Netflix is the home of pretty much everything these days, from Wes Anderson's latest to horror movies, but one area where it hasn't dabbled is live sports. That's about to change, but not how you'd expect.
The Netflix Cup is an amalgamtion of two of its popular documentary series, Drive to Survive and Full Swing. That's right it combines stars from the world of Formula One and golf.
Airing live on November 14th, you sadly aren't going to see Rickie Fowler doing a hotlap around Monaco, but you will find him teaming up (and teeing off) with some of the biggest stars in F1. To celebrate the first ever Las Vegas Grand Prix, Alex Albon, Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly will be partnering Fowler, Max Homa, Colin Morikawa and Justin Thomas will compete for the inagural Netflix cup.
Netflix has explained that the four pairs (one golfer, one driver) will play an eight-hole match at the Wynn Golf Club before the two top-ranking teams face off on a sudden-death final hole.
The choice of F1 drivers is pretty strong, with Norris and Sainz forming a famed "Carlando" friendship that should be good value. It would have been nice to see World Champion Max Verstappen on the green but given his sweary nature it's unimaginable what he'd say when slicing a drive or finding a bunker. It will be interesting to see if any rivalry from the golf course makes its way to the track for the Grand Prix on the 19th of November.
Obviously, this isn't necessarily the most serious event in the world but it could at least prove a tester for more live content and sports broadcasts on the platform in the future. Football fans for example can enjoy exclusive access to the MLS on AppleTV+, while Amazon Prime Video has some live Premier League fixtures. If Netflix decides to go big on sports, it's safe to say it will make an impact.
