NFL goes Hollywood: Inside its plan to conquer streaming, movies

For years, the NFL has playfully mocked conspiracy theories, its drama being scripted.

Now, the league has hired some of the entertainment industry’s best writers to do just that.

The NFL is turning to Hollywood and looking to expand its audience with theatrical films and its first streaming scripted series. It’s not just using the names and logos of real NFL teams, but diving headlong into the league’s narrative in the form of upcoming films — one about John Madden, another on Christmas Day about an unlikely hero for the New York Giants — and “The Land,” a Hulu drama series centered on fictional characters and the Cleveland Browns starring Christopher Meloni, Mandy Moore and William H. Macy.

This is the next step in the NFL’s partnership with Skydance Sports, creating a premier content studio aimed at creating must-see storytelling and appealing to everyone from die-hard football fans to people who otherwise have no real interest in the game.

The NFL has long claimed that it is the biggest reality show in the world and the numbers back it up. According to Sportico, NFL games made up 84 of the 100 most-watched TV shows last year. And the year before, it was 93 out of 100.

“When you have an audience as large as the NFL, there are a lot of different demographics to serve and engage even more deeply,” said Jason Reed, who runs Skydance Sports. “These films work like fan service. They serve the cities, the fans of these franchises, and they really connect. What they also do is capture this other group of people who might not watch a football game.”

Pulling back the curtain on the league is a challenge. The NFL is unlikely to sanction unflattering content, at least not much of it, but the goal is to make the stories as realistic as possible. How will the writers tackle issues like concussions, drug use or domestic violence? This was addressed in a presentation at last month’s owners’ meetings by JW Johnson of the Haslam Sports Group, who oversees the Browns’ business strategy.

“We don’t want this to be – with all due respect to our friends at ESPN – a ‘Playmakers’ situation,” Johnson said, referring to the popular but short-lived series about the Cougars, a fictional football team, which explored mature themes and was canceled after one season under pressure from the NFL. “We want it to be a really fan-friendly show that also has the authenticity of what happens in the locker room and on the field. We’re very comfortable with that.”

David Corenswet as “John Tuggle” and Isabel May as “Katie” in Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle Story, from Paramount Pictures.

(Sarah Enticknap/Paramount Pictures)

Dan Fogelman, creator of “This is Us” and a lifelong football fan, had long considered writing a drama series based on his favorite sport. That led to “The Land,” which began production last fall and has no official premiere date.

“We’re not making this up out of thin air,” said Fogelman, who also created the Hulu series “Paradise,” a post-apocalyptic political thriller. “The characters are flawed and do bad things, but the NFL has been great about that. I was worried at first, and it just hasn’t been a problem because we’re not trying to be salacious. We’re not trying to make ripped-from-the-headlines, crazy, exaggerated versions of reality. We want things to actually happen, done accurately and cinematically.”

To that end, he brought in real NFL players as consultants to help him with the storylines and make sure the details made sense.

“A lot of NFL players have come to visit us in our little office, and we’re on the second floor,” he said. “Some of my heroes were in this room. I was really afraid the floor was going to collapse.”

Enter NFL Films, which for more than six decades has transformed a violent sport into an art form, filling the frame with meticulous focus on a Matthew Stafford spiral — and without the benefit of a second take. These camera operators are heavily involved in the production of upcoming films and streaming series.

“It’s our whole thing,” Reed said. “How can we support great filmmakers and make sure they know how to access the resources and expertise that NFL Films has developed over 60 years, and combine those two things? That, to me, is the secret sauce of the company.”

Additionally, what the father-son combination of Ed and Steve Sabol have created in NFL Films provides an incredible library for future projects.

“The well is infinite,” said Jessica Boddy, vice president of business operations and corporate affairs for NFL Films. “We’ve only scratched the surface.”

For Fogelman, “The Land” responds to a creative urge he has felt since childhood.

“I’ve wanted to do this show for 20 years,” he said. “I’m a failed athlete myself. My connection to my dad growing up – he worked a lot – was that I grew up in Pittsburgh as a Steelers fan and also migrated to New Jersey, where we became Giants fans. My dad would let me watch games with him if I was quiet and didn’t act stupid. We also threw the football back and forth.

“Today, several decades later, my father is 83 years old, and our bond is that we talk every Monday after Giants games. He now talks with my son and I. For me, football is an integral part of my life and my relationship with my friends. It’s something I’ve been looking for for a very long time.”