In a new tournament to be shown live on the streaming platform, stars of F1 and the PGA Tour will face-off a in a golf match ahead of the inaugural Las Vegas GP in November. The event will celebrate two of Netflix’s main sporting docuseries, ‘Full Swing’ and ‘Drive to Survive’.
Photo Credits: McLaren Racing
The tournament will mark the first-ever live sports event in the streaming platform, and will be one of the many pre-race weekend shows ahead of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, on November 14th. Four two-players squads will face off in a nine-hole match, with each pair combining one grand prix driver and one golfer.
Formula 1’s exponential growth in popularity in the last few years is partly down to Drive to Survive, and with PGA Tour also crediting an increase in fan engagement over the past year to the success of Full Swing, the two series are connecting for the Netflix Cup.
Representing F1 will be two-time podium finisher Alex Albon, 2020 Italian GP winner Pierre Gasly, McLaren driver Lando Norris and two-time race winner for Ferrari Carlos Sainz. On the golf side the event will feature Rickie Fowler, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas.
Gabe Spitzer, vice-president of nonfiction sports at Netflix, said the face-off will take both sports’ recent success and popularity wave to the “next level” with a first live sporting event on Netflix, broadcasting worldwide for millions of people:
“We love to see how our sports series have brought increased fandom to sports leagues and competitions all over the world,” he said. “The Netflix Cup will take that energy to the next level with global stars from two popular hits competing in our first-ever live sports event.”
Chief Commercial Officer of the Las Vegas GP, Emily Prazer believes it is “fitting” that the preparations for the first race at the famous Strip celebrates both sports’ popularity rises with their docuseries in a “fun” occasion ahead of the race weekend:
“The continued success of ‘Drive to Survive’ has played a significant role in the growth of Formula 1 in the US, which has ultimately led to the addition of a third American race,” said Prazer. “It’s only fitting that we kick off our inaugural race weekend with a fun event that can be streamed by F1 and PGA TOUR fans around the globe.”
Norb Gambuzza, Senior vice-president of media and gaming at PGA Tour, praised the “new and diverse” audiences that the Netflix shows have brought to both sports, and said it is “exciting” to get them together ahead of what is set to be one of the most anticipated grand prix’s of all time:
“The PGA TOUR is proud to participate in this significant milestone for Netflix and we look forward to showcasing our sport’s professional athletes to a live global audience,” said Gambuzza. “New and diverse audiences have come to know more about both our sports and their athletes through ‘Full Swing’ and ‘Drive to Survive’, and we are excited to team up with Netflix, Formula 1 and the Las Vegas Grand Prix on this exciting concept.”
The match will take place at the Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas, and will be streamed live to all Netflix users around the world on the the 14th of November, at 6PM Eastern Time (ET).
