Following the huge success of the ESPN/Netflix Michael Jordan documentary series, The Last Dance, two more high-profile sports-themed documentaries are on the way from other networks.
According to Collider, the new documentaries will focus on Tiger Woods and the 1986 New York Mets. The Tiger Woods documentary is coming from HBO, and it will be directed by Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land) and Matthew Hamachek (Amanda Knox). The series is based on the book, “Tiger Woods,” from authors Jeff Bendict and Armen Keteyian. It will delve into Woods’ history as one of the world’s best golfers and his troublesome past with his sex scandal and his DUI arrest.
Woods himself is not involved in the documentary, but it will feature commentary from Woods’ longtime caddy Steve Williams and biographer Pete McDaniel. One of the women caught up in Woods’ sex scandal, Rachel Uchitel, is also involved in the documentary.
“Tiger Woods has inhabited our collective consciousness as a prodigy, a pioneer, a champion, a global icon, and then a tabloid headline,” the directors said in a statement. “After months of research and countless hours of revelatory conversations, we discovered that he has always been a projection of outsized expectations. His father, his sponsors, and his fans all made Tiger Woods into whom they wanted him to be. Our goal was to dive deeper and create an unflinching and intimate portrait of a man, who like all of us, is imperfect and inherently human.”
The other new sports documentary is a multi-episode 30 for 30 series for ESPN that will focus on the 1986 New York Mets, a team that overcame huge odds to win the World Series that year. Former players Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez, and Lenny Dykstra will feature in the series, which is inspired by the book The Bad Guys Won that was written by Jeff Pearlman. Nick Davis, who previously directed the baseball movie Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived, is directing the series, which is called ’86 Mets, with late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel attached as a producer.
The two-part Tiger Woods documentary will be released on December 13 and December 20, 2020, while ’86 Mets will premiere at some date to be announced in the future.