Netflix’s first stay sports activities occasion could possibly be a celeb golf event

Netflix’s first live-streamed sporting occasion could possibly be coming this fall. The Wall Avenue Journal experiences that the corporate is in talks to create a brand new, celebrity-driven golf event in Las Vegas that would come with a number of the stars of different sports activities content material on the service like Drive to Survive and Full Swing. (Disclosure: Vox Media Studios produced Full Swing, and The Verge just lately produced a sequence with Netflix.)

The talks are apparently early, however a customized, talent-driven golf event makes good sense as Netflix’s first foray into sports activities streaming. Streaming stay sports activities is high-stakes, exhausting, and costly, and the offers for big-name occasions are ever extra cutthroat. (Netflix was reportedly making an attempt to wrest Formulation 1 protection away from ESPN, however failed to take action.) There’s a purpose that ESPN’s first-ever broadcast was of a slow-pitch softball recreation, and that Yahoo broadcast a London NFL recreation within the wee hours of the American morning earlier than making an attempt something extra sophisticated. And even these extra conservative makes an attempt don’t all the time go nicely.

Netflix’s personal live-streaming status isn’t precisely sterling, both. In April, its Love is Blind stay reunion present was such a spectacular failure that the service canceled the stay facet of the present altogether. It did, nonetheless, handle to stream a Chris Rock comedy particular with none hiccups.

Netflix has been inquisitive about stay content material since not less than 2022, and has signaled its curiosity in sports activities for years, however has all the time mentioned it’s on the lookout for the correct second to get within the recreation. To date, the corporate has invested closely in documentaries, to nice success: numerous individuals credit score Drive to Survive with single-handedly making Formulation 1 in style in america, and Full Swing and Break Level have been hits for golf and tennis as nicely. The corporate is even signed as much as do an NFL model, referred to as Quarterback, that’s scheduled to drop this summer time.

A one-off golf event could possibly be a check case for Netflix — or a sign of technique

A one-off golf event could possibly be a check case for Netflix to show to leagues and advertisers that it might probably deal with extra advanced occasions. It is also a sign of technique: the corporate has proven it might probably use documentaries and behind-the-scenes content material to make individuals care about sports activities they beforehand knew nothing about, so possibly Netflix’s sports activities technique will probably be extra underwater hockey than NHL hockey and extra toe wrestling than WWE. They’d give Netflix loads of content material to stream, and loads of good mental property to make reveals about. Don’t be shocked to see Netflix’s sports activities community seem like Drive to Survive, however for each sport you possibly can presumably think about.