Why This Won’t Be The Last Dance
The Last Dance has taken sport deprived audiences by storm. Hitting 6.1 million live viewers on ESPN in the US and scores more on Netflix worldwide.
As documentary series go, this a an absolute killer.
An all time great protagonist in Michael Jordan is matched with sensational insider footage that ESPN and the NBA have been sitting on for years. It’s A+ crack cocaine TV that has been kept locked up for the perfect time.
Then, with no drugs on the market, the show has been unleashed on a population of desperate sports addicts. The ultimate hit.
I love the increasing prevalence of entertainment documentaries like this and they are a trend I think we are going to see a lot more of.
This week I wanted to take a look at why this format works so well for audiences and producers alike.
I’m not even a basketball fan
Our exposure to the sport in the UK is pretty minimal and I couldn’t even tell you the basic rules.
The closest I have come is a Miami Heat t-shirt I hastily picked up as a souvenir on a work trip.
But here I am, hooked on every episode, building up my knowledge of the sport each time and genuinely interested to hit up a game next time I am in the States.
Potentially stream the next NBA Final.
I feel exactly the same watching Formula 1’s ‘Drive to Survive’. My previous interest in cars racing around in circles for 70+ laps was limited.
But the drama of this show is equal to any other series I’d binge as drivers fall out with other, teams clash and grown men act like two year olds. It’s TV gold.
Hard to fuck up
If you are sanctioning an entertainment documentary series and potentially even producing it. Then this is a hard one to fuck up.
Brands should be coming out smelling of roses, existing and news fans engaged, maximum positive exposure.
I have only seen one car crash: ‘Sunderland ’Til I Die’.
The excellent Netflix series chronicles the Premier League club’s fall from grace as it tumbles down the leagues getting relegated again and again.
Sunderland’s executive team invite in Netflix with remarkable access and god only know’s what end goal.
With a suitably nice long rope they hang themselves. Episode after episode the mis-management, toxic culture and disillusionment is there for you to enjoy in glorious 4k.
The only over danger is heading too far in the opposite direction: a white wash.
Kevin Hart’s: ‘Don’t Fuck this Up’ and Taylor Swift’s ‘Miss Americana’ both play their leads as victims perhaps a bit too much.
There is a sufficient ass licking for you to feel uncomfortable a couple times in your viewing but never quite enough to switch off. Proof, it’s remarkably hard to lose in this format.
Story > Craft = ↑$
Ultimately what these documentaries are doing is driving engagement + revenue.
It’s no surprise that The Last Dance has hit at a time when a significant chunk of young sports fans have grown up without knowing Michael Jordan as a practising player in the NBA.
Nike’s Air Jordan brand reportedly brings in $3.1 billion dollars per year.
Just as its relevance was maybe starting to fade, we have a resurgent brand and fresh product drops to coincide with the series.
Watching Travis Scott’s ‘Look Mom I Can Fly’ I opened up Spotify and re-listened to all his music for the next week straight.
With sport, music and almost any other entertainment form, we as consumers are equally (if not more) hooked on the story of the artists as much as the craft itself.
In today’s world of sport the transfer windows, gossip columns and pundit shows dominate our fan engagement almost more than the games themselves. In entertainment, it’s why TMZ covers every aspect of actors and musicians lives.
We lap up the stories of others.
This is what a good fly on the wall documentary series gives: pure (if slightly adulterated) drama, entertainment and story.
What’s more, anyone can get involved in those stories. You don’t need to care about the subjects day job. Whether the music is to your taste, the comedy makes you laugh or you know rules of the game.
That’s why this won’t be the last dance, and if you can make one of these docu-series for your brand, then you need to start now.
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This post was originally written for the Digital Evolution newsletter.
Check it out here: https://digitalevolution.substack.com/welcome
Follow Callum on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/McdonnellCallum
