Spanish LaLiga football club Barcelona has struck a deal with Netflix for the streaming service to show its Matchday documentary series in Latin America and Canada.
The series debuted in Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay and other Latin American countries yesterday (Wednesday).
The series is created by Barça Studios and includes previously unseen footage of players’ day-to-day lives. The series comprises eight 45-minute episodes focusing on eight key matches played during the 2018-19 season.
Matchday launched on November 29 in Japan and Europe on Rakuten TV, the video-on-demand service of Barcelona’s main sponsor, Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten. The company also holds rights for the series in the Asia-Pacific region and in the US, although Barcelona reserved rights in Latin America, Canada, Africa and the Middle East.
Barça Studios is currently working on a second season of the series.
Earlier this week, the club announced that Barça Studios is planning its first fictional series. The series’ story and script will be created by writer and screenwriter Albert Espinosa and will be set in La Masia, Barcelona’s famous youth academy.
The first season of the series will feature seven episodes. Rather than recreating real-life situations of players who trained at La Masia, the series will create authentic fictional stories for young and family audiences. It is hoped that filming can start at La Masia between the end of 2020 and the summer of 2021.