Netflix will follow the Red Sox in 2024, but should follow the Cubs in 2025

We are very much in the age of streaming and regardless of your feelings on having a login (and credit card charges) for what seems like dozens of different platforms, you have to recognize the amount of quality content that has come along with it.

In an announcement on February 7, Netflix announced that it will be following the Boston Red Sox for the entirety of the 2024 season and release a show about it in 2025 - as well as a documentary on the curse-breaking team of '04. There’s a lot to like there. A historically important team on the rise with a globally recognizable brand in a valuable market. 

Sound familiar?

While the 2024 season will focus on the Red Sox, the 2025 season would be a perfect time to follow the Chicago Cubs, another storied franchise with an iconic, historic ballpark and worldwide brand recognition. Oh, and a curse-breaking championship of their own that captured the hearts of baseball fans worldwide.

Why are the Chicago Cubs a good fit?

In 2025, many of the players currently under contract will be in the last year of their deals, so there will be the ability to show the tension off the field in those negotiations and prospects like Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cade Horton, Matt Shaw, Kevin Alcantara and others should already be making a name for themselves at the Friendly Confines.

Beyond that, the NL Central should be one of the strongest divisions in baseball with the numerous young prospects the Reds, Pirates and Brewers have starting to blossom at the big league level, so there should be legitimate intrigue in the division rivalry games.

Most importantly, by 2025 the Chicago Cubs should be capable of winning a World Series. If the prospects develop as expected and with a veteran core of Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner leading the charge (along with, hopefully some more stars alongside them), this could be one of the most well-balanced and exciting rosters in the game.

What is Netflix doing?

Netflix has been dipping its toe into sports documentaries for years now and they’ve had a tremendous amount of success in taking lesser-watched sports like Formula 1, tennis and golf and making international superstars out of those athletes when fans get the opportunity to see who they are as people.

Last summer marked a major pivot point, however, when they released the show Quarterback that followed three NFL quarterbacks throughout the 2022 season that culminated with one of the three (Patrick Mahomes) winning the Super Bowl. That show was a tremendous success for Netflix and now that they’ve seen the success with sports that appeal to a mainstream US audience they’ve made a move to go after the MLB market as well.