beIN Media Group has successfully secured exclusive broadcasting rights for the FIA Formula One World Championship across 25 countries, encompassing the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, as well as Türkiye.
The comprehensive 10-year agreement, effective from the beginning of the 2024 season through the conclusion of the 2033 season, includes coverage of all practice and qualifying sessions, F1 Sprint events, Grands Prix, FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 3 Championship, and Porsche Supercup races in the designated regions.
The announcement was made just ahead of the Bahrain season-opener. Previously, beIN Sports held the rights until the conclusion of the 2018 season but chose not to renew due to piracy concerns in the region.
The emergence of the ‘BeoutQ‘ channel in 2017, following a diplomatic and trade boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and its allies, played a role in the decision. This boycott, lasting 3.5 years, accused Qatar of supporting terrorism, a claim denied by Doha.
The boycott ended in 2021, and Qatar has since been working on improving relations with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.
In 2019, regional rights were made free-to-air under a five-year deal with MBC Group, founded by Saudi businessman Waleed al-Ibrahim. The new 10-year deal with beIN Sports secures the rights to broadcast every race weekend, beginning with the current record 24-round season.
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Formula One and beIN Sports expressed their intention to collaborate closely, developing localized content for the region across different formats and platforms. The Middle East hosts four Grand Prix events, with Saudi Arabia following Bahrain, and Qatar and Abu Dhabi concluding the season in December.
BeIN Sports also holds the exclusive broadcasting rights for Formula One in 10 Asia Pacific countries, with this agreement set to run until the end of the next year.
Under this new deal, subscribers in MENA and Türkiye to beIN’s premier platforms, beIN Sports and TOD (beIN’s OTT platform), will have exclusive access to live coverage of Practice, Qualifying, F1 Sprint, and Grand Prix races.
The broadcasts will feature commentary in Arabic, Turkish, and English, accompanied by in-depth analysis from leading presenters and pundits. Additionally, viewers in both regions will enjoy 4K/UHD coverage of every race on beIN Sports and TOD, with F2 and F3 races available exclusively in Arabic, Turkish, and English.
The partnership extends beyond broadcasting rights, as it includes an exclusive content collaboration for the MENA region. This collaboration aims to create content tailored to the passionate audience in the region, with Doha serving as a dedicated regional content production hub, leveraging beIN’s top-notch production capabilities.
The 2024 F1 season, which boasts a record 24-race calendar, will kick off and conclude within MENA, featuring four major regional Grands Prix in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.
Yousef Al-Obaidly, CEO of beIN Media Group, expressed delight in bringing back live Formula 1 coverage to beIN across the 25 countries. He emphasized beIN’s status as the premier sports broadcaster in MENA and Türkiye and the central role of Formula 1 in their impressive portfolio.
Al-Obaidly also highlighted the commitment to creating thrilling experiences for fans, growing a new generation of followers through regional content, and maintaining beIN’s position as a leading sports, entertainment, and media group.
Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1, praised the partnership with beIN, acknowledging their commitment to enhancing the broadcast experience and delivering top-tier programming to showcase the drama and spectacle of Formula 1.
Ian Holmes, Director of Media Rights and Content Creation at Formula 1, noted the increasing demand for Formula 1 in the Middle East and Türkiye and expressed excitement about working with beIN to elevate F1’s broadcast programming and create engaging, tailor-made content.
This transformative and long-term partnership builds upon beIN’s existing collaboration with Formula 1 in the Asia Pacific region and solidifies beIN as the official broadcaster of Formula 1 in a total of 35 countries worldwide. The agreement further enhances beIN and TOD’s multi-sport offering, reinforcing their stature in the media landscape and aligning with a series of long-term media rights partnership agreements in MENA.
These agreements include prestigious events such as the FIFA World Cup, AFC, and US Open, underlining beIN’s commitment to delivering premium sports content to its audience.
Content Contributor: Sridhar Naresh
***Disclaimer: This report has been written with inputs from Reuters
