The National Football League and its NFL Films subsidiary are teaming up with Skydance Media on a joint venture that will significantly expand Skydance Sports’ programming, with an emphasis on scripted and unscripted non-game content.
“With the power and expertise of the NFL, NFL Films and Skydance Media, Skydance Sports is poised to deliver some of the most compelling sports content of our generation,” Skydance Media CEO David Ellison said in a statement.
Skydance Media and the NFL’s strategic investment arm 32 Equity will make “substantial investments” in the multi-sports production studio, the companies said.
NFL Films, which is known for unscripted programming such as the award-winning series “Hard Knocks,” will work within the partnership to develop and produce new content.
“Combining the unscripted expertise and storytelling of NFL Films with Skydance’s leadership position in TV, film, animation, and other areas will create the leading sports content studio in the world,” NFL Chief Media and Business Officer Brian Rolapp added.
Skydance Media President & COO Jesse Sisgold emphasized that the move is part of the company’s aspiration to “create a pipeline for the very best sports storytelling.”
“Partnering with the NFL and NFL Films gives us the power, privilege and expertise to do this at the highest level possible all while celebrating sports, teams, and athletes around the world,” Sisgold said.
Skydance Sports, which launched earlier this year, recently completed production on its first two projects for Amazon Prime Video: the soccer docuseries “Good Rivals” and an untitled Air Jordan film starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and directed by Affleck.
