Banijay Launches Sports Division

Banijay is pushing into the sports game.

CEO Marco Bassetti has just announced at Content London that the Big Brother powerhouse will broaden efforts in sports partnerships, content investments and M&A. It will focus on docs, digital and “sportainment” via the Banijay Sports division, while not venturing into broadcast and streaming rights.

Bassetti pointed to the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Apple TV+’s recent move into sports shows. “They don’t want [sports] matches they need to do more,” he added. “Leagues and tournaments need a lot of content but we are also thinking about the guys who buy the shows.”

He stressed that Banijay’s efforts have already started in the near-$60B sector, pointing to Banijay sports shows such as That Peter Crouch Film, Human Playground (Scenery and Workerbee for Netflix), and Tyson Bruno (Workerbee in association with Sky Studios for Sky). Elsewhere, Banijay Benelux plays home to leading Dutch sports player, Southfields, which delivers coverage, talk shows, documentaries and more, with highlights including All-in team Jumbo Visma for Amazon Prime Video. And Banijay Iberia recently struck a deal to launch LaLiga Studios, a new sports-related content production company led by Chalo Bonifacino Cooke.

The move comes a few months after Banijay moved into the live events space with the acquisition of Olympic Games organizer Ballach Wonder Studio. It unveiled a branded entertainment division earlier today and has been aggressive in the M&A space over the past couple of years, most recently picking up Help producer The Forge.