Scripted Sports TV is Having its Super Bowl Moment (as Long as You Don't Whiff)

I talk to Skydance, WBTV and creators including Jason Katims about what to do (and not) to make a hit, and scoop big news about J.J. Abrams' 'Speed Racer'

WINNING TIME Scripted shows riding the tide of audience interest in sports programming include, clockwise from top left, Running Point, Stick and Cobra Kai. (The Ankler illustration; image credits below)

I cover TV from L.A. I interviewed Kevin Beggs about Lionsgate’s indie playbook, and I wrote about how to get staffed in a writers room now and the mess at Amazon TV. Email me at lesley.goldberg@theankler.com. As a paid subscriber to Series Business, you’ll receive dispatches from Lesley, Elaine Low and Manori Ravindran on the TV business. This is a standalone subscription separate from The Ankler. For access to Series Business and everything The Ankler publishes, including The Wakeup and Richard Rushfield, subscribe here.

In August 2020, when Ted Lasso debuted on Apple TV+, the Jason Sudeikis-led soccer comedy delivered a dose of needed optimism as the country was reeling amid the George Floyd protests, the political unrest that came with the first few months of the Trump administration and at a time when much of the world was quarantined at home amid the Covid pandemic. The series, based on interstitial NBC Sports promos featuring the SNL alum, broke through — a record 20 Emmy nominations for a rookie comedy — because it was the right show at the right time.

Now, as a fourth season of Ted Lasso, revolving around a women’s team, is ramping up to begin production, the acclaimed comedy originally about an English Premier League soccer team will face steep competition on the TV pitch as a new roster of sports-related scripted originals floods the landscape, with streamers and networks alike betting on aspirational tales of underdogs defying the odds.

Jason Katims is returning to the football field with a new incarnation of Friday Night Lights, widely considered one of if not the best sports-themed drama series of all time, for Peacock. Apple has Owen Wilson out on the fairway with warmly-received golf comedy Stick. Netflix is heading back to the hardwood for a second season of basketball comedy Running Point. The creators of Cobra Kai are in “active conversations” about expanding their Karate Kid franchise. Ryan Murphy entered the space with the FX anthology American Sports Story, whose first season revolved around the rise and fall of ex-NFL tight end Aaron Hernandez. The CW’s last original series, football drama All American, is heading toward the end zone with its eighth and final season.

And there are more coming: Michael B. Jordan is making two boxing-themed shows for Amazon (one in the Creed franchise, the other connected to Muhammad Ali); Glen Powell and showrunner Michael Waldron (Loki) will kick-off their college football comedy, Chad Powers — inspired by an Eli Manning short — in September for Hulu, which is also teaming with the NFL for a generational drama from Dan Fogelman, who previously partnered with Major League Baseball for Fox’s short-lived 2016 drama Pitch.

So why is everyone in town buying a ticket to the game and investing in sports-related scripted originals?

“Audiences have always connected with sports stories, even if they are not sports fans. The best sports storytelling explores universal themes and uses the clarity and intensity of competition to test characters and create drama,” says Jason T. Reed, head of Skydance Sports, which produces Fogelman’s upcoming NFL drama. “As live sports become more and more important, having shoulder programming that keeps sports fans on platform that can draw new viewers to live events becomes critical.”

Along with Reed, I spoke to a slew of other execs as well as creators and other industry stakeholders about the new boom in sports-adjacent programming. Also, I have a scoop below about big changes on the live-action Speed Racer series from J.J. Abrams.

In today’s newsletter, I highlight:

• News about a slew of shows in development, including exclusive intel about new sports getting the scripted screen treatment

• Strategy insights from Reed, Warner Bros. TV’s Clancy Collins White, and other execs working to maximize this space

• What’s changed as the likes of Peyton and Eli Manning take charge of storytelling and production — and brand reaction

• Projects that went awry and why (including Steph Curry’s)

• The plot devices that keep audiences coming back

• Why some shows partner with leagues and others don’t

• How pro leagues are becoming a new category of IP

‘Sports Is King,’ With Scripted Polishing the Crown