There is never a bad time for a Dana White story.
The brash sports entrepreneur continues to expand his influence, not only through the continued popularity of the UFC but also his impact as a political actor and businessman.
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It turns out that last year, according to Page Six, Netflix quietly began producing a documentary on White. The project reportedly came out of the streamer’s interest in buying UFC broadcast rights, which ultimately went to Paramount on a deal worth more than $1 billion annually.
The doc will be directed by famed documentarian Gotham Chopra, who Page Six notes was working on a separate project about the city of Las Vegas that seemingly morphed into this White story.
The reported development process of the White doc mirrors that of 2024’s Vince McMahon series, Mr. McMahon. Executive produced by Bill Simmons, Mr. McMahon earned Awful Announcing’s year-end award as the best documentary of that year, despite being executive produced by McMahon and the WWE after Netflix bought rights to Monday night Raw.
Whether White has oversight over the reported Netflix doc is unclear. The UFC boss is quick to mix it up with the media and isn’t afraid to go on offense to control the message around his business, but very little is off limits with White. Done correctly, it is not impossible to imagine a White doc cutting through, even if he is involved in its production.
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Recently, Netflix exec Gabe Spitzer acknowledged the streamer had greenlit too many “league-follow” docuseries in the mold of Drive To Survive. Spitzer added that Netflix is working to reimagine its approach to sports docs at a time when genuine access is hard to come by and the industry is running thinner on compelling subjects.
Page Six reports the untitled White doc will drop early next year.
The post Netflix producing new Dana White documentary reportedly greenlit during talks for UFC rights appeared first on Awful Announcing.
