Religion of Sports
Gotham Chopra (founder)
Ameeth Sankaran (CEO)
getty images (2)
Even for a production company that is led by some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment, “McGregor Forever” represented something significant about the trajectory of Religion of Sports.
Gotham Chopra, who co-founded the company in 2017 with Tom Brady and Michael Strahan, called the four-part Netflix docuseries a “new level of achievement” that “could unlock some new opportunities” for Religion of Sports. “To be able to work with somebody of [Conor McGregor’s] magnitude, and with Netflix, the biggest platform in the world, it’s sort of like the perfect storm and a big step for us.”
Since the company’s launch, it’s been one big step after another for Religion of Sports. Its tentpole “Arena” franchise, which debuted with Tom Brady as the star for its 10-episode first season, revealed earlier this year that its second season will revolve around Serena Williams. The company, which last summer closed on a $50 million Series B funding round led by Shamrock Capital, has also produced critically acclaimed documentaries featuring Simone Biles and Kobe Bryant, among other major names.
Also in the works: a yet-to-be-announced project with comedian Trevor Noah about soccer. Chopra explained that deeply immersive “follow” documentaries can be complicated and difficult to replicate. But exploring what piques the interest of a superstar? “There’s something cool about that,” Chopra said. “It’s less about these iconic personalities and more like, what are they passionate about? And sort of tapping into that.”
But RoS is willing to look for content around more anonymous figures, too. One example is its NBA G League docuseries, which premiered on Prime Video in August.
“It doesn’t always have to be the biggest name necessarily,” CEO Ameeth Sankaran said, “but just emphasizing, what does it take to cut through and resonate? I think that will always persist.”
Religion of Sports continues to expand its horizons with new partnerships — like a multiyear film deal it announced with Fox Sports earlier this year — and new hires and acquisitions, including U.K.-based production company Jiva Maya, which it acquired earlier this year as a means of “planting a flag in Europe,” Chopra said. — Erik Bacharach
