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Netflix is getting into the Olympic spirit with its newest batch of sports documentaries.
The streamer has partnered with the International Olympic Committee on three series following gymnastics superstar Simone Biles and athletes in men’s basketball and track and field. Filmmaking teams for the three shows will gain access to the athletes and venues at the summer games in Paris.
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Separately, Netflix has ordered a series about the Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones, with a focus on the team’s dominant years in the early and mid-1990s. The company made the announcements as part of its first-ever upfront on Wednesday — where it also announced its biggest push into live sports so far with a deal to carry NFL games on Christmas for the next three years.
Biles’ return for her third Olympics will be chronicled in Simone Biles: Rising, which will run in two parts. The first four episodes — chronicling her struggles with mental health at the Tokyo Olympics and her return to competition last year — will premiere in July, ahead of the opening of the games on July 26. Part two, covering her time with the U.S. gymnastics team in Paris, will air sometime after the Olympics; a date hasn’t been set.
Religion of Sports (Tom Brady: Man in the Arena and 2021’s Simone vs. Herself) is producing Simone Biles: Rising in association with the Olympic Channel. Gotham Chopra, Ameeth Sankaran, Giselle Parets and Janey Miller executive produce. Katie Walsh, a producer and director on Simone vs. Herself and past Olympics, directs.
Netflix ordered a track and field docuseries titled Sprint last year, focusing on the top 100-meter runners (including Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson of the United States) as they prepared for last year’s world championships. It will also debut in July, and the streamer has ordered a second season that will chronicle the competition at the Olympics. Sprint comes from Box to Box Films (Formula 1: Drive to Survive) and the Olympic Channel; Box to Box’s Paul Martin, James Gay-Rees and Warren Smith exec produce.
The third Olympic series will follow the men’s basketball competition and counts the team behind The Last Dance and hoops-loving former president Barack Obama’s Higher Ground Productions as its producers. The untitled series, set for an early 2025 premiere, will feature athletes and teams from around the world looking to earn an Olympic medal while also exploring how basketball became a global game.
Last Dance producers Connor Schell, Libby Geist, Aaron Cohen and Jason Hehir of Words & Pictures executive produce with Higher Ground’s Barack and Michelle Obama, Vinnie Malhotra and Ethan Lewis. Jake Rogal is the showrunner.
The Dallas Cowboys series comes from Skydance Sports and NFL Films in association with Stardust Frames Productions, headed by directors Chapman and Maclain Way (Wild Wild Country). The show will feature previously unseen footage and interviews with Jones, alongside interviews with key figures of the 1990s dynasty including Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin and coaches Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer. The executive producers are David Ellison, Jesse Sisgold, Jon Weinbach, Ross Ketover, KenRodgers, Jessica Boddy, Keith Cossrow, the Way brothers and John Skipper.
The show is the second Netflix series focused on the Cowboys organization. The streamer has also ordered a docuseries about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders from Cheer and Last Chance U producer-director Greg Whiteley.
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