‘When Soccer Came To America’: TNT Sports Doc To Explore Pelé & George Best’s Impact On The Beautiful Game In The States

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. soccer fans are being infected by World Cup fever and TNT Sports is now set to explore a similar happening 50 years ago.

TNT, which will move to HBO Max in the UK when it launches tomorrow, is making When Soccer Came to America: Goals, Glamour and the Beautiful Game, about the time that Pelé, George Best, and Johan Cruyff brought unprecedented attention to that very different kind of football.

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Produced by The Investigation of Lucy Letby maker ITN Productions (ITNP), the film examines the North America Soccer League’s (NASL) explosive growth during the 1970’s and 80’s as some of the greatest players in history joined. This was 50 years prior to David Beckham and Lionel Messi bringing another wave of interest to the game.

Through archive footage and interviews with the likes of Pelé’s daughter and Best’s son, the documentary charts how the NASL became a cultural phenomenon, blending sport, celebrity, and ambition in an American experiment to popularize the world’s game. At the heart of the story is Pelé’s move to the New York Cosmos, a moment credited with igniting a soccer boom across the country. The film also revisits the influence of Best during his time in the league and Cruyff’s brief but impactful spell in North America.

The doc is ITNP’s first for TNT Sports. “We’re delighted to work with TNT Sports on this project – just as America is preparing to host the World Cup,” said ITN content boss Ian Rumsey. “This is an amazing story and the archive we discovered will bring it to life for a new generation of fans preparing for the greatest show on earth.”

The U.S. will host the soccer world cup in a few month’s time for the first time since 1994.

The move comes as TNT Sports gets set to move to its new HBO Max home as the streamer finally launches in the UK.

Producer and director of When Soccer Came to America is Oliver Price, EP is Andy Dunn, production manager is Hollie Clark and development assisstant producer is Natalie Chow.

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