Tubi secures rights to new Naomi Osaka project as streamers develop more women’s sports content

The GIST: As interest in women’s sports grows, so does the enthusiasm for content surrounding the women’s game. After seeing Netflix benefit from cult faves Drive to Survive and Full Swing, documentaries that converted new fans to F1 and golf, fellow streamers are considering how to leverage storytelling to win over young, more casual sports fans.

• Streamer Tubi is getting in on this game with the recent acquisition of The Second Set, a new documentary focused on tennis star Naomi Osaka’s return to the sport following the birth of her child. Love that for her.

The latest: The doc will be produced by Osaka’s apparel sponsor, Nike, and Hana Kuma, the production company she founded in partnership with LeBron James’ The SpringHill Company. Thanks to her connections with James, this particular deal was brokered between Tubi and James’ media company Uninterrupted.

The trend: However, Tubi isn’t the only game in town, and tennis isn’t the only sport. Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine recently inked a deal for a docuseries focused on rugby sensation Ilona Maher and earlier this week, The Next Is Now women’s sports anthology series provided updates at Cannes Lions, including presenting sponsors and a September release date.

The numbers: Narrative storytelling has proven to be a compelling access point for women. The F1 world has credited Drive To Survive’s 40% women viewership for an uptick in women fans, while 63% of Full Swing viewers tuned into PGA Tour coverage in the two months following the show’s 2023 debut.

• This level of engagement with storytelling content is further supported by our data findings with Barbarian: Nearly 50% of survey respondents said creative storytelling is essential, while 79% of women fans considered game highlights and personal stories to be equal in value.

Zooming out: It makes sense that sports content that goes beyond the game itself is doing well — younger generations enjoy sports through social media, livestreaming, and pop culture. This has culminated in Osaka’s tennis doc being produced by, picked up by, and promoted by powerhouses in media and entertainment, which makes greenlighting this doc front page news.

• Fans in sports like women’s golf have explicitly asked for more produced content, and in women’s soccer, nearly a third of fans in a recent survey prefer interviews and documentary content to live games and highlights. It’s their time to shine.