Sports Content on Streaming Platforms: An Audiovisual Analysis

This article seeks to understand the narrative constructions in documentary series within the sports segment, more specifically in football. We believe that these narratives are structured based on the “Hero’s journey” (Campbell, 2007). To this end, we analyzed two series: All or nothing: Arsenal, produced by Amazon Prime Video, and Até o fim: Flamengo campeão da Libertadores 2019, available on Globoplay, following the methodology of Audiovisual Materiality Analysis, proposed by Coutinho (2018). Our analysis revealed that, although there are some adaptations and differences, the narratives of these series incorporate the characters and stages shown in the “Hero’s journey”, which points out to a thematic transition. However, in the shift to the digital environment, a different format emerges: the serialized documentary. This model allows for the introduction of new narrative nuances, conveyed through various perspectives that produce sub narratives while maintaining an overarching macro perspective of the story.