ON the eve of the first Peaky Blinders film, the franchise is sparking an unlikely partnership with Atletico Madrid.
No, Tommy Shelby will not be scoring goals at the Metropolitano Stadium and nor will Diego Simeone be having it out on the Birmingham cobbles.
The club will promote the movie on their social media channels, while a short promotional film will feature first-team players, including Antoine Griezmann, Uruguay defender Jose Maria Gimenez, Nigeria striker Ademola Lookman, Norway striker Alexander Sorloth and captain Koke.
Atletico and Netflix have signed the deal to promote the film that will star Cillian Murphy and drop on Netflix on March 20.
For their La Liga match at home to Getafe on March 14, Atletico’s players will be escorted to the ground and onto the pitch by a group of Peaky Blinders.
The plan is to “ensure their safety”, according to a report by The Athletic. There are no real safety concerns, of course.
Atletico will transform many of their facets into Peaky Blinders pillars.
Fans will be transported to 1930s Birmingham with a Garrison Tavern to drink at in the stadium, just like the pub where the Shelby family meet in the show.
There will also be a barbershop inspired by that post-war period and flatcap-wearing actors will distribute newspapers and berets to fans.
And that’s not all. There will be a special show on the Metropolitano’s screens and their public address system, as well as lights around the stadium’s wraparound video scoreboard, known as the ‘sky ribbon’.
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While the commercial benefits between the La Liga giants and a British gangster film are hardly immediate, it’s understood that Netflix will be targeting more deals like this in the future.
This particular partnership is a one-off agreement, with the streaming giant paying the Spanish club to use their stadium, their players, and their social media channels to promote the film.
Aston Villa would have been the obvious pick being based in Birmingham, but Netflix obviously sees something in the reach of Atletico.
One thing that may have encouraged Netflix executives was the success of working with some of the Atletico players last summer.
Griezmann, Koke and Marcos Llorente were all involved in an initiative last July whereby they became chefs for a day to promote the Disney+ series The Bear.
Netflix has shown a strong commitment to sport over the past year or so and it seems they are intent on strengthening their grip on it wherever possible through a batch of live events and marketing agreements.
