Dick’s Sporting Goods Launches Production Studio, Sets Little League Documentary and More Original Sports Programming (EXCLUSIVE)

Dick’s Sporting Goods is launching a production banner called Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios, which will make its official debut on an ESPN documentary titled “Big Dreams: The Little League World Series 2024.”

The 90-minute film explores the wins, losses, sweat and tears at the tournament in rural Pennsylvania. Produced alongside Imagine Documentaries in association with MLB Studios, the documentary will premiere on ESPN on Aug. 12 at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Dick’s says Cookie Jar & A Dream is a “natural progression” of the sporting goods brand’s decade-long foray into filmmaking. The company has backed five feature-length films and 10 short-form and episodic documentaries. Its 2014 doc “We Could Be King,” about two rival high schools that merged due to budget cuts, made Dick’s one of the first consumer brands to win an Emmy for best sports documentary. The company netted another Emmy win in 2024 with its Netflix film “The Turnaround,” which tells the story of how Phillies superfan Jon McCann sparked a game-changing standing ovation for shortstop Trea Turner.

“It’s really about telling great stories, creating more fans of sport and hopefully fans of Dick’s Sporting Goods as a brand,” says Mark Rooks, vice president of creative, sponsorships and entertainment at Dick’s. He hopes the production studio serves as a marketing tool for the sporting goods brand.

Aside from the Little League documentary, Dick’s is cooking up a story about Rachel Foster, a woman who was pronounced dead after an accident, miraculously recovered and currently runs marathons. Another project slated for 2026 follows the 1994 U.S. Men’s National Team at the World Cup.

The name of the production banner, Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios, references the origins of Dick’s Sporting Goods. In 1948, Richard “Dick” Stack founded the company with a $300 loan from his grandmother, who kept her savings in a cookie jar.

Says Rooks, “We use that inspiration and that story to remind us of who we are and what our North Star is.”