\n\tThe Red Raiders have found another potentially unprecedented way to throw money at their football program: spending just under $1 million to facilitate the new documentary series about the team.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn a reversal of the typical financial arrangement for college sports documentaries, Texas Tech<\/a> University agreed to compensate Skydance\u2019s sports-focused production studio $999,999 to film The Program, a four-part, all-access docuseries that premiered Sept. 4 on Paramount+<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to a February term sheet obtained by Sportico, Texas Tech was to pay Skydance Sports<\/a> a \u201cstudio fee\u201d in three installments, with the final payment due upon the start of postproduction. The agreement makes no mention of payments or revenue sharing flowing from the production company to the university.<\/p>\n \n\tSpokespeople for the university and Skydance did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication.<\/p>\n \n\tThe term sheet, signed by Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec, granted Skydance\u2019s producers access to \u201call of team\u2019s players and personnel,\u201d as well as football facilities, the stadium, medical facilities, NIL negotiations, coaches and GM meetings, practices and training sessions. Texas Tech also agreed to provide producers with a \u201cdedicated production office\u201d within its athletic complex.<\/p>\n \n\tBy keeping the fee just under $1 million, the deal avoided triggering the \u201cmajor contract\u201d threshold established under Texas law, which could have subjected it to additional scrutiny and oversight\u2014including Board of Regents approval\u2014and the resulting delays.<\/p>\n \n\tAside from the Raiders rubles, Skydance got its money\u2019s worth in terms of narrative drama, which included landing Cincinnati-turned-Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby\u2019s first public comments<\/a> following a gambling scandal that rocked college football. Producers also captured footage of the team meeting in which head coach Joey McGuire informed TTU players that Sorsby would be taking a leave of absence.<\/p>\n \n\tTexas Tech\u2019s pay-to-film pact stands out in the world of commercially distributed sports documentaries, where production companies have generally compensated schools for filming access\u2014not the other way around.<\/p>\n \n\tFor example, as Sportico previously reported<\/a>, EverWonder Studio agreed to pay North Carolina at least $250,000 for a planned documentary series chronicling Bill Belichick\u2019s Tar Heels program. That project was ultimately scrapped.<\/p>\n \n\tCampfire Film & TV paid<\/a> LSU $1 million for the exclusive rights to produce The Money Game, a documentary series following Tigers athletes during the 2023-24 academic year. That fee was in addition to NIL compensation the studio paid to participating players.<\/p>\n \n\tSimilarly, Michigan reportedly<\/a> netted $2.25 million for All or Nothing, the 2018 Amazon Prime documentary series that followed the Wolverines football program.<\/p>\n \n\tEven junior colleges, such as those featured in Netflix\u2019s Last Chance U and Cheer, have received modest<\/a>, five-figure sums under their filming access agreements.<\/p>\n \n\tIn other cases, such as Colorado\u2019s access agreement for the Amazon Prime series Coach Prime, no money changed hands between the producers and school.<\/p>\n \n\tDespite Texas Tech footing the bill for The Program, the agreement granted Skydance Sports\u2014part of Paramount Skydance, which owns Paramount+\u2014sole ownership of \u201call elements in connection with and including the project,\u201d excluding the university\u2019s trademarks. Texas Tech retained limited review and approval rights over rough and final cuts, with a 72-hour turnaround window. Those rights included ensuring the series \u201cdoes not portray TTU or its students, alumni or employees in a manner giving rise to actionable defamation.\u201d<\/p>\n