Formula One has finally launched its over-the-top (OTT) live streaming service, F1 TV Pro, in the United States. The service was teased prior to the recently-started F1 season, and the initial thought was it would be ready in time for the Australian Grand Prix on March 25. That didn’t happen.
Formula One’s streaming service, F1 TV Pro, now live in the United States
Watching one of the best sports in the world just got a whole lot easier for those in the United States.
Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Instead, F1 conducted more behind-the-scenes beta testing in hopes of launching sooner rather than later. The service had some availability in other countries, but it has been especially wished-for in the U.S. due to the lack of options for watching the sport in the country, especially online. Now, in advance of the Spanish Grand Prix on May 13, the fifth race of the season, users in the U.S. can subscribe.
In the U.S., F1 TV Pro offers live coverage of all race sessions, commercial free. For the English language, it will use the Sky Sports F1 coverage. It will also include live timing, unedited team radio and other perks. A lesser subscription, known as F1 TV Access, will not have live races, but does include some of the other perks.
Pricing for F1 TV Pro in the U.S. is $11.99 per month, or $99.99 annually, with a launch discount of 10 percent if you purchase annually. F1 TV Access is $2.99 monthly, or $26.99 annually. You can view content schedules for every country (AKA when races, replays, etc become available) right here. Signing up for the services requires logging into your F1 account and then choosing your country.
In previous years, TV coverage has been provided by NBC and its family of networks. This included online streaming through their provider sign-in service, but the coverage on TV and online was filled with advertising. Key moments in races were inevitably missed by the viewer due to long ad breaks.
This year, coverage switched to the ESPN family of networks, and it was the same situation at first, but the company elected to remove ads from all its live races, and that also applies to its own login portal, so if you already have ESPN networks and don’t care about the other perks, F1 TV doesn’t offer too much beyond replays and the like, and it’s unclear how large the historical archive will eventually get (right now, it is not extensive).
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