Spurred by the ever-increasing appetite for behind-the-scene footage and intriguing drama, sports documentaries have become a major hit in recent years.
By Rohit Kamble
Two months ago in Melbourne, the high-octane men’s singles semi-final of the Australian Open 2024 saw Daniil Medvedev pitted against his old rival Alexander Zverev. The match lived up to its hype, where Medvedev overcame the early jitteriness to seal the game in five sets. For someone who mostly plays against the crowd, shushing up after winning the game is only logical, but at Rod Laver Arena, Medvedev went up a notch further and shouted either ‘karma’ or ‘calma’ towards his box. What exactly he uttered remains a bone of contention, but for those who have watched the second season of Netflix’s Break Point, karma makes more sense.
The fourth episode of Break Point, titled Unfinished Business, chronicles the rivalry between Zverev and Medvedev, which has blossomed into an intense and fiery a air since their heated clash at Monte Carlo Masters in 2023. The episode painted Medvedev in a rather negative light, painting him as a sore loser who comes up with unfair ways to manipulate his opponents. When Medvedev faltered in the first round at Roland Garros last year, Zverev, in the episode, snarkily uses the word karma. The antagonism elaborately explored in the documentary has only heightened the rivalry, hooking both ardent and casual fans alike. The intriguing storytelling, unfiltered access to the inside world of elite sports, and the spotlight on the triumph and travails of personalities involved have made documentaries the favourite medium for sports to reach out to younger demographics. With the rise of streaming services and the impeccable breakthrough of Drive To Survive, other sports have also realised that great content is just as important as great contests.
Following the immense success of Drive To Survive – credited for not only reviving the dwindling interest in racing sports but also bringing millions of new eyeballs – tennis and golf joined hands with Box to Box Films, hoping for a similar windfall gain. “These shows quickly appealed to core fans of golf and tennis, and also recruited brand new fans from all around the world,” said Brandon Riegg, Vice President, Unscripted and Documentary Series, Netflix. “Like so much of our growing sports slate, the compelling characters, competitive stakes, and vibrant storytelling reveal sides of the game you’ve never seen before, and we’re excited to follow the unpredictable turns of the year ahead.” With the advent of social media, a profound shift has occurred in the sporting fandom, wherein fans yearn for more than just the on-field action and the post-match interviews of their idols. For sports fans, there are few things as satisfying and binge-worthy to watch as the conversation in the locker room. Even a thirty-second clip of an on-field banter or conversation attains virality in no time, but this is not enough to quench the curiosity of sports fans, and this is where documentary bestows them with a previously unseen vantage point from which to interpret the sport and its practitioners. These captivating documentaries effortlessly reveal the frequently unnoticed nuances, concealed storylines, and understated marvels, thereby enhancing the kaleidoscope of the sporting realm and endowing viewers with a deeply profound and multifaceted experience.
Just ahead of the 2024 Six Nations, Netflix released an eight-episode documentary series taking viewers behind the scenes of last year’s competition. Now, it’s athletics’ turn. Yet to be named, the docuseries will come this year, just ahead of the Paris Olympics. When asked about the decision to team up with Netflix, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said he couldn’t afford to lose this race “to continue to capture the imagination of young people”. He added, “It’s not a race against other sports. It’s a race against all those outside influences that take up their time and, quite frankly, in some cases are more exciting and relevant to their lives.”
FIVE MUST-WATCH SPORTS DOCU-SERIES
- Drive To Survive (On Netflix)
- Ben Stokes: Phoenix From The Ashes (On Amazon Prime Video)
- Break Point (On Netflix)
- Six Nations (On Netflix)
- The Test: A New Era for Australia’s Team
Reproduced with permission from Mansworldindia.com
