F1 chief defends blockbuster $700m Apple TV deal
Cadillac chief Dan Towriss has defended Formula 1’s blockbuster new $700m media rights deal with Apple.
The tech giant, whose digital arm streams Major League Soccer, signed a five-year deal for the US rights from 2026 last week reported to be worth over £500m, gazumping an ESPN offer for $90m per season.
But the agreement has come under fire with some saying Formula 1 has prioritised money and sacrificed reach.
“It’s a new deal [and] we’re still learning some of the specific details, but unlike MLS, there’s not an additional subscription to watch F1 races,” Towriss, the CEO of the new Cadillac F1 team, told Front Office Sports.
“Apple’s position is that the subscriber base is much larger than people are giving them credit for and Apple’s an innovation-first company – and I think that aligns so well with F1 and the movie, following Drive to Survive, has brought a lot of new fans to the sport. And so, I think we’re going to have a bigger reach than what people think.
“I think as you look to the long term, from our standpoint, we’re certainly betting on Apple.”
Apple in F1
Cadillac will become the 11th team on the grid in 2026, and join Haas as US-owned garages in Formula 1.
Cadillac’s parent company TWG Global is run by Guggenheim Partners co-founder and CEO Mark Walter, and investor and businessman Thomas Tull. Walter recently agreed to buy a majority stake in the LA Lakers in a deal that values the NBA team at $10bn, while he also has a stake in Premier League club Chelsea.
“I think there’s a strong focus on America and I think we want to develop – there are a lot of new fans,” Towriss added. “They’re not all watching races yet. And so having a home team, having somebody to root for, that’s certainly what we want to bring to American audiences.”