Netflix’s first dwell sports activities occasion might be a celeb golf event

Netflix’s first live-streamed sporting occasion might be coming this fall. The Wall Road Journal reviews that the corporate is in talks to create a brand new, celebrity-driven golf event in Las Vegas that would come with a few 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 lately produced a sequence with Netflix.)

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

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

Netflix has been eager about dwell content material since at the least 2022, and has signaled its curiosity in sports activities for years, however has at all times mentioned it’s searching for the suitable second to get within the sport. To date, the corporate has invested closely in documentaries, to nice success: a lot of individuals credit score Drive to Survive with single-handedly making System 1 fashionable in the USA, and Full Swing and Break Level have been hits for golf and tennis as effectively. 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 might be a take a look at case for Netflix — or a sign of technique

A one-off golf event might be a take a look at 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 likely be extra underwater hockey than NHL hockey and extra toe wrestling than WWE. They might give Netflix loads of content material to stream, and loads of good mental property to make exhibits about. Don’t be stunned to see Netflix’s sports activities community appear to be Drive to Survive, however for each sport you may presumably think about.