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Apple sold advertising inside its first season of Formula 1 on Apple TV, and American Express and Ford bought in. Apple Ads VP Todd Teresi told The Hollywood Reporter that F1 is growing Apple’s ad-spend share. He added that the company is starting to sell season two.
Apple TV has no ad tier, and Apple limits ads to live sports like F1 and MLS. Brands appear within the race coverage and programming. Teresi said they are “present and can be felt inside the race,” without getting in the way of fans following their teams.
Apple also built the sale around F1’s existing sponsors. Brands already on the cars and team kit got a second way to reach the same fans, this time through the broadcaster.
Apple points to its own proof. Brand lift studies commissioned by Apple and its advertisers showed gains in familiarity, favorability, and purchase intent for F1 sponsors, beating overall U.S. connected TV benchmarks, according to Teresi. Neither Apple nor the brands disclosed what they paid.
Ford Racing GM Will Ford said Apple TV is helping Ford reach new audiences and that the company is “already seeing stronger awareness of Ford Racing.” Jill Hamilton, VP of global media at American Express, said advertising in F1 on Apple TV lets AmEx show the value of membership, from presale tickets to AmEx Travel to race-day perks.
F1 viewers have a higher median income than NFL or NBA audiences, which still bring in premium brands. Eddy Cue, who runs Apple’s services business, told me last month that F1 viewership on Apple TV is up double digits from ESPN’s last season. ESPN averaged 1.3 million viewers in that final season.
Right now, the limitation comes from audience size. Apple monetizes F1 “really well” and charges industry-leading rates, “but it’s a much smaller, U.S-only audience”
That line is the case for going global. I’ve argued Apple should take F1 in Germany when Sky’s deal ends after 2027. Cue told me last month in New York that he hopes Apple can “grow into other areas and markets.” An ad product that already works for AmEx and Ford in one country gets more valuable with every market Apple adds. AmEx and Ford already both sell well beyond the U.S.
Apple is also investing in the viewing experience. It brought Dolby Atmos to F1 on Apple TV starting with this weekend’s race.
F1 is also selling its own fan base to advertisers. On the same day as the THR interview, F1 and Consumable launched the F1 Audio Network in the U.S., with sound-on ads across mobile apps.
Will Apple add categories beyond AmEx and Ford, or will it sell more of the same race to the same two brands?
Business of Speed covers the business, technology, and lifestyle of racing: Formula 1, IndyCar, IMSA, WEC, NASCAR, and more. From Vincenzo Landino, entrepreneur and creator, featured in Bloomberg, TBPN, Yahoo! Finance, Forbes, Adweek, and Front Office Sports. Find us on Instagram, Substack, and LinkedIn.