Not only football fans, but also people who like a good sports documentary, have watched All Or Nothing on Amazon Prime, when it focused Manchester City’s 2018 title winning season. Some sports enthusiasts fell in love with the extraordinary Sunderland ’Til I Die series on Netflix. A lot of these formats have entered the main streaming services now. In August, fans around the world will be able to have a look behind the scenes at Borussia Dortmund. Their recently ended season, in which they finished runners-up in the Bundesliga, will be turned into a documentary on Amazon Prime. The format will surely attract viewers aplenty, while the club does earn some extra money for allowing Prime Video such thorough access.
Another Amazon football documentary
The club announced the partnership with Amazon Prime, which will give fans a very special, more intimate look at the proceedings around the Westfalenstadion. Award-winning director Aljoscha Pause, who also created Being Mario Götze, is responsible for the series, which will be shown exclusively on Amazon Prime, starting 9th August. So, the starting date is kind of great marketing for the BVB, but for the Bundesliga as well, as it starts shortly afterwards. Carsten Cramer, Dortmund’s managing director, said:
Pause has once again demonstrated his incredible filmmaking talent and has succeeded not only in discreetly producing a fascinating insight into the everyday goings on at a football club, but also in showing BVB how it really is.
Since the documentary is then available in over 200 countries and territories, the awareness for the vice champions and their unique club environment will be boosted, of course. Furthermore, viewers might be persuaded to track Dortmund’s development in the competitions they’re in, especially the Champions League. Interactions with content from Borussia Dortmund could grow further, because the documentary is so different from the Social Media content and gives people, at the same time, an incentive to learn more about the club and current events.
The BVB captain Marco Reus commented:
Pause and his team very quickly felt like part of our squad as we celebrated victories and processed defeats together. Although ultimately we just missed out on our dream of winning the German championship, I’m still very much looking forward to the finished documentary.
That sounds a bit like it compares to the movie Deutschland. Ein Sommermärchen, for which Sönke Wortmann accompanied the German national team during the 2006 World Cup in Germany. But this Borussia Dormund documentary is more than just another series or movie about football. For Amazon, it’s a good way to generate or keep even more viewers. That’s why they pay Dortmund a few million Euro (the number hasn’t been disclosed, apparently it’s five million Euro). For the BVB it’s part of a bigger picture. The internationalisation strategy, for which the club opened a TikTok account for example, gathers more momentum with such partnerships. And the fans, especially the younger ones, need content on all platforms to get all the relevant – and at times irrelevant, but fun – content they want.
While the developments for one of Germany’s and Europe’s most followed and appreciated clubs off the pitch look increasingly rosy, their quest for titles next season is probably off to a good start. Because Dortmund have already brought in the likes of Thorgan Hazard, Nico Schulz and Julian Brandt in the space of two days.
More documentaries are surely in the pipeline
Borussia Dortmund only announced the documentary on Amazon Prime last week, but the film team obviously worked with them from the start of the season. And after the success of All Or Nothing (Manchester City) it seems only natural that Amazon invests more and more in such football documentaries. Because the viewership for these is very big across the globe. Plus, the concept is relatively simple, whereas a brilliant execution is not, of course. Aljoscha Pause’s documentary Trainer! is available on Netflix, where you can also find the movie Bobby Robson. More than a Manager, for instance. The new Amazon documentary featuring Borussia Dormund will focus even more on the players’ private perceptions or even lives and therefore take into account the importance of very intimate and individual perspectives. Bred in Social Media, the demand for such content will shape the documentaries – that are surely coming and possibly already in place. And for some clubs, who may not have the international recognition of the BVB, those series can be a source for revenue, new followers and real supporters or at least the start of a special media entity. Let’s see what else will come to our screens via the most common streaming services.