Religion of Sports

Gotham Chopra’s Religion of Sports brand has made plenty of waves on multiple levels, from his initial partnership with Michael Strahan and Tom Brady through the first two seasons of documentaries on Audience through the high-profile Tom vs. Time Facebook Watch spin-off documentary on Brady this January through the creation of a Religion of Sports company in February. Now, Religion of Sports is preparing for its third season on AT&T/DirecTV’s Audience, which will debut Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

The show has announced a number of notable subjects for this season, including “the most dangerous motorcycle race in the world” (the Isle of Man TT), the Vertical Blue competition (a head-to-head challenge between two top freedivers), the Native American Basketball Invitational, and the Icelandic soccer team. Chopra, Brady and Strahan (all executive producers on the series) had some interesting things to say about this upcoming season in a release:

“Three years ago, teaming up with Gotham and Michael on Religion of Sports kickstarted what has now turned into a true religion for me,” Brady said. “Sports bring people together unlike anything else, and season 3 captures that better than ever.”

“Religion of Sports has shined a light not only on niche sports here in the states, but also on international sports that truly affect people’s lives,” Strahan said. “I’m grateful to have been a part of this project. I look forward to viewers seeing the 3rd season where we delve into iconic cultural sports like freediving, Icelandic soccer and motorcycle racing.”

…“Considering this series has been a life-long dream of mine, it’s still amazing to me that we’re actually making it – and now into our 3rd season,” Chopra said. “Over that time, we’ve managed to pull together an inspiring team of passionate creators who scour the planet looking for the most moving stories they can find. I feel privileged to be a part of this process, which is now so much bigger than me. I have full confidence that season 3 will be our best yet.”

Documentaries that go outside the mold to look at sports without a lot of traditional media coverage can be a harder sell for some fans, but they also can have the appeal of presenting stories that viewers don’t already know. Religion of Sports has found success with that through two seasons so far, covering everything from dirt-track racing to baseball in San Quentin Prison to a German soccer team made up mostly of refugees, and doing it well. Here’s a look at some of what they’ve previously covered:

And it sounds like Religion of Sports still has plenty of off-the-radar stories to explore. We’ll see how this season stacks up to the past two when it premieres this fall.

Religion of Sports S3 will premiere on Audience (DirecTV channel 239/ AT&T U-verse channel 1114 Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.