From F1 TV to WRC+: Assessing the leading OTT platforms in motorsport

Your exposure to the growing number of motorsport over-the-top (OTT) platforms is very much dependent on where you live.

It has now reached a point where most of the major series have their own dedicated OTT services, but a mixture of lackluster marketing and confusion over availability means many of these platforms are still some way off widespread adoption.

Then there is also the issue of broadcast exclusivity, which remains a key driver of revenue. For example, the biggest motorsport series in the world, Formula One, does not even make its F1 TV Pro platform available in one of its biggest markets, the UK, because of its relationship with pay-TV channel Sky Sports.

Like the sports industry at large, therefore, it would be fair to say that motorsport is still finding its feet in the OTT space, even if several series are now shifting a significant volume of content to their streaming products.

The wildly varying costs of these services also means that fans will often have to pick and choose their favourite series to consume. After all, an annual subscription to the platforms offered by Formula One, MotoGP and the World Rally Championship (WRC) alone would set you back more than US$350.

With more choice than ever before, the BlackBook reviews some of the major platforms currently available to motorsport fans.

F1 TV

Year launched: 2018
Subscription options: Annual or monthly
Annual subscription cost: US$79.99 (F1 TV Pro), US$26.99 (F1 TV Access)
Countries available: 85 territories
Key features: Driver onboards, 850+ hours of historic race archives, full race replays and highlights on demand

The spiritual successor to Formula One’s F1 Digital+, which ceased operations in 2002, F1 TV is the premier OTT platform for watching the global motorsport championship. Since 2019, the platform has also allowed viewers to watch live coverage of the Formula Two, Formula Three and Porsche Supercup support series.

Users have two different tiers to choose from: F1 TV Access and F1 TV Pro. The former is the cheaper of the two, costing US$26.99 per year. It’s cheaper because it does not feature live coverage of Formula One, instead offering subscribers highlights and on-demand replays. There are also monthly payment options available.

Both tiers include exclusive documentaries and over 650 historic races from the Formula One archives. However, to get access to the races as they happen with F1 TV Pro, a subscription will set you back US$79 annually. Additional perks include the ability to add up to five screens and an enhanced viewing experienced fuelled by data insights, driver onboards and exclusive reporting.

However, this top subscription tier is only available in countries where Formula One does not have an exclusive TV rights deal. That means fans in territories like the UK & Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Spain are unable to gain access to the premium option, with only the standard F1 TV Access plan available.

For the most part, the platform appears popular with fans, although F1 TV’s first two years of existence were blighted with technical issues. The service regularly struggled with traffic spikes during live races, while it only began streaming at 50fps from the start of last season.

That slow start is very much in the past, however, with many of the early difficulties ironed out. Now, many fans view F1 TV as the pinnacle of Formula One coverage due to the in-depth viewing options available.

MotoGP VideoPass

Year launched: 2014
Subscription options: Annual, monthly or by race
Annual subscription cost: €184.99/US$190 (VideoPass), €17.99/US$18.49 (TimingPass)
Countries available: Worldwide
Key features: More than 45,000 videos, ability to pause and rewind races, no geographical restrictions

Like its four-wheeled counterpart, MotoGP has two different tiers for its OTT offering. The more expensive VideoPass allows viewers to watch live coverage of the global motorcycling series’ races, while TimingPass gives users access to live timing.

A VideoPass subscription will get you live or on-demand viewing of every session, plus access to a comprehensive content library going back as far as 1992. The platform lays claim to more than 45,000 videos, including full races, interviews, summaries, reports and documentaries.

At present, if you wanted to sign up for VideoPass, the only option available is to purchase the preseason version for a Black Friday offer of just over US$5. That includes all content prior to the first race of the 2023 season, at which point fans will have to pay around US$190 if they want to watch next year’s campaign.

The platform was initially well received, being seen in some spaces as the best motorsport OTT offering. However, while still a good platform, the cost is becoming difficult to justify for many viewers. With Moto2 and Moto3 also part of the offering, an avid fan will find plenty of reasons to shell out for VideoPass, but it definitely sits at the more expensive end of the scale. It also did not help itself during the pandemic, when MotoGP ran a much-reduced calendar but the cost of the VideoPass actually increased.

While there are no specifics on where VideoPass is available, MotoGP says it is accessible ‘anytime and anywhere worldwide’. Its last big expansion was into the Middle East and Africa in 2019, with 25 countries gaining access to the service.

WRC+

Date launched: 2014
Subscription options: Annual or monthly
Annual subscription cost: UK£99.99 (US$120.12)
Countries available: Worldwide
Key features: All stages of every rally, watch on two devices at once, four languages available

Although officially launched in 2014, the WRC+ era truly started in 2018. For the first few years of its existence, only select stages were available on the OTT platform. Then, with the launch of WRC All Live, the service was expanded to offer fans a livestream of every stage from every rally for the first time.

The WRC All Live platform was originally launched as a separate offering to WRC+, but the two have now been folded together into a combined package. This means there is no cheap alternative to the main subscription plan, but there is both a season and monthly pass available for fans. For those that are quick enough, the WRC is currently offering a 70 per cent discount until the end of this year, so a season pass for next campaign can be purchased for as little as UK£29.99 (US$36). Normally, an annual subscription would cost UK£99.99 (US$120), while the monthly pass is available for UK£10.99 (US$13.20).

WRC+ could originally be watched anywhere, anytime and on any device with commentary in English. That has now been extended to include German, Japanese and Spanish commentary options, with the first two being the most recently added in 2021.

The platform allows two concurrent log-ins per account, meaning users are able to consume content on more than one device simultaneously. The service also continues to be available worldwide with no geographical restrictions.

Editor's note: This feature was published before the announcement of Rally.TV. Set to launch in mid-2023, the expanded streaming service will become the new home of every second of WRC action, as well as live coverage of the European Rally Championship (ERC) and World Rallycross (World RX).

Motorsport.tv

Date launched: 2017
Subscription options: Annual or monthly
Annual subscription cost: UK£39.99 (US$48.04)
Countries available: Worldwide
Key features: 14,000+ hours of content, exclusive full archive of 24 Hours of Le Mans, ad-free viewing option

In many ways the original motorsport OTT platform, Motorsport.tv launched in 2000 as Motors TV, although that was as a linear channel.

While the brand grew a loyal audience, its transition to an OTT platform didn’t kick into gear until it was bought by Motorsport Network at the end of 2016. It was then rebranded to Motorsport.tv and became available via desktop, mobile and streaming devices. The linear channel then closed a year later in September 2018.

Today, the platform provides access to a whole host of series, including live coverage of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), Nascar Euro Series, Super GT and Super Formula. There are also regular opinion and technical videos covering major championships like Formula One, Nascar and Formula E.

Users can create a free account, which allows them to customise their feed and access unlimited standard content with advertisements, including highlights, interviews and reviews from a number of series.

Alternatively, fans can pay a monthly fee of UK£4.79 (US$5.78) or subscribe to a full year for UK£39.99 (US$48), which will get them access to ad-free viewing, unlimited premium live racing and more than 14,000 hours of video, plus other benefits like an exclusive full 24 Hours of Le Mans archive.

The paid offering would appear to be worth it for fans of WEC, and a lot of the supporting content is attractive to motorsport fans. The issue, though, is that there is not enough of that content for fans to justify continuing to pay for a subscription.

Still, Motorsport.tv is undoubtedly a useful resource for more niche series like Super GT, as well as prominent development series such as the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine.

IndyCar Live!

Date launched: 2022
Subscription options: Annual
Annual subscription cost: N/A
Countries available: Markets where the series does not have a broadcast partner
Key features: Global access (dependent on territorial rights deals), ad-free live access to races

The most recent OTT platform to be launched by one of the major series, IndyCar Live! was announced ahead of the 2022 season.

Practice and qualifying sessions are available worldwide outside the US and Latin America, although coverage of live races is restricted to markets where the US open-wheel racing series is without an existing media rights agreement.

In the UK, for example, fans are able to watch all practice, qualifying and Indy NXT sessions, but the premium races are reserved exclusively for Sky. In markets where the races are available, viewers will be able to stream the action live and ad-free.

IndyCar Live! subscription fees have not been widely advertised but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see costs introduced as the platform matures. Information on the service remains scarce because of how new it is, but the series has been working with live streaming platform builder StayLive, a subsidiary of Swedish sports agency Spring Media, to develop the product.

Nascar TrackPass

Date launched: 2017
Subscription options: N/A
Annual subscription cost: N/A (monthly subscription is US$15)
Countries available: 120 territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Latin America
Key features: More than 90 live races per season, full event replays including previous season

Nascar TrackPass is the last of the major motorsport streaming platforms to appear in this feature, and for good reason.

Although the decision hasn’t been widely circulated, the platform’s website says that TrackPass International ‘will not be returning in the 2023 season’, leaving Nascar coverage to the stock car racing series’ overseas broadcasters instead. Nascar has not responded to the BlackBook's request for comment.

Up until now, the platform has been available in 120 territories worldwide, offering subscribers coverage of every Nascar Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series race, in addition highlights, full event replays and other on-demand content.

While viewers in international territories where Nascar does have broadcast deals in place will be able to continue to watch the series, it remains to be seen how its fans will be able to follow the action in markets that don’t.