Why Netflix is Making F1 Drivers Play Golf? 🏎 ⛳️
Plus Inter Miami cashes in on Messi Mania and Barcelona looks to rollercoasters for some extra cash.
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The streaming services are fighting a turf war over live sports. Apple has snapped up MLS and Lionel Messi, Amazon has taken the Champions League, and Netflix has some Formula 1 drivers playing golf…
It may seem like Netflix isn’t taking this quite as seriously as the other two, and that’s a fair point. In fact, Netflix has no plans to enter the fight for the major sports. Its only current offering is the Netflix Cup, a live golf event on November 14th featuring several F1 drivers against PGA tour pros. It’s essentially a crossover between Netflix’s two major sports documentaries, ‘Drive to Survive’ and ‘Full Swing’.
While some held out hopes that this little foray into live sport would see Netflix enter the ring with Amazon and Apple, this looks unlikely.
“We are in the sports business,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos explained during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “But we’re in the part of the sports business that we bring the most value to, which is the drama of sport.”
On first reading, this would suggest that Netflix wants to stick with the conventional documentary format. A proven product that allows them to deliver the drama of sports without the lulls of extra time or advert breaks.
That being said, Netflix is still investing in its live capabilities and has also promised to incorporate live features into its wider storytelling. While this probably won’t end with Netflix streaming the Premier League, we could see more fun events that combine Netflix properties with that special live sports magic. Imagine a Queens Gambit live chess tournament with the cast facing off against Magnus Carlsen.
🐎 💰 Talking of interesting sports documentaries. We made one about the richest athlete in history.
If you think it’s about Michael Jordan or Cristiano Ronaldo you are completely incorrect, although he was also born in Portugal…about 2000 years ago.
🌇 Let’s go from ancient Rome to modern-day Miami, and see how Lionel Messi has transformed football in America.
Here are some impressive facts from his first few months in MLS:
It took just 45 minutes for Messi’s jersey to be the most sold of the season.
Within three days, it was the most-sold jersey in the history of MLSstore.com.
MLS attendance could soon hit 11 million, a new record, which has been mainly attributed to Messi’s arrival.
Inter Miami is also seeing a boost from its association with Messi. The club is just about to go on a tour of China, the first international tour in the club’s history. This could help Inter Miami grow an international fanbase and attract more lucrative sponsorship.
🎢 It’s a fundamental law of physics that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The same can be said for the laws of sports business. While Inter Miami is bathing in the warm glow of brand Messi, Barcelona is missing out.
The club had banked a lot on Messi’s return and is now looking for new ways to bring in extra cash. This has seen the club resort to some pretty strange schemes, including the sale of diamonds made from the grass cuttings of Camp Nou.
The latest project will see Barcelona open its own theme park. Yes, you may soon be able to ride a Barcelona rollercoaster (insert your own joke here about Barcelona’s finances).
In a statement, Barcelona revealed that it will open new (smaller) attractions at the renovated Camp Nou, while also looking to open large-scale theme parks across the world.
This is not the first time that a Spanish club has taken the theme park route. Real Madrid supposedly met with Disney executives to enquire about building rollercoasters near the Bernabeu before settling on a club-themed experience in Dubai.
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