THE SPORTS DOCUMENTARY REVOLUTION IS UPON US

Filmmakers with access to teams and players are churning out athlete-centric streaming content. But is it all worth watching?

- JOSEPH BIEN-KAHN

Log on to any streamer and one thing's clear: We're approaching Peak Sports Documentary.

Netflix has documentaries and docuseries that are athlete-specific (Beckham, Zion, McGregor Forever), team-centered (Untold: Swamp Kings, The Last Dance, The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox), position-focused (Receiver, the follow-up to Quarterback), and even faninspired (The Turnaround). Hulu hosts The Ultimate Fighter, Apple TV+ has not one but two Lionel Messi doc series, and Max has the unrelenting procession of Hard Knocks.

The field is becoming even more crowded as athletes jump into the game, producing sports content about...themselves. Stephen Curry's production company, Unanimous Media, has produced both a docuseries and a feature doc about its cofounder. And Tom Brady quarterbacked a 10-episode Apple TV+ series that charted his own career.

The sports documentary world wasn't always so active. Sure, streaming services had their Pumping Irons and Muhammad Ali: When We Were Kings tucked into their archives. But slickly produced, multimillion-dollar, all-access endeavors weren't climbing their "Most Popular" lists until the very recent past.

So, how did we get here? Are audiences really so hungry that they need three Serena Williams docs? Isn't this a huge distraction for teams and players? And perhaps most important, is any of this stuff actually good?

WHERE IT ALL STARTED