One of the world’s most famous sports brands is heading toward prestige television.

Manchester United has reached an agreement with Lionsgate to develop a scripted drama series chronicling the club’s history, sources familiar with the project confirm. The series is envisioned as a sweeping, dynastic-style drama in the vein of Netflix’s The Crown, though it remains in early development and has not yet been written or sold to a broadcaster or streaming platform.

Under the terms of the deal, Manchester United would receive a guaranteed fee in the low multi-million-pound range if the project moves forward and is sold, with additional royalties shared between the club and Lionsgate based on the scale, length, and success of the series. Both parties declined to comment.

The project would draw from United’s unusually rich and dramatic history, which spans triumph, tragedy, global celebrity, and institutional upheaval. Among the potential storylines are the 1958 Munich air disaster that killed 23 people, including eight United players; the club’s emotional rebuild under Sir Matt Busby culminating in its first European Cup win in 1968; and the modern era of dominance under Sir Alex Ferguson, who led the club to 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League trophies, and a historic treble during the 1998–99 season.

British writer-director Jed Mercurio, best known for Line of Duty and Bodyguard, has been involved in conversations about the project, according to multiple sources. Mercurio is a lifelong Manchester United supporter, though no formal attachment has been announced.

Beyond on-field success, the series would likely explore the club’s evolution into a global commercial powerhouse and the controversies that have shaped its modern identity, including the leveraged takeover by the Glazer family in 2005 and the sale of a minority stake to British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe in 2023. Ratcliffe has since overseen sweeping changes across the club’s football operations and corporate structure.

Manchester United’s move into scripted drama follows a period of careful recalibration around access-based content. In 2025, the club withdrew from advanced talks with Amazon Prime Video over a record-breaking All or Nothing-style documentary series covering the 2025–26 season, despite an offer believed to exceed £10 million (approximately $13.6 million). Concerns over competitive distraction and managerial discomfort ultimately scuttled the deal.

The club has also explored other nonfiction formats in recent years, including discussions with Disney+ about a documentary centered on the Ferguson era, though those talks did not result in a deal. Amazon Prime Video did release a three-part documentary marking the 25th anniversary of United’s treble-winning season in 2024, though that project was produced independently and without direct financial participation from the club.

The Manchester United project arrives amid growing interest in scripted and premium nonfiction storytelling around global soccer brands. A24 is developing a drama centered on Liverpool FC and legendary manager Bill Shankly, while Sony has struck a broad content partnership with Manchester City that executives have likened to a Succession-style exploration of modern football power dynamics.

For Lionsgate, which has experience in sports-adjacent storytelling and owns franchises including The Hunger Games and John Wick, the United series represents an opportunity to marry prestige drama with one of the most recognizable brands in global sports. For Manchester United, it signals a shift toward long-form narrative control—telling its story not through episodic access, but through a carefully crafted dramatization designed for a global audience.