TThe sight of Formula 1 cars racing down Las Vegas Boulevard two months ago proved the power of streaming. More specifically, it highlighted the popularity of Drive To Survive, the Netflix docuseries that transformed F1, especially in the United States. November’s Las Vegas Grand Prix was attended by almost every celebrity and public figure with a Wikipedia page – and Major League Soccer was clearly watching.
MLS will be the subject of its own Drive To Survive-style show in 2024 – produced by the same filmmakers (Box To Box Films) – with an eight-part series that promises to “provide a definitive, never-before-seen insider experience.” view of the competition.” MLS players and coaches can now look forward to becoming reality TV stars.
If done right, this could be as big for MLS as signing Lionel Messi. The Argentinian’s arrival at Inter Miami last summer was a milestone for a league that has been open about its desire to become one of the best in the world. There could already be more eyes on MLS this year than ever before as Messi Mania swept across the United States. However, the new series will provide a different prism through which to view the competition.
Content is king in the modern era of sports and MLS has recognized this, both through its partnership with Box To Box Films and its record $2.5 billion deal with Apple TV. However, MLS needs compelling content that you have to watch to make the whole thing worthwhile. The series must stand out in an increasingly crowded market.
Every other sport chases the Drive To Survive effect. Box To Box Films has also made golf (Full Swing), cycling (Tour de France: Unchained) and tennis (Break Point) equivalents, while Amazon’s All or Nothing franchise has followed Arsenal, Juventus, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as the Brazilian and German national teams. And that’s just for football – it also documented the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles, Toronto Maple Leafs and All Blacks.
ESPN even produced a docuseries about Los Angeles FC in 2019. However, We Are LAFC was so boring that it felt like it was directed by a boardroom of marketing executives. The same could be said of the Messi Meets America show on Apple TV, which was so boring it barely registered.
Only Welcome To Wrexham has really come close to replicating the cultural impact of Drive To Survive. The stories and access give the series that follows Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Welsh club an authenticity that portrays the likes of Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer as personalities, not just players. The fact that it focused on the club’s impact on the city and its residents was just as appealing as the behind-the-scenes views.
Star power isn’t always necessary to attract an audience. Sometimes it’s even counterproductive when household names are so guarded that their real character doesn’t come across. The stars of Drive To Survive are not necessarily Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton, but Guenther Steiner and Daniel Ricciardo.
The temptation will be to put Messi front and center, such is the global fascination surrounding the 36-year-old, but MLS would be wiser to focus on more unknown figures around which to build its own stories. Messi has always revealed little about his life off the pitch, and he is unlikely to do so now. But there’s no shortage of other interesting stories in MLS, and the league’s Drive To Survive equivalent should tell them well.
The upcoming season will be filled with compelling storylines beneath the Miami veneer. How about following John Herdman’s attempt to turn Toronto FC from an (expensive) laughing stock to a (slightly less) expensive contender? Or the thriving, distinct football culture of FC Cincinnati? Better yet would be to provide insight into the pipeline of young South American players join the competition.
This may prove impossible for a league notoriously nervous about admitting its own shortcomings. For decades, the MLS has faced a battle for legitimacy in a world that hasn’t always taken the American game seriously. There’s a reason the league maintains such a polished front, but a warts-and-all docuseries can only be warts and all if viewers get to see the warts.
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It’s possible that players and coaches will have to get comfortable with the blurring of fact and fiction. While Drive To Survive has undeniably changed the fortunes of F1 for the better, some drivers have complained that some of the storylines have been exaggerated. Most notably, Verstappen refused to be interviewed for the show. “I’m quite a down-to-earth guy, and I just want it to be facts, don’t make it hype,” said the world champion, who was also a critic of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which he labeled “99% show and 1 % sports event.”
However, if MLS is willing to do all these things and the concept is embraced, the impact of a Drive To Survive-style show could be significant. While it will likely never attract as much attention as the original because it’s on Apple TV (an estimated 25 million subscribers) instead of Netflix (250 million subscribers), the storytelling could fuel the competition’s continued growth.
The coming years will be the most pivotal in American soccer in a generation. Messi plays in the MLS. The 2026 World Cup will be played on home soil, while the 2024 Copa America and 2025 Club World Cup will also take place in the US. However, none of this will matter if steps are not taken to ensure that this increase in interest rates means something meaningful in the long term. One of those measures could be split into 60-minute episodes.