It can be difficult for introverts to get excited about sports. Large crowds and hostile competition tend to deter those who would rather curl up by the fire and get lost in a good book or an easy TV show. With the rise of streaming services and the gradual fall of network television, Sports networks have begun to compensate by making theirgames accessible via streaming. Thursday Night Football was available to stream on Prime Video last season, and Apple TV+ is offering virtual league passes for Major League Soccer for the current season. Netflix, however, is taking a different approach to the world of sports.
Drive to SurviveWas a Test Drive for Netflix
The answer actually traces back to 2019 when Netflix took a chance with a show calledDrive to Survive. The docuseries, which premiered its fifth season last week, gave insight into the minutiae and politics of Formula 1 racing in Europe.Viewers get to learn the stories of the racers themselves, the part the car manufacturers play in the sport, and the overall heart and soul of the racing world. The series presents Formula 1 in an exciting, story-driven way that puts special emphasis on how high the stakes are for everyone involved.
What Netflix may not have expected was the way their new docuseries would ignite a massive fan base in the United States. Since the first season ofDrive to Surviveaired in 2019,the American audience has more than doubled, effectively giving new life to what was becoming a dying sport. People who had never heard of Formula 1 before were now waking up early in the morning to tune in to the races that were being held all the way across the world. The new-found excitement over the sport has also led to major revenue increases and interest in broadcasting rights from prominent streaming services.
FromDrive to Survive,Netflix found a niche. Rather than streaming the events themselves, they’ve chosen to focus on the drama behind the sports as a way to make them appealing to a wider range of viewers and to build fan bases in sports that haven’t reached the same level of popularity as the NFL, NBA, or MLB. The exception to this, of course, is the wildly popularThe Last Dancewhich focused on Michael Jordanand the Chicago Bulls. While this was a popular show, the effect it had on the NBA fan base was comparatively inconsequential. Basketball had and still has a huge audience.
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The Sports-Doc is Perfect For Introverts
Enter the introverts! Documentaries and docuseries are the perfect way to get introverts–or just non-sporty people–excited about sports. This is mainly because it removes the anxiety of the game itself. Unlike the games, the docuseries presents the sport in a controlled format. There are no obnoxious fans screaming in your ears, and any uncertainty or tension is at the mercy of the structured narrative the show is presenting. The structure allows the investment to derive from thedrama behind the gamesrather than the outcome of the game. While it’s true, the ultimate goal is to get people to watch the game, this format can help to ease people into the world of sports in a more appealing way.
Most of the time, disinterest in sports comes from not understanding the rules of the game or the role of each athlete. Sports documentaries also take the time to teach viewers what everything means. They can also be edited in ways that make it all easy to understand. One of the thingsDrive to Survivewas most successful at was presenting information about the rules and details of Formula 1 in a way that educates and entertains at the same time.
Ultimately, the appeal of this form of TV show comes down to the same reason fictionalized television is appealing to non-sports fans. It’s all about the drama. The sports-doc turns athletic competitions into character-driven dramas, which only increases excitement when you start to witness the actual games after developing adramatic connection with the players. It bridges the gap between sports and reality television and makes each player’s journey more relatable.
Full Swing,which was released on Netflix last month, focused mainly on the personal lives and interactions of the top golfers on the PGA Tour. It’s clear the ultimate goal of the show is to endear the audience to each golfer and generate an excuse to root for them. Is it financially motivated? Absolutely! The purpose is to get people to tune in and watch the PGA Tour. Those who haven’t watched golf before are far more likely to check it out when they develop a connection with golfers like Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, or Tony Finau by catching glimpses of their personal lives and gaining an understanding of what the sport means to each of them. It will be interesting to observe the PGA Tour this season and see if the Netflix series has the effect on golf that it had on racing.
We can reasonably expect Netflix to continue with these sports docs for the foreseeable future. As of now it certainly appears to be an effective way for leagues to graft people of different demographics and interests into their fan bases. At the very least, it has proven to make great entertainment for the introvert who’d rather not show up to the stadium or have friends and family over to watch a game. It’s also proving to be a significant way for Netflix to establish its own niche in the world of sports.
