Research by Ampere Analysis shows that the number of sports documentaries published by leading commissions has reached a new high in the run-up to the Paris Olympic Games.

Between May and July 2024, 103 new (first broadcast) sports documentaries and docuseries were released. In the current commissioning context, the figure published in July corresponds to 25 percent of all new documentaries released worldwide that month – a record share to date.

Key findings

• These figures were last achieved in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with 109 documentaries in the three months to November 2022. However, this occurred at a time of higher order volumes overall. In the current order context, new sports documentaries released in July 2024 account for 25 percent of all new documentaries released worldwide during the month, a record share to date.
• This is a new high for documentary sports content, whose share of first-time releases has increased from 6 percent in 2020 to 9 percent in 2022 and 12 percent so far in 2024. The trend is mainly driven by SVoD services and is increasingly being picked up by public service broadcasters. European public service broadcasters, led by France Télévisions and the BBC, released the largest number of new sports documentaries from May to July. In comparison, global streamers – which have become market leaders in the sports documentary genre in recent years – took a back seat over the past three months.
• In addition to these documentaries, several other sports-related entertainment and reality programs were also launched during this period, resulting in sports content reaching a record 17 percent share of all new unscripted orders released in July.
• The thematic focus of much of this content hinted at this shift in origin. The majority of these documentaries reflected the public broadcasters’ mandate and focused on the history of the Olympics, portraits of local athletes and analysis of the national significance of the Games. The Olympics played a less prominent role in the new sports documentaries from global streamers, as they continue to prioritize topics likely to appeal to a broad international subscriber base. The focus was on sports such as football or on access to high-profile sports personalities, including tennis player Roger Federer on Prime Video and Formula 1 driver Checo Perez on Disney+.

Cyrine Amor, Senior Analyst at Ampere Analysis, commented: “Content producers have been seriously preparing for the surge in interest in sports of all kinds triggered by the Olympics. This year has seen a huge increase in the number of sports documentaries, docuseries, reality and entertainment programs. Unusually, public broadcasters have produced more of this material than global streamers. Sports fans have enjoyed a true summer of sport and documentary filmmakers have made July 24 a record month for global releases.”