BeIN Sports to enter F1. For the first time, beIN Sports will broadcast Formula One on its channels, but the service will be limited to fans in various territories in Asia. In the UK, Sky sports F1 still holds the exclusive rights to Formula 1 broadcasting.
On the eve of the 2023 season, which starts on 5 March with the Bahrain Grand Prix, Formula One has announced a new multi-year agreement with beIN Sports for the exclusive broadcast of F1 across ten territories in Asia until the 2025 season.
This is the first time that beIN Sports has taken a position to broadcast Formula One on its channels. The agreement includes exclusive rights to broadcast all races on weekends, including free practice sessions, qualifying, Grand Prix and Sprint races.
Global audience
Fans in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei on Borneo, Indonesia, East Timor, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines will now be able to watch Formula 1 live on beIN Sports from the 2023 season.
“After several years of growing interest across Asia, we are delighted to announce this partnership
with beIN SPORTS,” said Ian Holmes, F1’s Director of Media Rights.
“As Formula 1 continues to attract new fans across the globe, world-class broadcasting is essential, and this agreement will allow us to find new and innovative ways for our fans in Asia to follow and engage with our sport.”
BeIN Sports is a Qatari network of sports television channels established in 2011 and owned since 2014 by BeIN Media Group when Al Jazeera Media Network was renamed beIN Sports.
In recent years, Qatar has been accused of trying to “sport-wash” by investing huge sums of money to buy the world’s biggest sporting events such as the 2022 football World Cup, MotoGP and Formula 1 with the Qatar Grand Prix on the calendar until 2033.
“We are extremely excited to add Formula One as we continue to invest in strengthening our line-up of sports content for our viewers,” said Mike Kerr, Director of beIN Asia Pacific.
“With the rapid growth Formula 1 has experienced in recent years, we look forward to working alongside Formula 1 to expand its fan base in our markets by bringing an unparalleled viewing experience across all screens.”
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This is not the first time beIN sports broadcasts F1, it used to broadcast it in the Middle East before MBC Action took over.
So I’ve got a question. Does that mean that residents living in Qatar will be able to watch F1 through Bein, whether as IPTV subscribers through Ooredoo or Bein Satellite subscribers? I’ve called their call center but they just keep telling me to look at the TV guide for more information about this. This article does state clearly that fans living in those Asian countries will be able to view F1 content but I’m more specifically interested in those living in Qatar. I’m assuming possibly yes, but one never knows exactly what these broadcast rights entail.