Premier League rejects Netflix ‘Drive to Survive’ series

The Premier League has opted not to work with Netflix on a documentary series. League officials reportedly rejected the move because the streaming service was not offering enough money. The Times has claimed that Netflix offered the English top flight about $18.5 million for a three-year agreement. This breaks down to around $6.2 million per season.

Streaming service was banking to bring in new subscribers

The production company behind the potential series was the same that created Formula 1: Drive To Survive. Box to Box Films has also been behind other sports documentaries such as The Three Kings, Make Us Dream and Make or Break. They also recently agreed to produce a similar show about Major League Soccer. The MLS series is set to be released on Apple TV+ via MLS Season Pass.

Drive to Survive is one of the most popular sports shows on streaming services. In fact, season four attracted 57 million hours of streams during its first two weeks of release in March of 2022. This was the second-most watched Netflix docuseries during this timeframe. Season five of Drive to Survive was recently released in February.

Netflix series offer did not have support of all Premier League clubs

Nevertheless, the Premier League has decided to pass on the deal. The aforementioned news outlet is reporting that the money was not enough to gain support of all 20 clubs. There were also concerns that giving Netflix too much access could negatively affect relationships with television broadcasters. These broadcasters want to gain more access behind the scenes as it is.

Six to eight Premier League teams would have been involved in the show if it was given the green light. Box to Box Films also attempted to reach an agreement with individual English top flight clubs as well. However, no deal between the two sides could be hashed out.

Amazon Prime Video has produced a similar sports docuseries called All or Nothing. Premier League sides Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur have all been featured on the show in recent years. The next round of All or Nothing will follow the Germany national soccer team.

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