The number of Sports Documentaries released by leading commissioners reached a new peak in the run-up to the Paris Olympic Games. 103 new (First-run) Sports Documentaries and Docuseries were released between May and July 2024. Indeed, the number released in July represents 25% of all new Documentaries released globally during the month, a record share to date.

The last time such high levels were reached was in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with 109 Documentaries in the three months to November 2022. However, this was in a time of higher overall commissioning volumes. Within the current commissioning context, the volume of new Sports Documentaries released in July 2024 represents a record share to date.

This is a new high watermark for Sports Documentary content, which has grown its share of First-run Documentary releases from 6% in 2020 to 9% in 2022 and 12% so far in 2024. Primarily driven by SVoD services, the trend is increasingly being picked up by traditional broadcasters, with European public broadcasters, led by France Televisions and the BBC, releasing the highest volume of new Sports Documentaries from May to July this year. By comparison, the global streamers – which have become the market leaders in the Sports Documentary genre over the last few years – took a back seat over the last three months.

In addition to these Documentaries, several other Sports-related Entertainment and Reality programmes were also launched during the period, giving  Sports content a record 17% share of all new Unscripted commissions released in July.

The thematic focus of much of this content pointed to this shift in origin, with most Documentaries reflective of public broadcasters’ remit (and their media rights) with a focus on the history of the Olympics, portraits of local athletes, and analyses of national stakes in the Games. The Olympics featured less prominently in global streamers’ new Sports Documentary releases, which continue to prioritise topics likely to appeal to a broad international subscriber base. Their focus was on sports such as football, or on access to high-profile sports personalities, including tennis player Roger Federer at Amazon Prime Video, and Mexican Formula 1 driver Checo Perez at Disney+.