Netflix planning documentary on Expos’ 2004 exit from Montreal

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Netflix will co-produce an untitled documentary that will delve into the Montreal Expos and the events surrounding the team’s departure to Washington in 2004.

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The doc, which will be helmed by Jean-Francois Poisson, is the first to be greenlit under Netflix’s new creative partnership with Montreal-based Attraction.

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“The Expos were the first MLB team outside of the U.S. and despite their departure from Montreal they continue to have passionate fans to this day,” Attraction president Richard Speer said in a statement. “This film will tell the story of the team through the eyes of those who lived it.”

According to a release from Netflix, the film will examine the hurdles that led to the departure of the Expos from Montreal and how the loss of an MLB team in the city continues to spark debate 20 years later.

Among the setbacks the team faced in its latter years were dwindling fan support, the firing of manager Felipe Alou (who had the Expos in first place at a major league-leading 74-40 when a players strike ended the season in August 1994) and an ownership shakeup that saw the team eventually being run by the MLB until it was moved to Washington in 2004.

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The Expos doc will follow other sports films Netflix has produced, including Formula 1: Drive To Survive, Full Swing, NASCAR: Full Speed, Untold, Quarterback, Tour de France: Unchained, Under Pressure: The U.S. Women’s World Cup Team, Break Point and Six Nations: Full Contact.

The official X account of the Expos shared the news with the caption: “Everyone loves the Expos. Everyone.”

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The Boston Red Sox will also be the focus of a pair of new Netflix shows, one of which will be filmed this year and follow the team through the 2024 season. Netflix said earlier this month it will have “unprecedented access to players, coaches and executives throughout the 2024 season.”

The streamer also intends to air a documentary this year focusing on the 2004 Red Sox, who broke the infamous Curse of the Bambino and won the team’s first World Series title since 1918.

Since the Expos’ exit, there has been a fervent fan base that wants to see baseball brought back to Montreal. An ESPN report this week hinted that a two-team expansion is inevitable by the early 2030s.

Among the cities mentioned as possible destinations for a new ballclub — Montreal and Vancouver.

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