The sports documentary boom from Netflix and beyond – The Verge

Apple TV Plus is getting a new series about Lionel Messi in Miami

2023-08-14T11:56:12-04:00

The 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 …

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Netflix’s new NFL docuseries starring Patrick Mahomes debuts this summer

2023-06-14T12:24:27-04:00

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 se …

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Tiger and the need to complicate the world we grew up in

2021-01-23T11:00:00-05:00

The 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 …

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Formula One and Le Mans documentary series are coming to Amazon Prime Video

2017-03-29T15:00:50-04:00

Amazon 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 racin …

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