Produced by Story Films and David Beckham’s Studio 99 for BBC Two, Fever Pitch! The Rise of the Premier League has been acquired by Telefónica in Spain, as well as Amazon for Canada, Australia and NZ; RTL for Germany; and several other broadcasters in Europe and Asia.
Independent distributor All3Media International has multiple signed deals for Fever Pitch! The Rise of the Premier League, the new documentary from award-winning producer Story Films and David Beckham’s new production company Studio 99.
Commissioned by BBC Two, Fever Pitch! The Rise of the Premier League (4×60’) is the definitive story of the creation of the English Premier League and its rapid evolution into the world’s most high-profile and lucrative sporting competition.
Currently in production, the series has already proven its global appeal with Amazon acquiring the series for Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In Europe, leading broadcasters early to the pitch include RTL for Germany and German-speaking Europe, Telefonica for Spain and DR Denmark, NRK Norway, SVT Sweden and YLE Finland for Nordic regions.
Discovery+ has acquired the four-part series for India, whilst WATCHA will be the exclusive home for the series in South Korea.
Further deals in Asia, Middle East, Africa and the Americas are under discussion.
Fever Pitch! The Rise of the Premier League is set to debut on BBC Two in the UK later this year and is distributed globally by All3Media International. Produced by All3Media-backed Story Films, which is led by BAFTA-winning director David Nath (The Murder Detectives), BAFTA-winning director and producer Peter Beard (My Son the Jihadi). The series is produced by Grierson-nominated Adam Hopkins Fever Pitch! The Rise of the Premier League and is also one of the first titles from David Beckham’s new production company Studio 99. The series is produced in association with All3Media International and due to complete production in summer this year.
Rachel Job, SVP Non-Scripted Content at All3Media International, commented: “Since its creation, the English Premier League has captured the hearts of fans around the world, entertaining, enthralling and inspiring billions – and this premium documentary series will offer exclusive insight from those who made that possible. But this isn’t just the story of English football, it’s a story about, intense ambition, remarkable talent and an era that saw huge cultural and social change. This initial range of deals in Europe, agreed while the show is still in production, are an indicator that Fever Pitch! The Rise of the Premier League is going to prove very popular globally.”
Story Films’ Peter Beard, added: “It’s fantastic to see Fever Pitch! The Rise of the Premier League’s international journey begin. This is the first time a documentary has taken a deep dive into that first decade to find out how a 100-year-old national game became a global brand – and what’s being revealed as production continues is a narrative that’s as gripping as any drama. Full of iconic moments, renowned names and remarkable stories, Fever Pitch! The Rise of the Premier League is shaping up to be a must-watch, whether you’re a fan of the ‘beautiful game’ or not.”
Fever Pitch! The Rise of the Premier League reveals the definitive insiders’ story of how successive groups of business brains, players, agents and journalists utterly transformed English football and created an off-and-on pitch soap opera that continues to enthral an audience of nearly five billion people around the world.
Focusing on individual stories told first-hand by a cast of famous faces – including Eric Cantona, David Beckham, Vinnie Jones and Alan Shearer, the series explores the extraordinary experience of those central to the rapid evolution of the most high-profile and lucrative sporting competition the world has ever seen – many of them young men from ordinary homes who overnight became millionaires and cultural icons amid the shifting attitudes and social change of 1990s Britain.
Built at its outset on a high stakes business decision, wildly increasing sums of money have continued to define success and failure in the Premier League. This series unpicks the relationship between the business and the ballgame, the back-room machinations, and the iconic match day moments, to tell a definitive history of the ‘greatest show on earth’.
