After much speculation and debate, Netflix is breaking into live sports broadcasting later this year.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that a celebrity golf tournament is in the works and would become the streaming giant’s first live sports event. The tournament would be in Las Vegas and feature athletes who are also in two of Netflix’s most popular sports documentary series: Formula One Drive to Survive and Full Swing.
With F1 set to hold a grand prix on the streets of Sin City in November, it makes sense that Netflix would want to incorporate some of the drivers into the event. With a fall target date, October/November seems likely for the event given that the series will be racing in Austin, Texas; Mexico City and Sao Paulo, Brazil during that time.
Drive to Survive has proven to be a big hit for Netflix since it debuted in 2019 and is credited with driving newfound popularity in the sport in the United States. Without the show, F1 likely doesn’t add races in Vegas and Miami.
Netflix had considered acquiring sports broadcasting rights previously but decided against it. The company did bid for rights to F1 in this last negotiating window but ultimately lost out to ESPN.
The streaming platform put on its first live event ever earlier this year, broadcasting a Chris Rock stand-up special. It attempted to follow that up in recent weeks with a live reunion show for its series Love is Blind but ran into technical issues that prevented subscribers from watching as it happened.
