Man City owner starts deal with Sony Pictures Television

The joint production, which will also include children’s content, will be led by Ged Doherty (who co-founded Raindog Films with Colin Firth in 2012) and will utilise CFG’s in-house production arm, City Studios, as well as football talent.

Projects developed as part of the partnership include stories directly related to CFG and its clubs and players, as well as the creation of projects inspired by football, or where football is the central theme or storyline. In addition to scripted and unscripted series, projects may also include one-off documentaries, animation projects or children’s programmes.

Founded in 2013, CFG owns or partners with twelve football clubs around the world, including in New York, Australia and India. It also owns football clubs, academies, technical support and marketing companies.

Football programming is becoming increasingly popular in the UK content market. In 2018, Man City became the first football club to feature in Amazon’s All or Nothing documentary. It also became the first Premier League club to produce its own documentary and secure a distribution deal with Netflix earlier this year, Together: Treble Winners.

The successes of Wrexham AFC under owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have been chronicled in three series of FX’s Welcome to Wrexham, one of which was recently greenlit.

Commenting on the launch of the strategic partnership, Ferran Soriano, CEO of CFG, said: “We are extremely excited to partner with Sony Pictures Television in this joint initiative.

“City Football Group is already a global entertainment company and this initiative builds on our long track record of innovation in the content space and the growth of City Studios in recent years. We will now take an even more dynamic approach to content production and are already developing several scripted and non-fiction series that will delight audiences worldwide.

“By bringing together the expertise of both CFG and SPT we can create brilliant shows and remain at the forefront of football content production.”

Wayne Garvie, president, international production, Sony Pictures Television, added: “Football is the great global sport, no other sport produces as many heroes, tears and laughter, joy and heartbreak as football.

“The basics are always the same: 22 players, two goals, one ball, but the game is always evolving and over the past decade City Football Group has become an unparalleled innovator and global leader.

“Our goal is to be part of the next evolution of the game, creating a new generation of innovative football entertainment to enchant the world.”