Meadowlark Media, the studio founded by Dan Le Batard and John Skipper, is aiming to tell stories with the launching of a new multi-platform series.
MM is launching Sports Explains the World, an ambitious effort that will consist of 30 short documentaries and 45 podcasts that use sports-related stories to reveal greater truths about the world and society.
“We are putting a stake in the ground that we are going to be a storytelling company,” Skipper told The Hollywood Reporter. “When we launched the company, what we wanted to do overwhelmingly is to tell stories. Both in the number of podcasts we do and in our video. And one of the great ways to tell a story is to have an anthology series in which to put those.”
The stories are set to debut in early 2023, but when and where they are to be consumed is still unknown. However, Meadowlark has a first-look deal with Apple TV+.
Skipper compared the Sports Explains the World series in similar terms to 30 for 30.
“When we launched 30 for 30 [at ESPN], people knew it was quality, what kind of storytelling we did. We want to do the same thing with Sports Explains the World,” Skipper adds.
The series is exploring stories such as some from Ukraine and Ethiopia, but also a look at the 300 or so Kobe Bryant murals around Los Angeles, Curt Schilling’s infamous 38 Studios debacle and Wilt Chamberlain’s legacy.
“The thesis is that at the end of the day the stickiest content is the content that has the best storytelling, and we are in a world where streamers need to acquire subscribers and retain subscribers, and some big name or famous subjects will bring in audience, but you retain it by creating content that people want to see,” Skipper says.
