Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in staggering Netflix announcement
On the back of Netflix's success with sports programming on its platform it's now moving to break into the live sporting market.
Netflix has announced that it will livestream a tennis match between Rafa Nadal and current World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz on March 3. The streaming giant confirmed 'The Netflix Slam' on the back of its success with the celebrity golf tournament, 'Full Swing', in November.
The event featured professional golfers alongside F1 stars from the Netflix docu-series 'Drive to Survive'. The Nadal and Alcaraz match is the latest sporting event to be announced by the streaming juggernaut as it continues to move to join a host of big tech firms in cashing in on the popularity of streaming live sporting events.
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The match will be hosted by MGM Resorts International and will begin at noon at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Netflix confirmed more matches will be announced at a later date.
While the streaming platform continues to dabble in the world of live sports, the likelihood of it securing the rights to seasonal games anytime soon is highly unlikely. In July Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the company will stick to 'sports-adjacent programming'. The streaming giant was rumoured to be interested in rights surrounding the NBA's in-season tournament but Netflix suggested that was to do with a possible docu-series not the streaming of the event.
The tennis face-off between Nadal and Alcaraz will stream on the platform as a dual broadcast in English and Spanish. Upon Netflix's announcement of the match, Nadal said in a statement, "I am sure it will be a fantastic night of tennis".
Rafael Nadal expected to bid farewell to tennis in 2024
Nadal announced earlier this month that he will make his long-awaited tennis comeback at the upcoming Brisbane International in January, before turning his focus to the Australian Open. The appearance in Brisbane is expected to mark the start of a farewell tour for the 37-year-old Spaniard, who previously said 2024 would be his last year on tour.
His 18-year stay in the top-10 of the rankings ended in March and he has since plummeted to 663th in the world. Nadal has said he wants to play in the French Open in May and represent his country at the Paris Olympics in July, but both are still up in the air at this stage. While the 22-time grand slam champion has previously stated that he wouldn't be attempting a comeback if he didn't think he could win matches, top coach Rick Macci has warned that another grand slam title is beyond him.
"As far as Rafa coming back, as you get older, you lose a little mobility and people aren’t afraid when they know you’re vulnerable,” Macci told Tennis Infinity. “There’s not that much difference between the guys at the top and then the next tier, and when they know they have a chance, that’s a whole different thing, even on clay.
"Where before against Rafa, he’s 112-3 on clay [at the French Open]. The match was over before it even started. You knew you weren’t going to beat the guy more than likely. So that being said, I wish Rafa all the best, but he’s not at the exact same level he was before so I don’t think he’s a contender to win a slam. I think he can be competitive and I think he’s a rough out for anybody on clay, but it depends on his health."
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