According to The Wall Street Journal, streaming platform Netflix are in talks to venture into the world of live sports, following discussions to gain the rights to a celebrity golf event in Las Vegas.
The golfing competition is set to feature stars from the world of Formula 1 and golf, two sports that Netflix are already heavily involved in.
Netflix, of course, already make F1-based docuseries ‘Drive to Survive’ (DTS), whilst they make a similar series following professional golfers.
Similar to DTS, ‘Full Swing’ followers a diverse group of golfers both on the course and away from it, a filming technique which is used by the streaming platform to film DTS.
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Very little information about the golfing event have been revealed, with it yet to be announced when it’ll be held, how it’ll be run and who’ll take part.
As known by F1 fans, several drivers on the grid are often found playing a round of golf, most notably, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.
Charles Leclerc and McLaren CEO Zak Brown have also been seen playing golf before, as has seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.
Williams’ Alex Albon is another big golfer; however, he is in a relationship with professional golfer Lily Muni.
Netflix’s interest in gaining the sole rights to the proposed event is certainly very interesting, especially as they recently lost out to ESPN in regard to holding the rights to air the sport in the United States.
The streaming platform’s bid was unsuccessful; however, it’s certainly a sign as to the direction Netflix are taking to broaden their audience.
Streaming rival Amazon Prime have been covering live sports for a while now, with the site having most recently aired 20 live Premier League football matches.
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They first gained the rights to 20 matches in the 2019/20 season, whilst last season they had the rights to all 10 fixtures during the Boxing Day period.
Interestingly, Amazon Prime filmed a MotoGP version of DTS in 2021, which was released last year.
Whether Amazon Prime are looking to enter the motorsport market like Netflix remains to be seen; however, it’s certainly a developing situation.