The English top flight is said to be contemplating the launch of a series of documentaries on the league
According to reports, the English Premier League has been approached by a company called Box to Box Films to produce a docuseries for Netflix. It is believed that the global reach which the EPL could bring to the project appeals to the streaming giant, after a marked decrease in its subscriber base. The company reported a loss of 200,000 global subscribers in April of this year.
Box to Box Films is the company responsible for the immensely popular "Drive to Survive" series, which was produced by Netflix in collaboration with motor racing organisation Formula One. The show gives fans and casual viewers an inside look into the F1 experience and has proved to be a resounding success, attracting widespread interest even from those not particularly interested in motorsport. Bosses at Netflix see the potential to do something similar with the Premier League.
It is said that Premier League clubs have been made aware of discussions but it is as yet unclear whether or not they support this move. Several top flight clubs, including Man City and Arsenal, have already participated in docuseries under the popular "All or Nothing" umbrella on Amazon Prime Video, one of Netflix's key competitors.
Clubs will now meet to discuss the proposed project further. They are expected to make decisions around interviews and in-game highlights which would potentially be used for the show.
Netflix is already building on the success of its F1 series by producing similar shows surrounding tennis, golf and cycling. Premier League football would likely be the jewel in the crown if all parties were to come to an agreement.
Brandon Riegg, Head of Unscripted Programming and Documentaries at Netflix, had this to say:
“With tennis and golf, the leagues took notice of the ‘Drive to Survive’ effect. We were recruiting folks who’d never watched sports or never watched Formula One. [Drive to Survive’s] first season helped the show reach core fans, but the audience of the show has ballooned over the past couple years.”
"We’ve been very consistent and public about not getting into live sports. That said, sports is a huge category. Part of our remit is to serve as many audiences as we can. We wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we weren’t accommodating something in the sports space."
While Netflix bosses maintain they are not interested in sports broadcasting, unlike their competitor Amazon Prime Video, they are still hugely interest in other sports programming, particularly documentaries. A docuseries all about the Premier League would surely do huge business for the streamer and it's easy to see why they would like to pursue such a project.
Stick around for more football news, and don't forget to check out our football live streams - we offer totally legal, free and high quality live streams of some of the biggest leagues in the world, including La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga.
