Formula 1 has confirmed a new partnership with FanDuel, confirming it as the official American sports betting operator in the United States and Canada. The deal marks one of the most significant steps yet in the sport’s strategy to deepen its roots in North America, a market that has become one of its most commercially valuable in recent years.
FanDuel, which has around 17 million active users across the US and Canada, will be integrated directly into F1’s official app and website. This means that the fans will find real-time odds, live data, and betting context sitting alongside the race coverage they already use, rather than having to seek it out separately.
But the deal goes further than odds on a screen. FanDuel’s editorial content and its Betting Guide will go live on F1’s own digital platforms, which suggests the sport is beginning to think about its audiences. As per the company, the idea is not to send fans somewhere else when they want to place a bet, it is to make sure they never need to leave in the first place.
An American push
Jonny Haworth, F1’s Commercial Partnerships Director, said the sport had reached a point where betting was no longer a peripheral activity for fans but a genuine part of how they interact with races. He stressed the importance of finding what he described as a “strong and well-placed partner” to match the momentum F1 has been building in the American market.
For FanDuel, the idea is simple, Formula 1 already produces loads of live race data, which fits perfectly with in-play betting. Managing Director Karol Corcoran says this can create more engaging, data-driven betting, using things like pit stops, tyre choices, and lap stats in real time.
This also comes as F1 keeps expanding in the US. The sport now has over 826 million fans worldwide, and North America is one of its quickest-growing markets. Data from YouGov shows that among American bettors, F1 is already drawing more interest than leagues like the NBA, NASCAR, and NFL.
Rising popularity of F1 betting
The broader growth figures reinforce the picture. Data from betting operator Entain shows the number of customers placing bets on F1 rose by more than 50 per cent between 2018 and 2021, with total bets per season up by over 30 per cent in the same period. In markets such as India, where F1 claims a fanbase of approximately 78 to 80 million, operator activity around the sport has been increasing steadily.
The partnership reflects a major shift across professional sports, where broadcasters, data firms, and betting operators are becoming part of integrated digital ecosystems. For Formula 1, which produces vast amounts of real-time data during race weekends, a partnership with FanDuel is a natural extension of its expanding commercial push.
Observers note that the line between watching, consuming data, and placing a bet is becoming thinner with each passing season. The sport has made North America a central part of its growth plans in recent years, and this deal adds another strand to that effort. With FanDuel’s user base and F1’s data infrastructure now aligned, both sides clearly expect the combination to be more than the sum of its parts.
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