After the successful debut of sports documentary series Quarterback last July, Netflix has once again targeted the trio of Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions, NFL Films and Patrick Mahomes’s 2PM Productions for a new series focused on NFL wide receivers.
As it turns out, the production companies followed five lauded pass catchers throughout the 2023 NFL season — Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Amon-Ra St. Brown — for a new eight-part docuseries that will debut this coming summer.
“The natural progression is from a pass to a catch, so we’re excited to dive into the Receiver world after the success of our Quarterback series,” said Gabe Spitzer, VP of nonfiction sports for Netflix. “NFL Films, Omaha Productions and 2PM Productions have delivered again in finding unique and dynamic athletes who will further highlight the drama of this sport on and off the field.”
Quarterback followed NFL signal-callers Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota through the rigorous (and often painful) ups and downs of the 2022 NFL season, documenting their personal and family lives along with their training and practice grinds.
On the audience scale of documentaries focused on American sports figures, Quarterback performed well, debuting to 21.4 million viewing hours and 3.3 million account views, with most of the viewing occurring in the U.S. and Canada, where Quarterback was a top 10 show on Netflix for three consecutive weeks.
For Receiver, the same executive producer team is back: Manning and Jamie Horowitz for Omaha Productions; Ross Ketover, Pat Kelleher and Keith Cossrow for NFL Films; and Mahomes and Jacquelyn Dahl from 2PM Productions.
Netflix's stable of sports docus now includes: Formula 1: Drive To Survive, Full Swing, NASCAR: Full Speed, Untold, Tour de France: Unchained, Under Pressure: The U.S. Women’s World Cup Team and Six Nations: Full Contact, among other nonfiction shows.
“We are excited to be working again with Netflix and NFL Films to give fans unprecedented access to what it’s like to play receiver at the highest level,” Manning said in a statement. “As we did with Quarterback, we look forward to telling the stories of five incredible receivers, each with their unique personality, skill set and motivation for what drives them to be the best.”
