The breakthrough success of ESPN’s Michael Jordan documentary series The Last Dance back in 2020 paved the way for a wave of sports-themed unscripted content that has shown little sign of abating.
This subgenre is actually one of a few within the broader unscripted TV sector that hasn’t seen significant declines in production volume versus year-ago numbers, actually ticking up from 67 to 70 series, according to Luminate Film & TV data.
So it shouldn’t come as much surprise that when cable channel Vice TV announced a shift in its programming focus a little over a year ago, it went in a sports-heavy direction.
And while that makes sense to meet what seems an increasing appetite from consumers for this kind of content, the fact that so many streaming services are currently flooding the zone with biographical docs of top athletes means there’s a risk of not standing out amid a crowded competitive marketplace.
But Vice TV is mitigating against that risk by attempting to blaze a distinctive path with sports-doc programming by staying true to the larger Vice brand’s foundational principles of no-holds-barred storytelling and a knack for finding compelling stories outside the usual topics.
Years before Vice TV pivoted, the channel got an early glimpse at its future with a proven hit in Dark Side of the Ring, its long-running documentary series exploring the shadowy, often tragic world of professional wrestling.
Now six seasons deep, with another on the way, the series demonstrated that Vice’s audience is deeply engaged with sports stories — just not in the conventional way. The brand’s Vice World of Sports initiative has reinforced that insight: Viewers want sports filtered through Vice’s distinct editorial lens.
That lens — defined internally as independent, alternative, fearless and unfiltered — is now the guiding principle of the channel’s sports strategy. Rather than focusing on the NFL or MLB, Vice TV has leaned into sports that feel visceral and underexposed.
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship programming, for example, aligns naturally with Vice’s raw storytelling style. The newly announced deal with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) will bring MMA fights to the network next year, while past partnerships including Big3 basketball illustrate a consistent interest in challenger leagues with growth potential.
On the documentary side, Vice continues to evolve. The upcoming Out of Bounds slate, which kicked off in December, moves away from weekly episodic releases in favor of standalone documentary storytelling — an approach that allows for deeper exploration and sharper editorial focus.
The strategy does carry some risk. While the market is awash in “shoulder content” — sports documentaries and unscripted series that surround, rather than replace, live games, Vice is betting that sameness is the real danger.
By embracing second- and third-tier sports and telling their stories in ways others won’t, Vice TV has carved out a competitive position that feels both authentic and sustainable. Amid a flood of sports content, Vice isn’t trying to be bigger, it’s trying to be different.
For more on Vice TV’s pivot, check out the latest episode of Luminate’s In the Lab podcast, featuring an interview with Vice channel president, Peter Gaffney.
