Sport dominates new documentary releases this summer

New research from Ampere Analysis shows that the number of sports documentaries published by leading commissions has reached a new high in the run-up to the Paris Olympic Games.

Between May and July 2024, 103 new (first broadcast) sports documentaries and docuseries were released. In the current commissioning context, the figure released in July corresponds to 25% of all new documentaries released worldwide that month – a record share to date.

Similar figures were last seen in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with 109 documentaries in the three months up to November 2022. However, this was a time when overall order volumes were higher.

This represents a new high for documentary sports content, which has increased its share of first-run documentary releases from 6% in 2020 to 9% in 2022 and so far 12% in 2024.

The trend is mainly driven by SVoD services, but is increasingly being picked up by public broadcasters. European public broadcasters, led by France Televisions and the BBC, released the most new sports documentaries from May to July. In comparison, global streamers – which have become market leaders in the sports documentary genre in recent years – have taken a back seat over the past three months.

In addition to these documentaries, several other sports-related entertainment and reality programs were also launched during this period, bringing sports content to a record 17% of all new unscripted orders released in July.

The thematic focus of much of this content indicated this shift in origin. The majority of these documentaries reflected the public broadcasters' mandate and focused on the history of the Olympics, portraits of local athletes and analysis of the national significance of the Games. The Olympics played a less prominent role in new sports documentaries from global streamers, as they continue to prioritize topics likely to appeal to a broad international subscriber base. The focus was on sports such as football or on access to high-profile sports personalities, including tennis player Roger Federer on Amazon Prime Video and Formula 1 driver Checo Perez on Disney+.

Cyrine Amor, Senior Analyst at Ampere Analysis, says: “Content producers have been seriously preparing for the surge in interest in sports of all kinds triggered by the Olympics. This year has seen a huge increase in the number of sports documentaries, docuseries, reality and entertainment programs. Unusually, public broadcasters have produced more of this material than global streamers. Sports fans have enjoyed a true summer of sport and documentary filmmakers have made July 24 a record month for global releases.”

For more information, see Televisual's article on the demand for sports documentaries.

Pippa Considine

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