The NFL has long joked its drama isn’t scripted. Now, it’s hiring people to make sure it is. The league is partnering with Skydance Sports to build a premier content studio, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The goal is scripted dramas, theatrical films, and the NFL’s first-ever streaming series. This isn’t just slapping team logos on a screen. It’s real storytelling.
NFL games accounted for 84 of the top 100 most-watched TV programs last year. The audience for football content is massive. Now the league wants to deepen that connection.
“When you have an audience as big as the NFL’s, there are a lot of different demographics to service,” said Jason Reed, who heads Skydance Sports. “Those movies pick up people who maybe wouldn’t watch a football game.”
Three projects lead the charge. A John Madden biopic. A Christmas Day film featuring an unlikely New York Giants hero. And The Land — a Hulu dramatic series starring Christopher Meloni, Mandy Moore, and William H. Macy, centered on fictional characters tied to the Cleveland Browns.
Dan Fogelman, creator of This Is Us, wrote the series. He’s a lifelong football fan. This project has been 20 years in the making.
“We’re not making this stuff up out of thin air,” Fogelman said. “The NFL has been great about that.”
JW Johnson of the Haslam Sports Group kept expectations grounded at last month’s owners meetings.
“We don’t want this to be a ‘Playmakers’ situation,” Johnson said. “We want a fan-friendly show that also has the authenticity of what happens in a locker room.”
NFL Films brings six decades of expertise to the production. Its library is vast. “The well is infinite,” said Jessica Boddy, VP of commercial operations for NFL Films. “We’ve only scratched the surface.”
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