Netflix is touting its new series The Netflix Cup as its “first-ever live sports event,” which sounds at first like a retreat of sorts from the streamer’s assurance in late 2022 that it wouldn’t be adding sports packages to its offerings. But if you look a little closer, this is more of a celebrity golf tournament—featuring teams drawn from Netflix’s own sports documentary series Formula 1: Drive to Survive and Full Swing.
Here’s a teaser for the streaming event:
The tourney takes place November 14 at the Wynn Golf Club on the Las Vegas Strip; it’s a tie-in with the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, which kicks off November 16. The teams, which feature athletes from Formula 1: Drive to Survive (currently filming its sixth season) and Full Swing (filming its second), include: Formula 1 drivers Alex Albon (Williams Racing), Pierre Gasly (BWT Alpine F1 Team), Lando Norris (McLaren Racing), and Carlos Sainz (Scuderia Ferrari); and PGA Tour golfers Rickie Fowler, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa, and Justin Thomas.
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According to a Netflix press release: “In a clash of wheels and irons, four pairs consisting of one Formula 1 driver and one PGA Tour professional will play an eight-hole match with the top two teams advancing to the final hole, where they will battle for the chance to win the inaugural Netflix Cup title.”
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The fact that this is Netflix’s first live sporting event is sort of the buried lede in all of this; there’s no word if the streamer is planning The Netflix Cup as a launching pad for more programming of this nature, but it does feel like the streamer is feeling out new ways to promote its ever-growing, Netflix-specific sports programming. In addition to existing documentary series like the racing and golf shows highlighted here, it has other shows in the works about the world’s fastest sprinters, the soccer stars of the U.S. Women’s National Team, a NASCAR-centric series, and more.
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While this event does include sports, sports stars, and a live stream, it’s still a far cry from the extremely expensive to produce and lucrative programming that broadcasters like ESPN have specialized in for years. Don’t expect to see Monday Night Football on Netflix any time soon.
The Netflix Cup streams live on Netflix beginning at 3 p.m. PT on Tuesday, November 14. Hopefully, by now Netflix has worked out the live-streaming gremlins that plagued its much-mocked Love Is Blind reunion special earlier this year.
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