Scoop: Production firm behind “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” and “Full Swing” looks to raise $30M

August 1, 2023

Source: AXIOS

Written by: Sara Fischer

Box to Box Films, the U.K.-based production company behind some of Netflix’s biggest sports hits, is looking to raise roughly $30 million, sources told Axios.

Why it matters: The explosive success behind several of Box to Box Film’s shows has not only inspired more streamers to consider sports docuseries, but it’s fundamentally changed the popularity of several sports.

Netflix has renewed Box to Box Film’s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” for a sixth season, which is set to debut early next year, and its popular golf docuseries “Full Swing” for a second season.
“Formula 1: Drive to Survive” launched F1 into America’s cultural zeitgeist, leading to sold-out races and record viewership.

Details: The company, which was co-founded in 2016 by Paul Martin and James Gay-Rees, is looking to bring on a minority investor to help fuel its next stage of growth, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The company is projecting roughly $11 million in revenue this year, and it’s profitable, a source told Axios.
The firm has expanded its portfolio to new sports series, including “Make or Break,” a surfing documentary on Apple TV+, and a new Netflix series on the Tour de France.
Box to Box Films did not comment.

Be smart: The market is ripe for sports production companies, especially now that the Hollywood writers and actors strikes have put scripted programming on pause.

Omaha Productions, the sports production firm founded by Peyton Manning, raised $10 million in May from Peter Chernin’s new content studio The North Road Company at a $400 million+ valuation.
Boardwalk Pictures, the documentary production firm behind sports docuseries such as “Last Chance U” and “Race: Bubba Wallace” on Netflix, sold a minority stake to Shamrock Capital in February.

Religion of Sports, the sports media production company co-founded by Tom Brady, Michael Strahan and filmmaker Gotham Chopra, raised $50 million last June.
SpringHill, the production company co-founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter and sold a minority stake valuing it at $725 million in 2021.

Even the NFL is trying to get in on the action. The league announced in 2022 it would partner with “Top Gun: Maverick” studio Skydance Media on a sports-related content venture.

Most of the content will be produced through Skydance Sports, a sports documentary arm that produced Amazon Studios’ hit movie “Air.”

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