Will ARD and ZDF soon broadcast Formula 1?
Lewis Hamilton’s attack on the eighth world title will no longer be broadcast on RTL. The channel focuses on other sports
Those: dpa/Claudio Giovannini
Formula 1 is finally history on RTL. Rights holder Sky is now negotiating with other broadcasters about the expensive transmission licenses. Soon the premier class could no longer be seen on free TV.
Dhat is the end of Formula 1 on RTL. When the broadcaster lost the broadcasting rights to Sky from 2021, four races were initially secured as a sublicense for 2021 and 2022. But now the private broadcaster is getting out completely. An RTL spokesman confirms: “We have decided not to broadcast individual Formula 1 races in 2023. Our focus on free TV is football and our newly acquired NFL rights.”
Background: RTL wanted to show more than the four races per year. In addition, the broadcaster was not willing to pay the required sum for the rights. Sky should pay 50 to 55 million euros per season for the Formula 1 rights. With 23 races, this makes around 2.4 million euros per Grand Prix. For four free TV races, it would be around ten million euros.
One thing is certain: According to the contract, four races have to run on free TV. Sky is currently looking for another channel here and has met with great interest in the market. The most interested parties are ProSieben, where Formula E and the DTM are already running, and ARD/ZDF. This would allow Formula 1 to run on public television.
Formula 1 from 2025 no longer on free TV?
Both have already worked with Sky. ARD bought a Bundesliga soccer game from Sky in 2019 and is cooperating with the Bundesliga handball team. ProSiebenSat.1 is currently working together with the pay broadcaster in the Bundesliga. In October, the two made a deal that two Sky games each will run on Sat.1 this season and next: Bayern vs. Bremen (November 8) and Bayern vs. Cologne (January 24).
Sky itself no longer has a free TV channel since the sports news channel returned to the pay area in 2021. The only possibility: a free stream on skysport.de or YouTube. However, this is a rather unlikely scenario.
From 2025, Sky, which holds the rights until 2027, only has to submit one race in parallel to free-to-air television: a German home Grand Prix, if there is one at all.
