Can Sha’Carri Richardson’s Netflix Debut Bring Over $75 Million Surge for Track and Field?

The world’s fastest woman Sha’Carri Richardson may very well be the saving grace for track and field – a sport that had lost its mojo over the last few years. However, the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene saw Team USA shining with 33 total medals, 13 of which were gold. Over the 10 days, 18.7 million total viewership was recorded for the World Athletics Championships – making it the most-watched track and field championship in history for NBC Sports.

Now, Sha’Carri is set to grace Netflix screens across the globe. Yes, you heard that right. Fans will get to witness microscopic details and insightful glimpses from Noah Lyles, Sha’Carri Richardson, and many more on the streaming service. The Netflix series was in the works since last year and has kept hush-hush since then, only seeing the light of day now. It was titled tentatively as Sprint, pun intended, and is touted to be the next best thing in track and field, after the Olympics of course. Think of it as a precursor and a rite of passage for ardent track worshippers and common folk alike. The series is set to be produced by Box to Box Films, the brainchild behind the Formula 1: Drive to Survive series, which has been wildly successful with a 6 season run. It is credited with drawing the audience’s attention back to F1 racing and helping it reach a bigger audience.

“The Netflix effect” is seen most prominently in the estimated $75M jump in collections due to increased interest and cultural influence caused by the shows and series. Now there are speculations that Sha’Carri Richardson’s piece will be expected to bring in similar numbers. What does this marvel on celluloid entail? While a teaser or a sneak peek is yet to drop, here’s what we do know right now. Conversely, how does it tie into the moolah-making of Drive to Survive – an exclusive F1 venture? Let’s study this interrelated web in the grand scheme of things.

“Drive to Survive” to act as a blueprint for success 

In a recent Medium article, the editor laid down the “Drive to Survive” strategy. The goal is to follow athletes on and off the track. The camera tails racers as they wade through various dramas of the sport, interpersonal rivalry, and team dynamics. This allows viewers to get emotionally invested in the athletes. Then by extension generate interest in the sport. They will probably implement it for Sprint as well which will feature the likes of sprinters like Noah Lyles, Sha’Carri Richardson, and Shericka Jackson. This could probably boost the revenue that T&F makes off of viewership. One of the highlights of Drive to Survive is fans being able to get a closer insight into the lives of their favorite racers like Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc as opposed to viewing the races from the stands.

Furthermore, the show has covered several high-profile controversies, including the improper conduct of the FIA president, as well as the questionable domination of the Red Bull team. Drive to Survive has created its own sort of intrigue and excitement. It has taken the already heightened experience of watching a sport and made it even more exhilarating. It has also made F1 racing more accessible to the denizens and masses. Now Netflix should do right by its users on the other end of the sporting spectrum and extrapolate this strategy to the marketing ploy for Sprint. 

Richardson’s journey will definitely make for great television. This is because she has experienced soaring highs and touched rock bottom, something that will resonate with viewers across all demographics. As a collegiate star, she cemented herself as a formidable sprinter. She set a new world U20 record in the 100m race. Her career then only accelerated until it came to an unexpected standstill. In the 2021 Tokyo Games, she tested positive for cannabis in the US trials after winning silver. She was subsequently suspended for a month.

This meant no Olympics for Richardson that year. She later owned up to it and explained how she had recently lost her biological mother and was under emotional duress. Netflix will undoubtedly want to delve into this as emotional resonance is their USP. Additionally, they will focus on the long-standing rivalry between Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson and Richardson. This will be a captivating storyline as Jackson is a part of Sprint’s doyen of sprinters as well. So we can expect to see them tell their side of the story. This sliver-of-life approach is probably the closest viewers can get to an immersive experience, courtesy of Netflix’s acquisition rights.

Is Netflix’s focus on sports a coincidence or a strategy?

In recent years, Netflix has identified sports as the money-making machine that it is. The company’s recent three-season deal with the NFL to stream two Christmas Day games is one of its first ventures into live sports streaming. Moreover, by securing rights for live WWE Raw programming starting in 2025 under a $5 billion deal, Netflix will increase its viewer base. They are also in talks with the NBA. However, this year, Netflix is capitalizing on the hype generated around the Paris Olympics, this being their biggest untapped market thus far. Especially with their 3 Olympic ventures, including the series Sprint, this seems to be the most prudent step for them. 

Sprint will follow the track and field athletes as they compete in the Diamond circuit. Including the behind-the-scenes journey of these athletes from the 2023 World Championships to the 2024 Paris Games, we will see it all as it unfolds before our very eyes. Plus, though Netflix is not yet set to stream the Olympics, it still has an audience base actively interested in the Paris Games. The first episode will drop before the Olympics starts.

It will showcase the intense training that athletes Sha’Carri Richardson, Lyles, as well as Fred Kerley, and Dina Asher-Smith, are going through in preparation for the Games. Viewers will get a closer look at their favorite athletes. They will gain insights into the sprinters’ different strategies and be able to quench their anticipation for the Paris Games in some capacity. Netflix’s focus on track and field is not a coincidence, as it is one of the most popularly followed sports at the moment. 

Netflix plans on drawing in viewers akin to World Athletics Championships

Netflix has a huge audience of followers and fans of track and field. This can be gleaned from the number of viewers the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon brought in. NBC Sports platform saw a 65% increase over the previous record set in 2017. During this event, Noah Lyles won the gold medal in the 200m, finishing at record 19.31 seconds. Shericka Jackson also won the gold medal in the 200m. The final night of competition on NBC averaged 2.362 million viewers, making it the network’s most-watched track and field program in 26 years, excluding the Olympics and U.S. Team Trials.

In WAC 2023, Sha’Carri Richardson became the fastest woman of the year. Lyles and Jackson also defended their titles and won gold for a second consecutive year. The event was widely covered. The World Athletics website saw over 400,000 requests per minute and up to 14 million per hour. Over the nine days, 14,000 news articles that were published garnered 28.5 billion viewers. Furthermore, upwards of 1200 accredited broadcast personnel from 46 broadcasters. With Sprint, Netflix can redirect all this viewership towards their own platform.

It will draw global attention as athletes hail not only from the USA but also from Jamaica, the UK, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Italy. This will help draw in viewers from across the globe. Moreover, one report from Wire Sports states that track and field is dying a slow death due to the lack of viewers between the ages of 18 and 34. But this age group generates the most traffic on Netflix. So, a Netflix collaboration will also help the sport to get revived, like a phoenix from the ashes, if you will. 

Furthermore, Netflix has the expertise to handle a project of this scale. This is because Box to Box Films has handled various other similar documentaries other than Drive to Survive. A few of them are “Full Swing” for golf, “Break Point” for professional tennis and Full Speed for NASCAR.

They will keep Sprint viewers engaged by focusing on the mental strength and grueling physical trials of the sprinters, and a documentary of this sort right before the Olympics will be a game-changing move for athletics. Will we see a visible renaissance? Time will tell.