How to Watch F1 in the U.S.

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drewbert

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Edited By drewbert

Formula 1 is one of the most-watched sports in the world. Globally, 425 million people watched an F1 race in 2015, which is surprising considering the hoops many of its fans had to jump through to actually DO so. In many places around the world, some or all of the races are broadcast over the air, enabling many to watch for free (though this may be changing). In the U.S., races are on at weird times (usually 5am if you’re on the West Coast), and the main provider of TV coverage, NBC Sports Network, is generally only available in the “rich guy” tier of most cable providers. So, fellow American F1 fan, what are you to do? Here are your options:

All races in English (with commercial breaks)

1. PlayStation Vue ($30-$40 per month)

  • $40 per month if you live in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, or Miami (includes local channels).
  • $30 per month if you live outside the above regions (does not include local channels).

2. High-tier cable package with NBCSN (varies)

  • Cost varies by location and cable provider.

Some races in English (with commercial breaks)

3. NBC over-the-air (free)

  • Free, provided you are in a location that receives NBC over the air.
  • Airs Monaco, Canada, United States, and Mexico races.

4. Low-tier cable package with CNBC (varies)

  • Cost varies by location and cable provider.
  • Any cable package with CNBC will likely include NBC, which will air the four races mentioned above.
  • Airs Austria, Britain, and Hungary races.

All races in Spanish (without commercial breaks)

5. UniMAS over-the-air (free)

  • Free, provided you are in a location that receives UniMAS over the air.

6. Cable package with UniMAS (varies)

  • Cost varies by location and cable provider.

7. Sling TV with UniMAS ($25 per month)

  • $25 per month (base Sling TV plus “Deportes Extra” package).

A note about DVRs: unless you plan on waking up at oh-dark-thirty, you’ll need some sort of recording device. If you get one from your cable company, it might cost you extra. Here are some other options:

PlayStation Vue allows recording if you have a PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Amazon Fire TV, or Fire TV Stick. While there is a PlayStation Vue mobile app for iOS, replaying Formula 1 content is not supported. If you don’t have one of these devices, read on.

The NBC Sports Live Extra app supports replays and is available on desktop computers, iOS, some Android devices, Apple TV, Roku, and probably a bunch more. You will be required to log in using either your cable provider credentials or your PlayStation Vue login. Replays are not available forever, however; they get removed a few weeks after the race originally airs.

I haven’t used Sling TV or any of Univision’s apps, so I don’t know if there is a way to view the Spanish broadcasts after they’ve aired. If anyone knows, please post in the comments!

Them’s the rules! Personally, I use PlayStation Vue on my PS4 to record and watch the races, and have used the NBCSN app to watch F1 stuff when I’ve been away from my PS4. F1 was the only thing I was paying my cable company for anyway, so ditching them and going to Vue wasn’t painful at all (though the Vue interface can often be buggy). Vue also includes all my local channels (since I’m in San Francisco) and ESPN, in case I wanted to watch Other Sports.

Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions, if I got anything wrong, or if you do it a different (legal) way than mentioned here!

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shinboy630

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I use my parents DirecTV info to watch via Live Extra in a web browser and generally speaking it works pretty well.

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cyberpocalypse

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Do the replays on the NBC Sports Live Extra app still have commercial breaks?

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CByrne

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Needing to post on how to watch F1 is an example of everything wrong with F1.

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drewbert

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Do the replays on the NBC Sports Live Extra app still have commercial breaks?

The breaks are still there, but it's a static image saying something like "We'll be right back" instead of the actual commercials.

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Ben_H

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For Canada, you need to get a cable package containing the TSN channels, specifically TSN1 and TSN2 usually since sometimes the race is on TSN2 rather than TSN1, since TSN has the rights for Canada. Previously, TSN provided the BBC feed, but starting this year, they are using Sky's feed along with Sky's pre- and post-race content, so about 5 hours of content compared to what used to be 2 or 3.

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Shindig

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Cool. You can make up your own commercials. In your mind.

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ascagnel

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There's also a Live Extra app available for the Apple TV (2nd, 3rd, and 4th gen), although the 4th gen app gave me no shortage of problems during the beginning of the race this past weekend. The stream would fail 5-10 minutes after starting (sometimes much faster), and restarting the stream required watching a 30-second ad repeatedly (Acura, I no longer care about being a passenger).

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ascagnel

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@drewbert said:
@cyberpocalypse said:

Do the replays on the NBC Sports Live Extra app still have commercial breaks?

The breaks are still there, but it's a static image saying something like "We'll be right back" instead of the actual commercials.

The Live Extra app also shows that same image when the race would otherwise be shown in a picture-in-picture window during commercial breaks.

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marblecmoney

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I tried a week free trial of PS Vue to watch the Australian GP, and other than some streaming problems during Q1 I was very pleased with the experience. It was a small sample size, but it was good enough to convince me to try out Vue for a month to watch F1 and the upcoming NHL playoffs (which are also on NBCSN).

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hassun

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It's a bummer, with BBC leaving F1 I'm only getting very few races these days.

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csl316

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Crap, forgot Playstation Vue has it. Guess I'm signing up for that after all.

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Trace17

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I'd also add that if you're using a traditional cable box to record and watch later, you might consider adding a time buffer to the end to account for possible delays from weather or red-flag incidents. Remember Canada 2011?

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kid_gloves

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I'll just point out that NBC Sports usually does coverage of practice 2, qualifying, and the race. HOWEVER you can watch practice 1, 2, and 3 on their website if you have credentials (from provider) to do so. Practice 1 and 3 typically are just the raw feed from the FIA so no commentary (and sometimes no commentary on practice 2), but you can be a super weirdo like me and watch them live or after the fact even with no commentary.

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clagnaught

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I am curious about F1, but I don't have any of the cables. Growing up my dad watched NASCAR and drag racing, but never anything international like F1. So I have watched bits and pieces of various racing events over the past 15 or so years.

I have listened to two or so episodes of Alt+F1, and hearing you randomly talk about it makes it sound interesting. I don't see myself watching F1 (at least for right now), but it's good to know that PlayStation Vue is a pretty easy way to watch it, that doesn't require a contract or spending $150 a month for cable.

Even if I were to go in completely cold, I think I would like to try going to one of the random races that are held in the US before going down the rabbit hole of watching actual races. I think I'm going to try to convince my dad to go to one with me using the all persuasive "Eh, it might be fun" argument.

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HeyItsDale

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@ben_h: Good to know for us Canucks. I'm beginning to think about actually getting a cable package. How is TSN's coverage of races? Do they have commercials?

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KommradeObvious

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#17  Edited By KommradeObvious

@heyitsdale: I used to watch F1 on TSN. It's fine, from what I remember, you see Sky F1 coverage for Quali and Race. It's usually live, unless it's Japan or Australia, than it's delayed showing. They don't really show the race more than once. And while it is Sky F1 coverage, you'll get commercials. They do that weird Picture and Picture thing, where you'll see race in a small corner, and in a larger box show you ads.

http://www.bellmedia.ca/pr/press/tsn-announces-new-partnership-with-sky-sports-expands-coverage-of-all-21-races-from-the-2016-fia-formula-one-world-championship/

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redhook347

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@ascagnel: On your Apple TV, does the NBC Sports Live Extra app have the Australian Grand Prix available for replay? Mine doesn’t (only Qualifying), but it might just be my cable package.

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bobby

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I'll be using F1 to justify the cable package I already feel guilty about having. Looking forward to joining in the fun this year.

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deactivated-63b0572095437

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I just realized that I can log into NBCSN with my Vue login. Wonderful! Vue worked great last week for recording it and watching the next day. Controls are a bit sluggish to respond (starting to to fast-forward through commercials and such.) Last year i had NBCSN in my cheapish cable package, but they moved it to a higher tier. Vue ($30) is the cheapest way to watch legally for me at this point. Video quality is on par with watching over cable.

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Kill3rPastry

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@kommradeobvious: @heyitsdale: TSN has great coverage this year, they have the sky coverage of practice, quali, pre-race, race and post race. They're also pretty good about re-airing the races that take place at a quarter to silly AM.

They do bounce around allot between TSN 1,2,3,4, and 5, if you get some, but not all i think you can still watch online, but might want to double check

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AYBABTUS

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#22  Edited By AYBABTUS

Had a buddy who I watched all the races with in the past but he always downloaded the Sky feeds and watched later in the day. It's tough going back to the commercial laden local feeds now!

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ThomasCro

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I know a guy who uses card sharing services to get Sky UK anywhere in the world. That is also illegal.

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monkeyking1969

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I'd like to watch SOME F1 races, but I cannot justify PlayStation Vue to do it. I cut the cord a long time ago, and to be honest I don't miss Live TV at all. I have found that Netflix, Amazon Prime and DVDs of last seasons shows do me just fine. I do miss watching some sports, but really aside from Patriots Football, UConn Basketball, Olympic Sports, and maybe the Super Bowl I could even say I don't care that much.

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baazzaar

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Bay area - Playstation Vue experience - $39.99 a month is what I am paying.

I was busy most of the weekend so didn't get to watch live - I did have Formula 1 set up as one of "My Shows". This recorded Friday practice on NBCSN, Qualifying on both CNBC and NBCSN, and the race.

I watched all 3 recored and everything worked great. Quality was mostly fine with a fine dips here and there.

I would recommend Playstation Vue for F1.

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monkeyking1969

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#26  Edited By monkeyking1969

@baazzaar said:

Bay area - Playstation Vue experience - $39.99 a month is what I am paying.

I was busy most of the weekend so didn't get to watch live - I did have Formula 1 set up as one of "My Shows". This recorded Friday practice on NBCSN, Qualifying on both CNBC and NBCSN, and the race.

I watched all 3 recored and everything worked great. Quality was mostly fine with a fine dips here and there.

I would recommend Playstation Vue for F1.

You know after missing most of March Madness in teh past few weeks, I'm seriously considering PS Vue now. It not like I can't afford it, and I suppose giving money to Sony is better than giving money to Xfinity. I just might have to look into this...damn it. ;-)

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Ben_H

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@ben_h: Good to know for us Canucks. I'm beginning to think about actually getting a cable package. How is TSN's coverage of races? Do they have commercials?

They have picture in picture commercials, where the race will still be shown on part of the screen and the race on the other part. For qualifying and practice, there's full commercial breaks between Q1 and Q2, etc.

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ChazLove

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#28  Edited By ChazLove
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Bollard

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#29  Edited By Bollard

I appreciate Drew has tried to keep this to completely "legal" forms, but I feel it's worth letting people know of an alternative if you don't mind watching the races after they air instead of live. If the mods or Drew feel it's inappropriate then feel free to delete this post.

There's a site called Racing4Everyone.eu that uses Vimeo/YouTube/mail.ru to host archives of not just F1, but also races like SuperGT and Formula E which are much more tricky to get ahold of. The site is of questionable legality from a copyright standpoint, but if you don't have the money to pay for one of the services above it's worth knowing about.