Pro sports step up to the plate for scripted TV
‘Ballers,’ ‘Remorse,’ ‘Pitch’ all hope to catch viewers’ notice
Professional sports and Hollywood entertainment have so much in common — big-name stars, big-money lifestyles and big-time drama — that it only makes sense they share something else: scripted TV shows that focus on pro athletes.
NFL and NBA players, respectively, populate HBO’s secondseason Ballers, returning for a second season Sunday (10 ET/PT) and Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse, back for a third July 24 (10 ET/ PT). And Major League Baseball’s first female pitcher is the focus of Fox’s fall drama Pitch (Sept. 22).
The sports and entertainment worlds increasingly are interwoven: Athletes have their own Hollywood awards show, The
ESPYs, airing Wednesday on ABC (8 ET/PT); NBA champ LeBron James and Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner are executive producers on Remorse; and Bill Simmons brings his blend of sports, entertainment and pop culture to HBO’s Any Given
Wednesday (10 ET/PT). Actor and wrestling veteran Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, whose background spans both cultures, brings star wattage to
Ballers, in which he plays a retired football player managing finances (and more) for current pros.
With the stupendous ratings of football and several media companies investing in sports and scripted TV, “there’s an insatiable appetite for any broadcasting related to the NFL, even fictional,” says Marc Ganis, president of consulting firm Sportscorp. On the viewing side, “there’s an appetite for a look at what goes on personally, professionally, sexually (and) financially” in athletes’ privileged lives.
Star players increasingly serve as high-profile ambassadors for their cities, says actor and Re
morse executive producer Mike O’Malley.
Young adults “focused on sports suddenly become spokespeople for the emotional life of an entire city,” says O’Malley, whose show follows Atlanta basketball pro Cam Calloway (Jessie T. Usher) as he and his family adjust to life in the media spotlight after years of struggling. “It puts incredible pressure on these young men.”
Viewers are attracted to the rarefied lifestyle, which also opens dramatic possibilities. “Money changes life a lot, because it makes you not have to sweat how to pay bills and put food on the table. You start delving deeper into what’s the mean- ing of my life if you’re suddenly not worrying about other things,” O’Malley says. As with Remorse and Ballers,
Pitch focuses more on off-field matters, following the twists and turns encountered by groundbreaking San Diego Padres pitcher Ginny Baker (Kylie Bunbury), who becomes the first woman to play in the big leagues. (MLB is a production partner.)
“It can be harder getting shows set with a sports background because some people are not fans,” says executive producer Dan Fogelman. “This ... is also the story of a young woman’s empowerment. There’s a human story at the core, which can make a sports movie or show accessible to everyone.”
A world of elite competition makes for great storytelling fodder, too.
“Shows succeeding on a massive level like Game of Thrones and
The Walking Dead are about power and death and who’s going to make it,” Fogelman says. “Sports has winners and losers, people who are more powerful, and you can root for an underdog. ... There’s a battle without Jon Snow standing in the middle of a field.”