Streaming giant Netflix and golf’s US-based PGA Tour are reportedly teaming up to produce a docuseries that will provide a behind-the-scenes look at life on the tour.
According to Golf.com, which cites multiple sources, Netflix will follow PGA Tour golfers during the 2021-22 season and will aim to provide “unprecedented behind-the-scenes access” in much the same way as Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive show has for the prestigious motor racing series.
The US media company Vox Media, which works on Drive to Survive, is also reported to be involved with the production.
Around 12 players are expected to be involved, and “several of the tour’s top players” are reported to already be on board.
It’s thought that filming won’t begin fully until early 2022 and that work on a full season is likely to be completed before any previews are released.
The series will apparently draw heavily from the Drive to Survive format, “filming with its cast members at tournaments, at home and during all the in-between times”.
It will be hoped that this approach has a similar impact as that of Drive to Survive, which has been credited with driving fresh interest in the motor racing series.
During an earnings call in May, F1’s chief executive Stefano Domenicali hailed the programme’s role in delivering increased TV viewing figures for the sport in 2021, compared with the previous two years.
The Amazon Prime series All Or Nothing, which takes a similar behind-the-scenes look over the course of a season at high-profile sports teams, so far featuring soccer’s Brazil national team, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Juventus, rugby union’s New Zealand All Blacks and ice hockey’s Toronto Maple Leafs, has also proved popular with viewers.