Written by Kianna Best on Sep 18, 2024. Posted in Production News

How the sports documentary has taken over the streamer

As the Euros and Olympic Games now sit as a Summer memory, the streamers are keeping the excitement alive. With a slate of sporting documentaries such as Sprint, Messi’s World Cup: The Rise of a Legend and the upcoming second season for Netflix’s Simone Biles Rising. The new instalment of Simon Biles Rising, set to premiere on 25 October, will track the Olympic Gymnast’s journey towards qualifying for the 2024 games and ultimately her return to the world stage.

Image courtesy of Netflix

Directed by Katie Walsh, known for 2021 television series Simon vs Herself, Simone Biles Rising, will take a behind the scenes look into the athletes mental and physical preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, following a turbulent time in Tokyo three years prior. Executive produced by Gotham Chopra, Ameeth Sankaran, Giselle Parets, Janey Miller, JT Taylor, Tiannis Exarchos, Jérôme Parmentier and David Herren, the series is produced by Religion of Sports in association with the Olympic Channel.

he sub-genre has swept across the streaming platforms, as Prime Video taps into the lives of athletic legends such as Kobe Bryant (Kobe: The Legend of the 81-Point Game) and Roger Federer (Federer: Twelve Final Days). Apple TV+ hopped on the Olympic wave with Chasing Glory: Road to Paris 2024, a Discovery Plus Sports production, adding to the network’s involvement with the games.

Image courtesy of Prime Video

Whilst production faced a knock down following the strikes and other economic impact, Ampere Analysis reports found that Amazon, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount are either exceeding or maintaining the number of sports documentaries commissioned. From Box to Box, the award winning documentary production company behind Netflix’s Formula 1 Drive to Survive series, The Last Dance production company ESPN films, and Highly Flammable led by Fisher Stevens, alongside  Maura Anderson and Zak Kilberg, everyone is tapping into the sports documentary.

Netflix’s entry into the sporting world comes on the tail of the streamer’s longstanding involvement with the production of sports based projects, from Neymar: The Perfect Chaos (2022) to Beckham (2023). This year, a representative for the streamer announced that a documentary will be released on the father-son sporting duo Barry and Eddie Hearn, their infamous Matchroom Sport platform and their position in British sporting culture.