Football fans, good news! Hard Knocks is back for its 15th edition this August with its BTS of football teams of Los Angeles competing in the National Football League. The raw passion and real struggles of your favorite players will be up for display in this all-access production coming from HBO Sports and NFL Films.
Titled HARD KNOCKS: LOS ANGELES, the five-episode season will kick off on August 11. It will be available to stream on HBO via HBO Max and other partners’ platforms. Each episode of this sports-based reality series will be an hour-long and released on every Tuesday. It will end on September 8.
The 2020 edition will have two Los Angeles NFL teams: The Los Angeles Chargers of the AFC West and the Los Angeles Rams of the NFC West in the spotlight.
The arrival of HARD KNOCKS each August will continue the unique tradition born of the 43-year-old marriage of NFL FILMS and HBO Sports. Their alliance has so far been sports television’s most successful partnerships. Going forth HBO Sports, NFL Media and NFL Films will follow up on their agreement of a multi-year extension of the HARD KNOCKS franchise.
Ever since its launch in 2001, HARD KNOCKS has had one of the fastest turnarounds. This year will be the 15th edition of the 18-time Sports Emmy-winning series.
“Our partnership with NFL Films, which dates back to 1977, consistently produces groundbreaking television programming. We are grateful to the Chargers and Rams organizations to be able to present the 2020 training camp experience,” says Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports.
For this edition, the two California teams will be inhabiting the 70,000-seat SoFi stadium that is nearing completion in Inglewood, California.
On the other side, NFL Films senior executive Ross Ketover says,
“To be able to announce this extension as we embark on an unprecedented two team series this summer brings us incredible pride and only heightens our excitement for the return of football.”
Who are the two Teams?
The Rams are just a season removed from a Super Bowl appearance and have an ecleftic mix of high-profile players, established veterans, and free-agent acquisitions.
Meanwhile, after an injury-plagued 2019 campaign, the Los Angeles Chargers are looking for a return to the winning formula that helped them finish tied for the AFC’s best record in 2018. The Chargers’ roster features young, rising stars and also an influx of veteran talent.
Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn said of the HARD KNOCKS,
“Having been part of Hard Knocks before … my biggest takeaway… was that you get out of it what you put into it. There’s a reason that season was probably the most popular Hard Knocks ever (featuring New York Jets).
If you’re going to do a show, do it right. You can’t fake it. We didn’t have a problem providing access because we built a relationship with the crew.
Broadcasting your internal business all over the world isn’t something you regularly want to do, but in a year with as many challenges as this one has had, I’m glad we can be part of bringing football back to the fans this summer.”
“Hard Knocks always offers a rare opportunity for our fans to see our players’ hard work as well as gives them a peek behind the curtain to observe these guys off the field, too.”
Rams Head Coach Sean McVay
According to the official synopsis, NFL Films plans to shoot more than 2,300 hours of footage of both the teams with access to meeting rooms, training rooms, living quarters and practice fields.
“HARD KNOCKS will document hours of conditioning practices and meetings, chronicling players as they compete for a roster spot and bond off the field,” the official press note read.
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