ITV, NFL star Strahan ink overall deal

ITV America has signed an overall deal with former NFL star and Emmy-winning TV personality Michael Strahan to produce shows for TV and digital platforms.

Strahan (Good Morning America, The $100,000 Pyramid) and his business partner Constance Schwartz-Morini run a prodco called SMAC Entertainment. Under the pact with ITV America, they will create a range of unscripted projects for television, OTT and digital platforms that will be produced under the ITV America banner.

ITV America’s chief creative officer Adam Sher and exec VP of business development and international, Ed Simpson, helped broker the deal. SMAC is repped by WME.

The partnership will see the New York Giants alumni and Schwartz-Morini working with ITV America’s various production subsidiaries, which include ITV Entertainment, Leftfield Pictures, Loud TV, Outpost Entertainment, Sirens Media, DiGa, Gurney Productions, High Noon Entertainment and Thinkfactory Media.

ITV America and SMAC are already in business together on the series Tackle My Ride for NFL Network, produced by Leftfield and currently in production on season two.

They also have projects in development including Spark the Future with Wiz Khalifa (via ITV Entertainment), Pros vs Kids and Not For Primetime (via Leftfield), and Guinness World Records (via High Noon and ITV Entertainment).

The move comes days after ITV America sealed a similar deal with former NBA star and basketball analyst Kenny Smith.

Strahan’s “expertise and ability to navigate everything from sports and gameshows to docs and competition, along with his and Constance’s keen instincts for what resonates with audiences, make SMAC an amazing partner,” said ITV America CEO Brent Montgomery.

SMAC’s slate of shows includes Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Sports Awards; State of Play: Happiness (HBO); Play It Forward (Showtime), The $100,000 Pyramid (ABC), Tackle My Ride (NFL Network) and Religion of Sports (Audience Network).