Camera crews have been absent from filming this season and some subjects felt the first batch of episodes were unimpressive from their viewpointNetflix
The Netflix tennis docuseries “Break Point” being unlikely to return for a third season did not “come as a surprise to the players and former cast members competing at the BNP Paribas Open,” according to David Kane of TENNIS. The camera crew that had trailed a cadre of the ATP and WTA tour’s best and brightest for the last two years has been "conspicuously absent since the 2024 tennis season began in January.” Casper Ruud’s run into his first Grand Slam final at the French Open “capped off the first batch of episodes” that dropped on the streamer in 2023. But Rudd felt "unimpressed by the final product, eschewing the second season entirely after feeling overwhelmed by the demands of producing a reality program.” He said, “It didn't catch my eye when I watched it so I actually never watched any of the other episodes.” Kane noted Tommy Paul was "grateful for the experience,” with his episode an “example of all the docuseries aspired to be: an unvarnished look at an ex-teen phenom who reclaimed his career after a ‘party phase’ threatened to derail it entirely.” Daria Kasatkina said, “I watched the first season, and after I didn’t watch the second one. That probably says a lot.” She added, “It’s unfortunate, because as tennis players, we had huge hopes for ‘Break Point.’ After the ‘Drive to Survive’ success, we were thinking, ‘Oh my God, it’s so cool. Now Netflix is coming to tennis and we’re going to explode and blow up. Everyone will start to play tennis, like they all got into chess after 'Queen’s Gambit.'’ Unfortunately, it didn’t go the same way” (TENNIS, 3/12).
SUPPLY AND DEMAND: PUCK’s Julia Alexander wrote Netflix canceling “Break Point” "shouldn't have come as a surprise,” as the "supply of trendy sports docs and docuseries on streaming is outpacing demand.” According to Top 10 data, Netflix's “Drive to Survive” just “posted its weakest season debut yet.” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has been “boasting for years about his ‘drama of sports’ strategy,” but "don't mistake this strategy for an endpoint.” Documentaries about sports are a "poor substitute for live sports themselves.” The number and scope of docs is “limited only by the access granted by the leagues,” and the entertainment value "doesn't always match the ambition, as was the case with ‘Break Point.’” If Netflix wants to "do more than just add to the drama of sport, it needs to be ready to spend more.” There is a question of whether Netflix even needs live sports programming, given its “recent and extraordinary milestones” -- more than 260 million subscribers and a net income of more than $5B in 2023. The current model is “extraordinarily profitable,” but to sustain growth, Netflix “needs to add subscribers to its ad tier, increase engagement through appointment viewing, and create new inventory for sponsors.” Live sports, still the “lifeblood of the cable television business, checks all three boxes” (PUCK, 3/12).
