The Latest NFL TV And Movie Projects

It might be the most popular sport in the US. And when it comes to expansion plans it’s also one of the most ambitious.

For many years now the NFL has been actively trying to attract new demographics to the sport as well as to extend its global reach.

Several strategies have been proving to be very successful including playing a certain number of games overseas. For example, here is now the annual event of at least two mid-season games being played over in the UK.

And perhaps its greatest coup in the last couple of years has been the romance between Taylor Swift and the Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce. This has brought a very unexpected new cohort of fans to the sport, perhaps more interested in what Taylor Swift’s wearing to the game than the action on the field.

Another way that interest is being whipped up is via NFL-sanctioned TV shows and movies.

In the past there have been titles like Any Given Sunday and Jerry Maguire giving their own particular angles on the game. Now there are many other pieces of broadcast content about the game, particularly featuring real life documentaries but also including one major film project.

Receiver

First Netflix took an in-depth look at what it takes to fulfil the most important role in any team with its docu-series Quarterback. Now it’s moving on to that other essential position with Receiver.

Just as the first series focused on a few individuals, this one gets close up and personal with five of the biggest names who play in the position - Davante Adams, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Justin Jefferson and Amon-Ra St Brown.

Over eight gripping episodes we follow the players through the season experiencing their highs and lows. Through a series of personal interviews we also get to learn all about what it takes to succeed in the position – and why some even believe that they deserve even more attention than quarterbacks.

The presence of Deebo Samuel means that we even get to experience an insider’s view of the dressing room, what it’s like to reach the Super Bowl and the high concentration levels which contributes to all the high NFL point spreads fans witness every season.

Hard Knocks: In Season With The AFC North

The HBO/NFL collaboration of Hard Knocks has been with us 2001. Each time it has featured a particular franchise following them through their season. For series 24, airing from early December, the show has gone in a different direction.

Instead, it follows all of the teams in the AFC North through the final six weeks of the season as the leaders battle for a place in the play-offs. This section of the league was chosen because in 2023 all four of its teams finished with winning records and the Bengals, Browns, Ravens and Steelers were felt certain to make for gripping viewing.

This is also the year when Hard Knocks has taken a look at what the off-season means for a team with the New York Giants.

America’s Sweethearts Season Two

The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are renowned for being the best and most highly drilled of all of the teams’ squads so they’ve been featured in a number of documentaries over the years.

The most recent has been directed by award-winning Greg Whitely and has been praised for having a more critical eye than previous films. Now commissioned for Season 2, due out sometime in 2025, the series looks at the whole process of becoming a Cowboys cheerleader.

Beginning with auditions in which even the squad’s bootmaker gets a say in who is chosen it then goes on to show the punishing regime to get the women ready for the season’s start. There are tears, joy and laughter in equal measures. It also asks the essential question of whether the cheerleaders are suitably financially rewarded for all of their efforts and commitment.

Madden

John Madden was the larger than life coach who oversaw and orchestrated many of the Oakland Raiders’ greatest victories in the 1970s, including their first ever Super Bowl victory.

He sadly passed away in 2021 at the age of 85 and now his legacy is set to be celebrated in a biopic from Amazon/MGM starring Nicolas Cage as Madden.

The movie’s director is David O. Russell whose previous movies have included American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook and Three Kings.

At the moment Madden is still very much in the development stage with the supporting cast yet to be announced. It’s also not known whether Russell is taking charge of the screenplay. But he has already announced to Variety magazine that, “the feature will be about the joy, humanity and genius that was John Madden in a wildly inventive, cool world of the 1970s.”

So plenty for NFL fans to look forward to on the small, and big, screen – and potentially many more viewers being turned on the game itself.