Drive to Survive brought new fans to F1. Can an NHL reality series do the same for hockey? | CBC News (2024)

Jenna Benchetrit · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 11, 2024 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 11

Just as the Stanley Cup Finals kicked off last week, the NHL announced its next big play: a reality series about its hockey stars, from the producers of the ultra-popularFormula One:Drive to Survive.

The still-untitled show, which airson Prime Video in October, will follow Cup finalists Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and MatthewTkachukof the Florida Panthers, as well as players from teams including the Boston Bruins, the Nashville Predators andthe Toronto Maple Leafs.

NHL officials have made one thing clear: They've seen what these shows have done for others, and they are ready to receive. But can a reality programdo for hockey whatDrive to Survivedid for F1 and professional race car driving— or was that lightning in a bottle?

"I myself was really not a motorsport fan until F1 and Formula One: Drive to Survive," said Ellen Hyslop, co-founder of The Gist, a sports media brand aimed at women.

The Saint John, N.B., resident, a self-proclaimed hockey obsessive, said she now tunes into F1 races on the weekend.

While she says it's been interesting to watch how The Gist's audience has responded to F1 sinceDrive to Survivepremiered, she'sskeptical of whetheran NHL-focused version of the series will have the same impact on hockey.

"There is a lot of that on-ice mess and drama and chirping that I think is so much fun," and that would lend itself well to the reality series format, she said. (SomeDrive to Survivefans have likened the show to theReal Housewivesproperties aired on Bravo.)

Netflix has tried the Drive to Survivetreatment with other sports, albeit with moderate success.Break Pointfollowed the lives of a handful of star tennis players, whileFull Swingbrought fans behind the scenes of professional golf.

Further adding to thosechallenges is that hockey isa team-oriented sport — and genZ and millennials are more invested in individual athletes than teams, Hyslop said.

"Athletes that play an individual sport recognize that, yes, what they do on court or on the links or on the track is important.

"But they also recognize that they are in the business of entertainment — and that their personality is also what's going to get them sponsorship money, get them fans, get them followers."

Executive producer Paul Martin acknowledged the different dynamic, telling The Associated Press that while "our type of storytelling hinges on individuals being able to drive those kind of narratives ... you have to be super respectful that it is a team sport."

'Everybody has seen the effects' on F1, says NHL exec

The NHL has dabbled with the reality format before, making several seasons of HBO's24/7documentary series. Individual teams have also tried their hand with doc-style programming, from the Toronto Maple Leafs'All or Nothingdocumentary to the Boston Bruins'Behind the Bweb series.

The league will take any chance it gets to grow the sport and develop its audience, NHL executive Steve Mayer said in a press release announcing the upcoming series.

"I think everybody has seen the effects that Drive to Survivehad on Formula Oneracing, Full Swinghas done a lot for golf, and obviously the storytelling that's involved is unique and very different," Mayer said.

WATCH | How Netflix won the race to make F1 a global sport:

Formula One has grown exponentially in recent years. Average viewership of F1 races in the U.S. almost doubled from 554,000in 2018 to 1.11 million in 2023, according to ESPN, which airs the sport on several of its platforms.

Part of that is from the crossover effect thatDrive to Survivehad on the actual sport, after it premiered in 2019 and grew in popularity during the pandemic.

According to a May 2022 report by viewership analytics firm Nielsen, 2.3 per cent more people were inspiredby Drive to Surviveto watch an F1 event that year. Thirty-four per cent of respondents said they became a fan of the sport after watching the series.

The sport's female fanbase has also grown, with the F1 organizationsaying thatDrive to Survivehas been "vital" in drawing women to races. Around 40 per cent of F1 fans were women as of November 2022, up eightper cent from five years before, its CEO Stefano Domenicali said at the time.

"It's been really interesting to see how our audience has responded to the sport ever since Drive to Survive came out," Hyslop said.

But she noted that F1's initial intention was to bring the sport to a more global audience, not necessarily a more female one. The NHL, similarly, has been trying to reach more eyeballs in the U.S.

"I think from a geography perspective, [the NHL is] kind of taking a page out of the same book as F1 on that side of things," she said.

A 'natural extension' of Rogers streaming deal

Formula One: Drive to Surviveis a case study in "using effective storytelling to really sell your sport product to new fans and new consumers," said Cheri Bradish, a sportmarketing associate professor and director of the Future of SportLab at Toronto Metropolitan University.

A mask-off moment for the NHLwon't hurt either, she said — literally.

"It's always been known from a marketing perspective that those sports that don't have the helmets and that are closer to the fans, such as professional basketball players, it's easier for average fans and consumers to relate to those players."

The announcement also comes after Rogers announceda streaming deal with Amazon PrimeVideo, which saw the Canadian telecom sell its NHL broadcasting rights to the streaming giant. Prime will exclusively stream regular season hockey games in Canada on Monday nights for the next two seasons.

"This is a natural extension, and a why and an output of that partnership," said Bradish.

For Hyslop, it's also an indication that the way people are consuming sports is changing— especially with a move away from linear television.

"It's really, really interesting that Prime continues to be a place in a space where they're housing hockey content....I think that that's a great signal that the NHL is growing and doing the right things, especially in the U.S. market."

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