As newly-installed Liberty Media CEO Derek Chang looks to upcoming negotiations to renew Formula Ones U.S. broadcast rights deal, hes realistic.

When you look at where the NFL, NBA and baseball are in the U.S., were not a major player, but globally we are, Chang told the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference on Wednesday during a session that was webcast.

ESPN holds the U.S. rights for Formula 1 through 2025, having paid around $90 million annually for the privilege. But thats in a U.S. TV market still dominated by NASCAR, with Fox, NBC, Amazon and TNT Sports as current rights holders for that car racing property through to 2031. With Liberty Media looking for a new media rights agreement stateside for Formula 1 from 2026, Chang said hes eyeing an American broadcast partner that can help grow the sports reach as a cultural touchpoint in the U.S. market.

Were obviously looking for a partner that can help us continue to grow the fan base. I believe we are in the U.S. still pretty early on. Especially when you compare against other U.S. domestic leagues, where we sit in the Pantheon, its pretty low, still. That means theres a lot of headroom and its up to us to go out and capitalize on that, Chang said.

He added the mindset of asking a U.S. media partner to stipulate how much they will pay per-weekend contest for the rights to a 24-race Formula 1 season is a thing of the past. In a TV market no longer dominated by legacy linear TV networks, and where digital platforms have an insatiable need for content, Formula 1 as a pro race circuit has become more of a cultural phenomenon and less a TV sport dependent on the drama and results of on-track racing and driver performances.

Its sort of where does the U.S. fit into that landscape, less from a media rights payment standpoint, but what are we doing with F1 to build a property in the U.S., Chang argued. Bolstering Formula 1 in the U.S. got a leg up from the runaway success ofNetflixsFormula 1 docuseriesDrive to Survive.

And Chang is eagerly awaiting the June 25 theatrical release, with an Imax window, for Brad Pitts F1 tentpole, directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. I think this is a pretty significant moment in terms of the amount of investment and promotion that Apple and Warner Bros are putting into a project like this, he said.

F1features Pitt as Sonny, a former Formula One racer who was forced into early retirement until a team owner (Javier Bardem) asks him to return to the sport and help mentor a rookie driver, played by Damson Idris. But during his long career having also worked on the entertainment side of Hollywood, Chang is, yet again, realistic.

You cant ever gauge how a movie will do, until it hits the opening weekend. But I think we all feel pretty good, he added.