Netflix’s latest ploy has the potential to be an absolute hit. The streaming giant’s strategic decision to host a celebrity golf tournament showcasing beloved personalities from shows like ‘Drive to Survive’ and ‘Full Swing’ demonstrates their creativity. With F1 drivers like Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, and more gaining an influx of fans owing to DTS, this new project could only prove more fruitful.
Netflix is trying to venture into lice sports coverage and this new project helps them test the waters while keeping risks at bay. Additionally, not only are F1 drivers drawn to golf in their free time, but also watching their raw, funny personalities shine in real-time will only help grow their fan bases.
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This niche event allows Netflix to delve into the realm of live sports while tapping into two audiences and gauging their interests.
F1 drivers Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, and Alex Albon get excited news
According to the Wall Street Journal, Netflix is in early discussions to live stream its inaugural sports event, which would be a celebrity golf event featuring F1 drivers and professional golfers. The tournament aims to include personalities from Netflix’s popular documentaries, Full Awing, and DTS.
For the streaming conglomerate, a celebrity golf event serves as a low-risk opportunity to refine its live sports broadcasting coverage and address any potential technical glitches that could pop up.
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They had faced problems in the past in this avenue; a live stream of its reality show ‘Love is Blind’ faced an hour-long outage. However, their first live stream of Chris Rock’s comedy special went smoothly.
Thus, this experimental project is perfect for the company. With the growing popularity of professional golfers competing with amateurs, Netlfix tries to adopt a similar format, incorporating F1 drivers and golf players in competitive yet friendly competition.
This not only grabs the attention of both audiences but also casual viewers who would not typically tune into a golf event. Merging the success of DTS and Full Swing into one mega project is simply put, genius.
F1 drivers like Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, and Alex Albon are hardcore golf fanatics. Additionally, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc dabble in the sport as well. Thus, watching these fan favorites battle it out on the green would surely make for good entertainment.
Netflix looks to fulfill sports dream
The streaming giant has been exploring the realm of live sports streaming for over a year now. Previously, Netflix attempted to secure the US streaming rights for F1 but lost the bid to ESPN.
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The company has also expressed interest in acquiring streaming rights for sports like tennis, cycling, and other less prominent categories. Earlier this year, co-CEO Ted Sarandow stated, “We aren’t anti-sports, we’re pro-profit.” This only indicates that the costs associated with sports rights may not necessarily align with their economic strategy.
However, they haven’t shut the door yet. In contrast, competitors like Amazon Prime has been streaming live sports, including NFL, MLB, ATP, and Premiere League matches for several years. Should Netflix’s F1-golf project become a success, surely it would open the door to many more such live-stream events.
