Euro sports-mania: How F1, soccer and tennis are winning U.S. streaming audiences

Silverstone, Northamptonshire, may be the birthplace of Formula 1, home to a storied racing circuit and Aston Martin’s F1 headquarters. But F1’s popularity is expanding well beyond the U.K. as global streaming giants snap up rights to European sports.

Several made-for-TV moments are fueling the sport’s popularity in America, including a hit Netflix docuseries; a feature film starring Brad Pitt called, well, F1; and new races in Las Vegas and Miami. Now, Apple is reportedly set to pay $150 million a year for the U.S. rights to stream races — a significant jump from the $85 million a year ESPN was paying.

And it’s not just F1. The unavailability of domestic leagues’ rights – the NBA and NFL are already locked up – is spurring streamers to look abroad for sports content capable of driving recurring, advertiser-friendly viewership, says Andrew Wallenstein, chief media analyst at Luminate Intelligence.

European sports like F1, soccer and tennis, with their loyal fan bases and more attainable rights, fit the bill perfectly. The growing popularity of ancillary, behind the scenes content has also helped draw new fans to sports content not traditionally consumed in the U.S.

“Streaming services and social media have brought down the barriers to leagues of all kinds that, years ago, were largely separated by a more traditional media landscape that wasn’t as conducive to sampling anything but the usual American sports,” says Wallenstein.

That’s also why Ben Woods, creator economy analyst at MIDiA Research, believes the opportunity to truly “crack America” has become more achievable in recent years.

“Many feel part of the community via creator watch-alongs and sports documentaries,” he says.

Opening the floodgates of sports fandom

Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive — a series that’s been chronicling the lives of F1 drivers since 2019 — has arguably done more for F1’s popularity in the U.S. than decades of trial and error. F1 says that its live race audience on ESPN, which broadcasts races in the U.S., has doubled since 2018.

“The rise of Netflix-style sports documentaries has opened sports fandom up to a new generation who are interested in personalities and behind-the-scenes stories first and the live action second. And it has done this on a global basis because of Netflix’s worldwide reach,” Woods says.

The relationship between personality-driven content and game-day viewing is symbiotic. That opportunity is prompting streamers to snap up rights for live sports.

That’s certainly the case with European soccer: In the past two months, DAZN has acquired Spanish-language rights to show UEFA Champions League matches and Italy’s Serie A in the U.S. Meanwhile NBC, the rights holder for the Premier League, has seen growing viewership over the past few years and is now regularly drawing 500,000 viewers per match, partly thanks to streaming it on Peacock.

Tennis is also seeing record interest from U.S. audiences. ESPN enjoyed its highest-ever day one viewership for Wimbledon this year, and Warner Bros. Discovery saw a 94% bump in viewership for the Roland-Garros women’s final compared to last year.

Sports are still the biggest selling point for traditional linear TV. But streaming is what is really driving the growing interest from American viewers for global games on TV, experts say. Those sports will likely continue migrating to the digital world as they gain traction with audiences and advertisers.

“We’re seeing major tentpole events — like the F1 Grand Prix and UEFA Champions League final — continue to perform well on linear TV, especially when supported by cross-platform promotion. But it’s the flexibility of streaming that’s expanding reach and deepening engagement,” says Nicky Delasalle, VP of growth at DirectAvenue.

Where do brands fit in?

With the NFL and NBA returning in the coming weeks, and the European soccer season kicking off this month, U.S. advertisers are staring at a gold mine for streaming sports inventory.

Tim Westcott, practice lead, digital content and channels at Omdia, says European sports have a few things going for them as marketers weigh their options, from their appeal to certain target groups in the U.S. — with soccer likely skewing younger — to cross-market engagement driven by U.S. ownership in European clubs. Brands already associated with major European sports that are looking to build their market in the U.S. could also capitalize on this momentum.

Still, the biggest opportunity for U.S. advertisers interested in European sports may come with next year’s FIFA World Cup, partly hosted stateside.

Sixteen million people watched the last Word Cup final in the U.S. That’s a small fraction of the billion-plus who watched around the world, but it’s not far off from the average viewership per game for the NFL’s 2024 season.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has likened next year’s tournament to “104 Super Bowls being played in North America.”

While ad slots may not reach the financial highs of the Super Bowl, the 100-plus matches for the World Cup give advertisers significantly more opportunities to reach viewers across the monthlong event.

Plus, the FIFA Women’s World Cup will be able to capitalize on the momentum, as Netflix secured rights to stream the event in 2027 and 2031.

At any rate, the lines between sports fandoms could continue to blur.

“European sports franchises are only really European in name now. European sports fandom is global,” Woods says. “The connection between U.S. fans and European sports franchises is deepening to the benefit of those streamers who own the live rights.”