Building on the momentum of its Thursday Night Football NFL package this Fall, Amazon Prime announced a new foray into the sports world with plans for an exclusive-access documentary series of the Michigan football season.
The behind-the-scenes look at the storied Ann Arbor program will be co-produced by the Big Ten Network and will be available for streaming in January 2018. This new offering will differ from HBO’s “Hard Knocks” — the premium cable channel’s annual NFL docuseries — because Amazon will release it after the season and the show will cover the regular season and playoffs, not just training camp.
This year’s young Michigan football team has opened the year 2-0, despite returning only five starters from a year ago. In week one they defeated No. 17 Florida in a nationally televised game played at neutral site AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
“We are proud to partner with Amazon Prime Video in documenting our University of Michigan student-athletes’ daily experiences and the lifelong lessons learned both on the football field and in the classroom,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said in a statement. “We welcome judgment! We embrace this opportunity to showcase our 2017 University of Michigan football team to a vast audience around the world.”
Harbaugh is among the more fiery, quirky and excitable coaches in football — as evidenced by his use of an exclamation in an otherwise staid press release. He arrived at Big Ten media day in his trademark khakis, rather than the occasion’s standard suit-and-tie attire. The former NFL quarterback and coach has become adept at garnering attention for his team via social media and other creative forms of promotion.
The Athletic recapped his online activity thusly: “dispensing trick-or-treating advice, hobnobbing with everyone from Tom Selleck to Migos, removing his shirt, consuming milk at unorthodox times, re-enacting the Lion King, trolling SEC head coaches, and violating accepted glove-wearing protocol for adult baseball fans.” Noted SEC analyst Paul Finebaum called Harbaugh the “Donald Trump of college football” for his ability to self-promote and drive media coverage.
The Detroit Free-Press reported that the Amazon crew traveled to Italy with Michigan football for its preseason trip and have been gathering material since the beginning of summer camp. Michigan offensive lineman Ben Bredeson told the newspaper, “It’s cool to have Amazon walking around. It’s going to help me answer a lot of questions from Mom and Dad, who always want to know what’s going on every day. So, just tell them to watch.”
“I think any kind of media exposure can be a recruiting tool these days,” Bredeson added. “With all the social media outlets and stuff, if your name is out there someone’s going to find it.”