Disney+ is making a bigger push into live sport, with Formula E set to join the streaming service globally from the start of the 2026/27 season.
Under a new multi-year agreement between Disney, ESPN and Formula E, every race will stream on Disney+ across most international markets. In the US, coverage will be available through Disney+ and ESPN+. The deal gives the electric racing championship a considerably broader streaming platform as it prepares to introduce its next generation of cars.
The timing is notable. Formula E’s 2026/27 campaign begins on December 18 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and will feature 21 rounds spread across 13 events. Austin, Miami, Monaco and Mexico City are among the stops, with the season scheduled to conclude in Tokyo on July 25, 2027.
Disney+ subscribers will get more than the races themselves. Coverage is expected to include practice and qualifying sessions, previews, post-race programming and highlights. That effectively puts the entire Formula E weekend within one streaming service in supported markets, rather than limiting coverage to the headline race.
For Formula E, which launched in 2014, the distribution agreement arrives alongside perhaps the bigger story on the sporting side: the arrival of GEN4.
The fourth-generation Formula E cars will produce up to 600kW, equivalent to more than 815 horsepower. Formula E says they can accelerate from 0-60mph in roughly 1.8 seconds. The championship is also changing its race weekend format, although the announcement provides few specifics about how those changes will affect competition.
The Disney deal should help Formula E address one of the recurring challenges facing motorsport series outside Formula 1: making races easy to find consistently across different markets. Putting the championship on a mainstream global streaming platform potentially removes some of that friction, although the precise availability and viewing arrangements will still depend on territory.
It also fits Disney+’s gradual expansion beyond films and television into live sports. Its international sports portfolio already varies substantially by region, including selected LALIGA rights in European markets, NBA coverage in the Philippines and UEFA Women’s Champions League coverage across Europe and Latin America. Formula E gives Disney something particularly suited to an international streaming strategy, since the championship already operates across major cities and several continents.
Before that new era begins, Formula E still has unfinished business. Season 12 concludes in London on August 15 and 16, where the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will be decided.
Formula E has spent more than a decade trying to establish electric racing as a distinct branch of top-level motorsport rather than simply an alternative to Formula 1. GEN4 will test how far the racing product has evolved; Disney+’s global reach could determine how many people actually get to see that evolution.
