‘The Money Game’ (2024) Prime Video Series Review - An Unexceptionally Made Documentary

Name, image, and likeness (NIL) caused a lot of buzz around college sports, and rightly so. NIL gives student-athletes the right to profit from their name, image, and likeness through product endorsements or other activities. In the new Prime Video documentary titled The Money Game, we learn how educational institutes used to make money from sports events thanks to ticket sales and TV deals. The players, however, were the main attraction of these events, and they received nothing except loud cheers from the audience. We see Shaquille O'Neal finding himself as a video game character in a basketball game. He is surprised because he doesn't remember giving anyone the right to use his image for making video games. He, of course, didn't receive any money. The situation of student-athletes wasn't very different from that of writers who are exploited by publications in the name of "passion." Nothing much has changed in the field of writing. The life of student-athletes, however, has improved due to NIL. Good for them.

Everything has become all about numbers since money entered the game. And "numbers" here refer not only to the bank balance but also to the social media followers (TikTok, Instagram, etc.). The more followers you have, the more opportunities for paid promotion you will get; thus, the more money you will have in your bank. People like Livvy Dunne, Angel Reese, and Jayden Daniels often appear on the screen with statistical figures that inform us about their online followers and earnings. These players are inextricable from their numbers. They charge around $20K or something (I don't remember the exact amount) for an online post on their Instagram. When you see these sportsmen and sportswomen in action, you think, "They deserve all this wealth and appreciation." I was spellbound by the effortless swing of Dunne's muscles whenever she displayed her skills as a gymnast. Reese's energetic jump to prevent the ball from entering the basket makes for an incredible sight. Daniels' football game shown in the second episode gives us this player's highlight moments, but it's edited with a generic sense of excitement and rhythm.

The Money Game, like other Prime Video sports documentaries, is made with a style that reeks of clichés. It's nothing but a collection of footage and interviews stitched together without imagination or enthusiasm. No momentum is built; no audio or visual pleasures are offered. Why do these filmmakers use the documentary genre in such an unexceptional manner? They merely convert their series or movie into an infomercial. Dunne's sister is also her PR manager, and we chuckle whenever she is seen screaming at the top of her lungs to cheer for her sister. The Money Game allows long discussions on the glory as well as the ugliness of the social media world. The women athletes have to deal with pervy comments and death threats. The Money Game puts the spotlight on the rot, though nothing new comes out of these conversations. We don't hear anything we haven't heard before. The documentary reaches a fascinating point when Dunne talks about the conflict between showing her body as an athlete versus displaying it as a model. I wish The Money Game had dug a little deeper into this subject instead of treating it like a minor comment. This is, in the end, one of those documentaries that illuminates almost nothing interesting and makes you feel you have simply watched an extended PR reel. Perhaps you might enjoy The Money Game more than this critic if you are a fan or are close to the people who appear in this documentary.

Final Score- [4.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times
Note: All 6 episodes are screened for this review.
Premiere Date: September 10, 2024, on Prime Video