Netflix picks tennis and Rafael Nadal for its next live sports stream

[Karlston]

The Netflix Slam will air on March 3rd, 2024 from Las Vegas.

 

Netflix is planning yet another live sports event — and this time, it’s a tennis match pitting veteran tennis player Rafael Nadal against Carlos Alcaraz, who’s currently ranked number two in the world.

 

The streamer is calling the event The Netflix Slam, and it will air on March 3rd, 2024 from the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. While it seems Spanish tennis champs Nadal and Alcaraz will headline the competition, Netflix says it’s going to announce “additional players and matchups” at a later date. The stream will air as a dual broadcast for both English and Spanish-speaking markets.

 

 

Netflix hosted its first live sporting event last month, which paired Formula 1 drivers from its Drive to Survive docuseries with professional golfers from Full Swing. There were some audio and framerate issues during the stream, but it didn’t crash.

 

Even as Netflix continues to dabble in the world of live sports, it doesn’t look like the streamer will acquire the broadcasting rights to seasonal games anytime soon. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in July the company will stick to “sports-adjacent programming,” and rumors suggest Netflix’s interest in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament has to do with a possible docuseries. If true, that leaves the lucrative live sports deals to its rivals.

 

(Disclosure: Vox Media Studios produced Full Swing, and The Verge recently produced a series with Netflix.)

 

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