – report on the estimated value of the contract between Sky and Formula 1 until 2034 (link)
- Sky Sports – overview of the current offering and coverage of Formula 1 on Sky Sports (link)
- Formula 1 – official 2026 season calendar and the context of the new technical rules (link)
- Formula 1 – announcement on the extension of the contract for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone until 2034 (link)
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