Hollywood strikes may make it tougher for streaming services to stick to business as usual for the rest of 2023, but at least one of the major players isn’t ready to turn to sports to fill any holes just yet.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos was asked directly about going head-to-head against Amazon and Apple for streaming sports rights. He responded that he is comfortable with “sports adjacent” programming.
“Our position in live sports remains unchanged,” he said Wednesday.
The Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA are both currently out on strike with no end in sight. With no working writers or actors to turn to, most productions are shut down. The public likely will not see the results until later this year and into 2024.
Sarandos says it is no coincidence that Netflix has found success with sports documentaries like F1: Drive to Survive and Quarterback.
“We can offer this wide variety of sports programming for sports fans that’s in-season year round, and it really leans on our strengths which are storytelling,” he said.
Netflix will live stream a celebrity golf tournament later this year. Sarandos says it is not the start of something bigger. The event will feature stars of its documentaries Full Swing and Drive to Survive and will be more of a promotional vehicle for those shows than a testing ground for Netflix’s ability to deliver live sports coverage.
