PLAY BALL! NETFLIX GREENLIGHTS TWO PROJECTS WITH MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL FEATURING THE BOSTON RED SOX
NETFLIX'S FIRST MLB DOCUMENTARY SERIES TO FOLLOW RED SOX DURING 2024 SEASON
ALSO COMING TO NETFLIX, THE DEFINITIVE DOCUMENTARY EXAMINING THE EXTRAORDINARY 2004 RED SOX CHAMPIONSHIP
· Netflix today announced two new projects with Major League Baseball featuring one of the league's most storied franchises, the Boston Red Sox.
· For the first time, Netflix will follow an MLB team over the course of a full season. This docuseries will feature one of sports' most historic teams, the Boston Red Sox, and provide viewers a window into what it takes to compete across a season's ups and downs in one of the most rabid sports environments. Netflix will have unprecedented access to players, coaches and executives throughout the 2024 season and the docuseries will debut in 2025.
· Executive Produced and Directed by Greg Whiteley of One Potato Productions (Cheer, Last Chance U, Wrestlers). Also serving as Executive Producers, include Andrew Fried and Dane Lillegard of Boardwalk Pictures (Cheer, Chef's Table, Race: Bubba Wallace).
· The second project- coming to Netflix later this year- is an untitled documentary looking back at the extraordinary and historic 2004 Red Sox season, which culminated with one of the greatest comebacks in sports history and the franchise's first World Series title in 86 years. The series will feature new, exclusive interviews with key players and figures from the team that broke one of baseball's longest curses where the franchise has now won more World Series (four) in the last 20 years than any Club in MLB.
· Executive Producers: Nick Barnicle, Colin Barnicle, John Skipper, Deirdre Fenton, Howard Bryant, Melody Shaffir, Nick Davis, and Nick Trotta and is directed by Colin Barnicle. Produced by Meadowlark Media.
· "Our fans love that our sports series focus on the drama of sport and nothing was more dramatic than the 2004 Red Sox season, especially having witnessed their comeback from the bleachers during Game 7 against the Yankees," said Gabe Spitzer, Vice President, Nonfiction Sports, Netflix. "We're thrilled to partner with this iconic franchise to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the greatest sports comeback ever, while also looking forward to the team's future with inside access to their 2024 campaign."
· "Baseball is driven by the incredible stories of our athletes," said Noah Garden, Deputy Commissioner, Business & Media, Major League Baseball. "Teaming up with Netflix for these two exciting projects is a tremendous opportunity to not only bring our avid fans closer to the game they love, but also introduce new audiences to the undeniable emotion that baseball evokes."
· "The partnership between MLB, Netflix and the Red Sox will have a significant impact on growing the game of baseball," said Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner. "The reach of Netflix is profound and these docuseries are ambitious. One will relive one of the most magical stories that forever changed this franchise, and the other is a truly groundbreaking endeavor that will provide an inside look at the lives and personalities of today's Red Sox players."
· Netflix is the premier home for great sports stories as these series join Netflix's lineup of sports programming, including recent releases like Formula 1: Drive To Survive, Full Swing, NASCAR: Full Speed, Untold, Quarterback, Tour de France: Unchained, Under Pressure: The U.S. Women's World Cup Team, Six Nations: Full Contact and more. Netflix has partnered with sports leagues including Formula 1, National Football League (NFL), the PGA TOUR, Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Women's Tennis Association (WTA), Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and more.
ABOUT NETFLIX:
Netflix is one of the world's leading entertainment services with over 260 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time.
ABOUT MLB STUDIOS:
Major League Baseball (MLB) represents the highest level of professional baseball and is the most historic sports league in the United States. Under MLB Studios, the League creates, produces and consults on original content inspired by the engaging personalities and compelling storylines at the forefront of today's game and throughout its robust 150-year history. MLB Studios media and licensing projects span film, television, audio networks and digital distribution, including diverse and pioneering programming that taps an expansive media archive to cover historical and cultural subjects. Recent credits include the critically acclaimed "The Saint of Second Chances," a film that explores the legendary promoter and owner, Bill Veeck that premiered on Netflix in 2023. MLB also collaborated on the Academy Award(R)-nominated Moneyball and Box Office hit 42.
ABOUT THE BOSTON RED SOX:
The Boston Red Sox were established in 1901 as one of eight clubs to enter into the newly founded American League. Originally known as the Boston Americans, the team played its home games at the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds in Boston before adopting the name Red Sox prior to the 1908 season and moving to Fenway Park in 1912. The Sox captured the first ever World Series in 1903 and have gone on to win nine titles in all, as well as five additional American League pennants. Boston has also claimed 10 East division titles and seven Wild Card berths during that time. A total of 46 former players, managers, and executives who spent at least a part of their career with the Red Sox are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Today the Red Sox are led by owners John Henry, Tom Werner, and their partners, who purchased the team in December of 2001. Under their watch, the club has constructed the longest sellout streak in baseball history, renovated and preserved Fenway Park, and won four World Series, the first in 2004 which ended an 86-year stretch without a title.
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