Netflix greenlights FIFA World Cup and Six Nations docuseries – Broadcast
Netflix has given the greenlight to behind-the-scenes docuseries covering the Qatar 2022 World Cup and the Six Nations.
The World Cup production will include exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of all 32 teams at the tournament, while the Six Nations series will also have exclusive access to the rugby union competition. The former is expected to premiere this summer, while the latter will release in 2024.
The news of a Qatar 2022 series comes shortly after Netflix released Captains, a series that followed a group of international football team captains through the qualifying process for the World Cup – and was created in partnership with FIFA+.
Meanwhile, the streaming giant also announced that F1: Drive To Survive’s fifth series will be available on the platform from 23 February, as well as a first look at the new series – which you can watch below.
[embedded content]
The World Cup and Six Nations series join a fast-growing list of behind-the-scenes documentaries created in partnership with rights holders on Netflix, after the success of Drive to Survive. Tennis docuseries Break Point will be the first of the new slate to debut, tomorrow (13 January). This will be followed by golf series Full Swing on 15 February, with series on the Tour de France and Invictus Games to come later in the year.
2023 will also see Netflix launch the film Bill Russell: Legend; an untitled David Beckham series; and a new season of docuseries Untold.
Brandon Riegg, vice president, unscripted and documentary series, Netflix, said: “This eclectic group of new and returning series reinforces that we are committed to delivering the best sports stories to our fans.
“By going behind-the-scenes of the world’s biggest sporting events with unprecedented access, we have a unique opportunity to share the triumphs, tribulations and drama of these iconic moments with our hundreds of millions of global members.”
Netflix sports docs created in partnership with rights holders
Break Point (January 13, 2023): From the team behind F1: Drive to Survive, Break Point follows a diverse group of tennis players on and off the court as they compete in grueling slams with hopes of winning a final and even bigger dreams of becoming world number one. As some of the greatest players tennis has ever seen reach the twilight of their careers, there is room for a new generation of players to claim the spotlight. Break Point gets up close and personal with these top players on the tennis circuit through an entire year traveling across the globe for all four Grand Slams and the ATP and WTA tours. From physical injuries and emotional heartbreak, to triumphant victories, to personal moments off the court, viewers will get a behind the scenes look at the pressure-tested lives of these pro tennis players.
Full Swing (February 15, 2023): an immersive, eight-episode documentary series that follows a diverse group of professional golfers on and off the course, across a relentless season of competition. The golfers endure a high-stakes schedule week in and week out on the PGA TOUR, including, for the first time ever, exclusive behind-the-scenes access to all four of golf’s major championships, where a single shot can make or break a week, a season, or even a career. Full Swing is executive produced by Chad Mumm and Mark W. Olsen (Vox Media Studios), Paul Martin, James Gay-Rees and Warren Smith (Box to Box Films).
Formula 1: Drive to Survive Season 5 (February 24, 2023): Offering unprecedented access, this new season will once again take fans behind the scenes, to witness first-hand how the drivers and teams prepare to battle it out for the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The series will offer never-before-seen footage and interviews from the sport’s biggest names. Formula 1: Drive to Survive is executive-produced by Academy-Award winner James Gay-Rees (Amy, Senna) and Paul Martin (Diego Maradona) for Box to Box Films.
Heart of Invictus (Summer 2023): this inspiring new series follows a group of extraordinary competitors from around the globe – all service members who have suffered life-changing injuries or illnesses – on their road to the Invictus Games, revealing powerful stories of resilience and hope. From Archewell Productions in partnership with The Invictus Games Foundation, along with the OscarⓇ-winning team of director Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara (The White Helmets, Virunga, Evelyn).
Untitled Tour de France Docuseries (2023): A documentary series about the iconic Tour de France 2022, a source of national pride in France. It will chart the ups and downs of 8 of the teams, featuring their cyclists over the grueling 3-week tour. The series is produced by QuadBox, a Paris-based joint venture between Box to Box Films and Quad. Executive producers are James Gay Rees, Paul Martin, Yann Le Bourbouach and Amelia Hann.
Six Nations (working title) (2024): Six Nations and producers of Formula 1: Drive to Survive are planning to get fans closer than ever to this year’s Guinness Six Nations Championship. The series will take us inside the exhilarating world of the oldest and greatest annual international rugby tournament, giving fans an insight into pulsating behind the scenes moments, as the best teams in Europe battle it out in some of the biggest matches in the rugby calendar to take home the prestigious trophy. As the pressure and intensity builds, who will claim one of the sport’s biggest prizes?
Untitled FIFA World Cup Series (Summer 2023): Following on from the co-produced series Captains, which followed players throughout qualification for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Netflix and FIFA+ have partnered on a new series that goes behind the scenes at the tournament. Produced by Fulwell 73, the as yet untitled series will be the definitive account of one of the greatest sporting spectacles of all time. With privileged, behind-the-scenes access and exclusive footage in and around all the 32 teams, the series will show viewers the FIFA World Cup as never seen before. The series will stream globally on Netflix in 2023.