Banijay Establishes Sports Division

Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti has revealed the launch of Banijay Sports, with an aim to broaden the company’s efforts in sportainment, documentary and digital, via new partnerships, content investments and M&A.

Bassetti said: “While we’ve already made some considerate moves in sport across our global footprint of talented producers, we wanted to concentrate our efforts on building value in this space. In having a centralized division, we have further capacity to deliver on partnerships, carve greater volume, mobilize digital opportunities and ultimately fulfill our ongoing goals to scale the group.”

In the documentaries space, the Banijay slate features That Peter Crouch Film (Workerbee for Amazon Prime Video), Human Playground (Scenery and Workerbee for Netflix), Tyson Bruno (Workerbee in association with Sky Studios for Sky), two seasons of La Leyenda de Sergio Ramos (Endemol Shine Iberia for Amazon Prime Studio), Warnie (Endemol Shine Australia, in association with VicScreen for Nine Network), Daum (Doc.Banijay, part of Banijay Productions Germany for Sky) and the upcoming Four Kings (Workerbee for Amazon Prime Video). Banijay Benelux is home to Dutch sports player Southfields, which delivers coverage, talk shows, documentaries and more. Banijay Iberia previously struck a deal to launch LaLiga Studios, a new sports-related content production company led by Chalo Bonifacino Cooke, and Endemol France acquired Puzzle Media, which is credited for Riding Zone (14 years on France Télévisions). The latter is alongside additional label launches with sports stars Teddy Reiner and Blaise Matuidi et Charles Villeneuve.

The launch of Banijay Sports follows the company’s recent move into live events via Balich Wonder Studio, which specializes in institutional ceremonies, brand and destination experiences. The plan is for Banijay Sports to also partner with the former to explore alternative content opportunities that capitalize on its relationships linked to institutional ceremonies and large-scale sporting events.