(Motorsport-Total.com) – Is there a bidding process for the Formula 1 TV rights in Germany from 2028? Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali hints at this. He recently said in a press conference: “In the new tender for the German market, we have for the first time more than one interested party for the broadcasting rights.”
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Domenicali did not name a name. Therefore, it can only be speculated which broadcaster is additionally competing for the Formula 1 rights in the race, which are still held by RTL and Sky until 2027 inclusive.
Various media mention Apple TV, which has been the exclusive TV partner of Formula 1 in the USA since 2026. An official confirmation is still pending.
RTL and Sky will act jointly for the first time
RTL and Sky will appear jointly for the first time in the upcoming negotiations: Through the acquisition of Sky Deutschland, the pay-TV platform has belonged to the RTL Group since 2026.
Even before the official merger, both companies worked together: RTL has already broadcast individual Formula 1 races on free TV in recent years as a sublicensee of Sky. Both broadcasters have been broadcasting or reporting on Formula 1 almost continuously since the 1990s.
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This could end from 2028 if the new interested party is awarded the contract. For Domenicali, the dynamic in the German TV market is a gain in any case: He primarily sees the situation as “another sign that attention for Formula 1 in a market very important to us continues to increase.”
Germany in Formula 1
Although Germany is represented in Formula 1 from 2026 with two factory teams due to Audi’s entry, only one German driver, Nico Hülkenberg, will race in the 2026 season. There has been no German Grand Prix since 2019.
In 2020, the Nürburgring hosted the last Formula 1 race on German soil with the Eifel Grand Prix. In spring 2026, test drives for Formula 1 tire supplier Pirelli also took place there.
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