It will be necessary to see if Rafa Nadal's injuries allow it, but March 3, 2024 is already marked on his agenda for a duel in Las Vegas (Nevada, United States) against Carlos Alcaraz. The best Spanish tennis player in history, 37 years old, against the current number two of the ATP classification, 20 years old, face to face in a match that has the uniqueness of being organized by Netflix. The television platform in streaming Thus, it is committed to live sports, although for now it prefers to do so by organizing its own competition instead of buying the rights to a sporting event.
The company has dubbed the confrontation the Netflix Slam. Without giving details, he noted that “other players and matchups will be announced later” that are part of the friendly event. The match between Nadal and Alcaraz, organized by MGM Resorts International, is scheduled for noon local time in Las Vegas, 9:00 p.m. in mainland Spain, and will take place at the Michelob Ultra Arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. It will be broadcast live for English and Spanish-speaking markets, Netflix announces.
Live sports broadcasts on major television platforms have experienced an increase in viewership in recent years. Amazon Prime took over the rights to Thursday Night Football, with live American football games, which Google has also opted for. Apple TV offers baseball games on Fridays and has the rights to Major League Soccer (MLS), the soccer league, which with the arrival of Argentine Lionel Messi to Inter Miami has experienced a strong increase in viewership.
Rafael Nadal. Carlos Alcaraz. Two tennis superstars. An epic showdown LIVE on Netflix.
'The Netflix Slam' arrives on March 3 🎾 pic.twitter.com/MqEMkxccld
— Netflix Spain (@NetflixES) December 11, 2023
Netflix, with 247 million subscribers in 190 countries, has so far declined to buy rights to sports competitions. Instead, it has chosen to produce documentaries and series with sports content and has also started organizing its own tournaments, some of them peculiar, such as the Netflix Cup, which mixed Formula 1 drivers with golf players.
Nadal, 37, has been out of competition for a year due to injuries. He has set his return to the court for the first week of January at the Brisbane (Australia) tournament, which will be held from December 31 to January 7. If all goes well in that first rehearsal, his roadmap would next lead him to the Australian Open, from January 14 to 28 in Melbourne. He remains to see what his state of form is with his age and after so much time out. If in the official tournaments that he plays he does not meet Alcaraz, the Las Vegas match will gain appeal, as long as the Mallorcan tennis player arrives in good condition.
The two Spanish players have only met three times in official matches in their careers. Nadal beat Alcaraz on the first two occasions, on the clay of the 2021 Madrid Mutua Open (6-1, 6-2) and on the hard court of the 2022 Indian Wells ATP 1000 (6-4, 4-6, 6-3), while the Murcian won in Madrid the following year (6-2, 1-6, 6-3).
The company has not disclosed the budget of the event or the amounts paid to players. “I am very excited for my first visit to Las Vegas, one of the most iconic and entertaining cities in the world,” Nadal said in a statement. “I am also very excited to play with my compatriot Carlos Alcaraz. “I am sure it will be a fantastic night of tennis,” he added.
“I feel very honored and happy to share the court with Rafa in Las Vegas,” said Alcaraz. “He is an all-time great, of course, and his records and achievements speak for themselves. “Rafa is also one of the nicest guys on the circuit and I am looking forward to our match on March 3,” he added.
Tickets, which start at $88 plus service fees and taxes, will go on sale to the general public this Friday, December 15, although there will be advance sales for certain groups first.
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes in Facebook and xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_
#Netflix #organizes #duel #Rafa #Nadal #Carlos #Alcaraz #March #Las #Vegas