Netflix Reportedly Preparing to Stream Its First-Ever Sporting Event

Netflix is ready to do something big in the sports world. According to The Wall Street Journal, the streaming service is in talks to create a new, celebrity-driven golf tournament in Las Vegas that would include some of the stars from other Netflix sports series, including Drive to Survive and Full Swing. It will be live-streamed making it the first live sporting event for Netflix. 

This is a risk for Netflix as it looks to increase its sports content. The news comes a couple of months after Netflix attempted to live stream the. There were so many technical issues that Netflix canceled the live aspect of the show. However, Netflix did a live stream of a Chris Rock comedy special without any major issues

Netflix has been getting praise for its sports docuseries. Drive to Survive has been on the streaming service for five seasons and has been renewed for a sixth season. And this year, Netflix released the series Full Swing and Break Point, and both shows have been renewed for second seasons. And a new NFL docuseries called Quarterback will be released on Netflix this summer. 

In 2020, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings spoke to Variety and was asked about live sports being part of the company’s future. “You know, it could. I doubt news, but sports, video gaming, user-generated content — if you think of the other big categories, someday it could make sense,” he said. “But right now, Ted’s [co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos] got every billion dollar earmarked for bigger movies, bigger series, animation of course… At least for the next couple of years, every content dollar is spoken for.”

A golf tournament could be a good starting point for Netflix if it wants to expand on its sports vertical. The docuseries have been successful, but Netflix has made it known it is looking to stream live sports events. It was reported that Netflix was looking to take Formula One coverage away from ESPN, per The Verge. 

Streaming live sports seems to be a trend that is catching on. Last year, Prime Video began streaming the NFL’s Thursday Night Football package. Additionally, Apple TV+ live streams Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball games.