Streaming services aren’t just getting into live sports; they’re dabbling in sports documentaries, too. Netflix started the trend when its first sports docuseries about college football leagues, Last Chance U, debuted in 2016, and the field has only exploded since then.
Netflix has built up its lineup, producing popular shows like Formula 1: Drive to Survive and The Last Dance, a docuseries that follows Michael Jordan during his time playing for the Chicago Bulls in the ’90s. Other services have followed suit, with Amazon Prime Video’s All or Nothing and Apple TV Plus’ Messi Meets America.
And plenty more sports documentaries are in the works. Netflix is partnering with Major League Baseball for a docuseries about the Boston Red Sox, while Apple TV Plus is working on a series about Major League Soccer. Even Paramount Plus is debuting a series about IndyCar drivers.
Here’s all the latest on the sports documentaries coming to streaming.
- Here’s a look at Nicolas Cage playing Madden.
John Madden, that is, filling the shoes of the legendary NFL coach and commentator, in David O. Russell’s upcoming biopic for Prime Video. There’s only the briefest still of a video game shown in this short teaser trailer, and a quick glimpse of John Mulaney as EA exec Trip Hawkins.
Madden is scheduled for release on Thanksgiving Day, 2026.
- WWE: Unreal.
Fresh off the heels of Wrestlemania 41, Netflix has revealed a teaser for its WWE docuseries coming this summer. Details about WWE: Unreal are still slim, but Netflix says it will let you “step into the WWE writer’s room and outside the ring with your favorite WWE Superstars, where the drama is just as intense offstage as it is under the spotlight.”
- Netflix plans Mr. McMahon docuseries in late September.
Netflix is about to look back at the history of WWE co-founder Vince McMahon with a six-episode series premiering September 25th. Just after Netflix signed a 10-year $5 billion dollar deal with WWE in January, McMahon was accused of sex trafficking and abuse and resigned as executive chairman of its parent company, TKO.
The series covers McMahon’s transformation of WWE from a small, regional business into a global entertainment powerhouse, and the explosive sexual misconduct allegations that led to his eventual resignation.
Image: Netflix - Apple’s new docuseries is about drug cartels and horse racing.
Cowboy Cartel, which debuts on Apple TV Plus on August 2nd, is a four-part documentary show about a rookie FBI agent who took down the leaders of the Los Zetas drug cartel by tracking their money as it was laundered through a US horse racing enterprise.
- Netflix’s next sports docuseries goes inside the helmet of wide receivers.
What will we find there? NBC Sports writer Denny Carter might have the best guess, from this 2017 tweet:
Typical QB tweet: love my teammates god is good!
RB tweet: keep grindin
TE tweet: derp
WR tweet: the enemy speaks kindly & holds a knife
Following last year’s Quarterback series, Receiver premieres on Netflix on July 10th.
- Netflix turns the clock back on F1 drama with Senna.
30 years after the tragic death of Brazilion F1 great Ayrton Senna, Netflix released a first look at its upcoming series based on his life.
Post-Drive to Survive and ahead of this weekend’s Miami GP, it’s clear how much F1’s popularity has grown since the Senna documentary in 2010, bringing in new fans who can learn about his story.
- After Quarterback, comes Reciever.
Netflix’s latest sports docuseries follows the same format as the Peyton Manning-produced Quarterback. The only difference is that it highlights top NFL receivers, including Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
The eight-episode series, Receiver, hits Netflix this summer and comes as part of the streamer’s broader push into sports documentaries and live events.
- Finally, a good use of AI.
Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry’s production companies are behind a documentary film for Prime Video about the only AI you can trust to be The Answer, Allen Iverson.
Now, through unprecedented access and personal stories, along with intimate interviews with family, friends, and fellow NBA players and coaches, Iverson shares a more reflective side of his present-day self, as he takes us on a journey through his storied history into the present day where he realizes his cultural impact long after his playing days have come to an end.
Prime Video Greenlights Allen Iverson Documentary[press.amazonstudios.com]
- Netflix teases us with 48 seconds of F1: Drive to Survive.
Season six of Netflix’s Formula 1 docuseries (that all of the others are trying to copy) arrives on February 23rd, ready to recap last season’s action (and inevitable ending) that set up the offseason madness racing fans are currently dealing with.
We’ll see if it has any hints about Lewis Hamilton’s upcoming Ferrari switch, Guenther Steiner’s exit from Haas, or whatever is being investigated about Christian Horner. In the meantime, has anyone watched the NASCAR attempt, Full Speed?
- Netflix’s next sports docuseries follows the Boston Red Sox.
The streamer is planning to debut a new docuseries in 2025 that features “unprecedented access to Red Sox players, coaches, and executives” during the 2024 season. Later this year, Netflix will also release a documentary about the Red Sox’s 2004 season, which led to the team’s historic World Series win.
- Maximum Messi.
Apple’s partnership with MLS — and, in turn, Lionel Messi — continues with the announcement of a new docuseries about the league, helmed by some of the minds behind Netflix’s hit Formula 1: Drive to Survive. The show will be coming to Apple TV Plus, where there’s already a series on Messi himself, though no word yet on when it’ll start streaming. If nothing else, it’s a smart way to help boost those MLS Season Pass subscriptions.
Photo by Simon Bruty/Anychance/Getty Images - Get the inside scoop on emo Jimmy Butler.
The Athletic is reporting that Netflix is working on another sports docuseries like Quarterback, this one focused on a quintet of NBA stars. That includes LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Domantas Sabonis, and Jimmy Butler — and I can only hope that we’ll learn more about Butler’s unforgettable media day. No word on when it might stream, but the show is reportedly being filmed now.
Photo by Sam Navarro/Getty Images - NASCAR is ready for its Drive to Survive moment.
While Netflix is starting to do live sports, this isn’t that (at least not yet, anyway). While the Drive to Survive series that boosted F1’s popularity in the US won’t be back until February, NASCAR and Netflix have released a trailer for Full Speed, a very similar behind-the-scenes docuseries following stock car drivers.
It promises access to 16 drivers and teams through last year’s playoffs across five 45-minute episodes, including Ryan Blaney, known gamer Ross Chastain, known gamer moment haver Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and others.
Apple TV Plus is getting a new series about Lionel Messi in Miami
Photo by Hector Vivas / Getty ImagesThe love affair between Lionel Messi and Apple continues. Now that the star is playing in MLS for Miami, with games broadcast across Apple’s streaming service, the company is doing its best to maximize Messi’s appeal. The latest bit of brand synergy comes in the form of a docuseries that will air on Apple TV Plus and be specifically focused on Messi’s move from Paris to Miami. Apple describes the six-part series as “the first and only behind-the-scenes account of Messi’s new chapter.”
If you’re counting, this is actually the second Messi series slated for Apple TV Plus; the first will track his exploits in Qatar leading Argentina to a World Cup victory. Neither series has a title or release date.
Read Article >Netflix’s new NFL docuseries starring Patrick Mahomes debuts this summer
Netflix is getting into football. On Wednesday, the streaming giant announced a new sports docuseries, Quarterback, that will focus on three NFL quarterbacks: Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs (who just collected his second Super Bowl win and second Super Bowl MVP award); Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings; and Marcus Mariota of the Atlanta Falcons. The series is set to debut this summer.
“For the first time ever, the NFL allowed quarterbacks to be mic’d up for every single game of a season,” Netflix wrote in a post about the series. “The upcoming show will feature behind-the-scenes access to some of the biggest moments of the season, as Mahomes set an NFL record for total offense on his way to winning the league and Super Bowl MVP awards; Cousins engineered the greatest comeback in NFL history and led the Minnesota Vikings to an NFC North Division title; and Mariota took over as the starting quarterback in his first season with the Atlanta Falcons.”
Read Article >Tiger and the need to complicate the world we grew up in
Image: HBOThe year is kicking off with what’s becoming a loose tradition: a documentary about a renowned ‘90s athlete that aims to shade in a more complete picture. This time around, it’s Tiger, a two-part HBO Sports documentary about golf superstar Tiger Woods. Like The Last Dance, which chronicled Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls while reflecting on his entire career, Tiger attempts to complicate the prevailing narrative of a legend defined by his meteoric rise and equally steep fall.
Even if you didn’t know golf, you probably knew about Tiger Woods. If you came of age in the ‘90s or early aughts, it was impossible to not know about the man who brought raucous, Michael Jordan-levels of celebrity to golf — a sport so traditionally restrained that Adam Sandler was able to make a hit comedy where the only real joke was “what if a golfer got real pissed off all the time?”
Read Article >Formula One and Le Mans documentary series are coming to Amazon Prime Video
Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty ImagesAmazon has approved two motorsports TV shows for its Prime Video platform, one following the McLaren Formula One team across the 2017 season, and the other covering the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans race in June.
Le Mans: Racing is Everything was greenlit last month by Amazon and will receive what Amazon calls “unprecedented access” to the entire 24-hour race later this year. Film crews embedded with the Porsche, Audi, Nissan, Toyota, Aston Martin, and Rebellion teams for the 2015 race, and followed a number of high-profile drivers including Mark Webber, André Lotterer, Nico Prost, and Englishman Jann Mardenborough, a 19-year-old who won a racing slot through the company’s GT Academy e-sports competition.
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