Silicon Valley’s relationship with live sports has always been complicated. Technology platforms are drawn to guaranteed viewership, yet often find that sports rights bring more financial strain than subscriber growth. Netflix popularized Formula 1 through its ‘Drive to Survive’ docuseries, yet ultimately decided that owning the rights to F1 races wasn’t worth the spend (instead betting on WWE, NFL Christmas Day games, and Women’s World Cup soccer). Apple, however, has gone all-in on F1, signing a reported $700 million deal over five years for exclusive US F1 rights, starting in 2026. At first glance, the new match-up makes sense. Formula 1 runs on engineering precision and real-time data, while Apple builds its brand around premium performance. The technical overlap is…