Watching F1 in the US

Brogan

Legend
Staff Member
I know there are a few people in the US who use the site so I'm after some information.

We will be moving to the US early next year so was wondering what the options are for viewing F1 on the TV or online.

We'll be in North Carolina, if there are regional variations in what is available.
 
NBC Sports Network has the rights to Formula 1 in the US. Most cable/satellite providers carry the channel nowadays. A few races every year, usually the US Grand Prix, the Monaco Grand Prix, and sometimes the Canadian Grand Prix or others are shown on NBC proper. Some other races (and definitely quite a few qualifying sessions) will end up being shown on the USA channel, which is owned by NBC. This is due to conflicts with other sporting events shown on NBC Sports.

NBC makes sure that all of the GPs and qualifying sessions end up broadcast live on TV, and some practice sessions (especially those in the middle of the night) will be broadcast as well. On top that they usually have pretty good pre-race and post-race coverage, and the commentary team always do a great job. The only negative to the broadcast is how often they cut to commercial, although they now do a lot more side-by-side with the screen split between an ad and the F1. If you're really interested you might be able to catch a few F1 features on NBC Sports, sometimes they'll have features that Will Buxton has made or even F1 documentaries on there.

If you wish to watch online, NBC offers the NBC Sports Live Extra website, but you may or may not have access to that, depending on your television provider. I do not have access to it, but I know you can watch things like Premier League games that they have the rights to but didn't end up broadcasting on air. Whether you can watch what they are actually showing on air or not, I am not sure.

Hopefully that helped, if you have any other questions about watching F1 in the US, or just the US in general, shoot me a message.
 
Exactly as soccerman17 says, your only provider of F1 racing in the US is the NBC family of channels. Once in a while, the F1 will be on CNBC, in addition to the previously mentioned channels. Generally, if your cable/satellite package includes NBC Sports, you'll get all the rest of the NBC family with it, but make sure you ask your TV service provider if you're unsure.
 
NBC's coverage is the best that the U.S. Has had to offer since I moved over 11 years ago. It's still not perfect, but it gets the job done.

Get ready for a lot of redundancy in what the commentators say. Steve Matchett is brilliant, he has a wealth of knowledge. Will "The Kill" Buxton does a great job on site. I'm surprised he hasn't been snapped up by another bigger network yet.

What brings you to the States? If you don't mind me asking.
 
I'm jealous of you guys in the States getting Will Buxton. He used to do the commentary on the GP2 and GP3 until this year and his blog is always a good read.

Can we swap you Ted Kravetz for him?
 
What brings you to the States? If you don't mind me asking.
We just decided that the location and environment would be better for our 5 year old daughter, rather than where we are now.

Also, it's a particularly good opportunity to realise the capital in our current apartment and purchase a much (much) bigger place over there, for an 1/8th of the cost per square metre.

We still think the prices shown on the real estate sites are some sort of cruel joke and when we get over there the prices are going to be several multiples of what is shown.
 
Absolutely, hands down, NBC's coverage is fan-freaking-tastic. But I'm very biased, it's the only F1 coverage I've actually been able to get without paying an arm and a leg for it, and still missing a few important channels!

NBC does have a great commentary team. I think it shows in the scores the Americans have given on races the Brits on the forum rated poorly?
 
Brogan the real estate prices are not a joke at all. With America being so big and land so readily available the cost is remarkably low (with some exceptions). The house we just sold we bought for $109,000 (roughly £70,000), in England we figured it would cost well over £225,000. America is a great place to live.

Plus, you get to move in just before Trump takes over. The transition is going to be … unmissable. :D
 
Lets hope the Trump take over never happens... some of the alternatives don't look much better though.

Anyways, as Brogan will be in North Carolina he'll be right in the heart of NASCAR country! Highly doubt they'll convert him to a fan though.
 
I think North Carolina is considered a "Southern State", is it not? I`ve heard southerners are friendly folks.

BTW, price of real state in the US seems to be really good, at least compared with Toronto ...
 
It's sort of a southern state. The more rural, the more typically southern. The cities in North Carolina are less markedly southern, there's a lot more people from elsewhere moving in.
 
Brogan....soccerman17 gave you a pretty good breakdown, on how F1 is broadcasted here in the states. The overall NBC Sports coverage I really hate, because mainly of the amount of commercial interruptions you have to endure, which could have you at times wanting to put a foot through your tv. The presenters here Leigh Diffey, David Hobbs, Steve Matchett, and Will Buxton are fairly good, especially David Hobbs who I refer to as (The Klagman) for his at times humorous commentary.

Fortunately for me I'm able to watch the Sky F1 presentation on my computer, while at the same time the NBC production on my tv. Thank goodness as far as I'm concerned for Sky F1, because when you can compare the 2 productions at the same time, NBC Sports come off as being sorely lacking.


I have NBC Sports Live Extra online, and they don't show practice 1, 2, and 3 as they use to live, but now only in rebroadcast...>:(
 
:D

Technically I'll still be working for a UK company and be paid in the UK in £ (I work from home online).

It's my wife's job we're moving for and her role is currently London based but the company is more than happy to move it to Raleigh as it costs them approximately 30% less.
 
Indeed.

Looking forward to it - the next 3-4 months are going to be painful just waiting for the whole process to take place.
 
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