A Scripted Series

PONY
EXCESS

Dallas. 1976.

"Before NIL, there was SMU."

When flamboyant coach Ron Meyer arrives at SMU, he transforms a losing football program into a powerhouse through unprecedented recruiting tactics and millionaire backers. But when Meyer bolts to the NFL, leaving behind a well-oiled machine, SMU's boosters abandon discretion — pouring dollars, desperately buying talent to stay on top. The price of winning? The only "death penalty" in NCAA history.

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Format 10-Episode Prestige Series
Setting Dallas, Texas — 1976–1987
Genre True Sports Drama
The Moment

Why This Story. Why Now.

The collision of sports, money, and power that destroyed SMU football is more relevant today than the day it happened. The 40th anniversary of the death penalty arrives February 25, 2027 — into a world where everything SMU did in secret is now done in the open.

📅
40th Anniversary

February 25, 2027 marks 40 years since the NCAA's only death penalty. A cultural moment demands a cultural event.

💰
The NIL Revolution

What once was scandal is today business as usual. The story that predicted the future of college sports — told at the moment the future arrived.

🏈
SMU Resurgent

ACC move and College Football Playoff appearance, both in 2024. SMU is back in the national conversation for the first time since the scandal.

🎬
True Sports Explosion

Winning Time, The Last Dance, Air — the genre's power is proven. This is the untold chapter.

📺
Built-In Audience

The original Pony Excess documentary debuted as ESPN's highest-rated premiere. The audience is waiting.

⭐
Texas Rising

The state's film infrastructure boom and 25% tax incentives make Texas production timing perfect.

"The best team money can buy."

— Southwest Conference, circa 1983
Pilot Episode

Black White Whale

The pilot drops us into the moment everything begins — when a man with a Super Bowl ring, a recruit with a gift, and a city drunk on oil money collide to build a football program that will change the sport forever.

Ron Meyer arrives to resurrect SMU Football — the man can spot talent, and he's got the shiny Super Bowl ring from his Cowboys scouting days to prove it.

The boosters recognize Meyer needs competitive offers for recruiting. This is THE Southwest Conference — the OPEC of college football, where prices are set and the nation's best players are bought and organized through a secret recruiting network.

Mike Ford, star quarterback, stolen from bitter in-state rivals in Meyer's first big win. Eric Dickerson — the recruitment battle begins. It's not money that'll win E.D. — Meyer knows what momma has her heart set on.

And as the universe of success grows in late-70s Dallas, hungry young reporters smell blood in the water.

R

Ron Meyer

Charismatic coach who built a system before departing for NFL dreams

G

Gov. Bill Clements

Once and future governor, SMU board chairman, ready to win

E

Eric Dickerson

The ultimate recruiting prize — National #1 recruit

G

George Owen

The boosters' shadow leader — power broker with buried secrets

R

Galloway & Bayless

Rival reporters racing for the scoop of a generation

The World

Late 70s / 80s Dallas

Oil money flooding in. The Cowboys dynasty at its peak. Dallas the #1 television show on planet Earth. The Starck Club where rock stars and real estate moguls drink side by side. Power lunches and backroom deals where a handshake moves millions. This is the world where SMU's football program became the most expensive — and most destructive — machine in college sports.

🛢️

Oil Money & Real Estate

The Texas boom economy where fortunes were made before lunch and spent by dinner

⭐

Cowboys Dynasty

America's Team at its apex — the standard every program in Texas was measured against

🌃

The Starck Club

Where Dallas nightlife met Studio 54 — the cultural heartbeat of a city on fire

📺

DALLAS the TV Show

The #1 show in the world made the city a character — and the lifestyle aspirational

🤝

Power & Backrooms

Deals done over steak and bourbon where a handshake was worth more than a contract

🎓

Campus Meets High Society

Where the university's ivory tower met Dallas's gilded penthouse

Investment

Pilot Budget

Period-authentic Dallas recreation. Stadium sequences and football action. Vintage cars and designer wardrobes. Premium cast and established talent. Comparable prestige pilots like Winning Time and American Crime Story range $8M+.

Pilot Investment Summary

Period Drama • 10-Episode Series

Total Pilot Budget $6,500,000
Texas Tax Credit (20–25%) – $1,450,000
Net Cost to Investors $5,050,000

22.3% offset via state incentives — production in Texas/Louisiana

SMU Athletic Department

Unprecedented access to campus, facilities, and archives. Paying today's players to portray yesterday's — the first Meta-NIL production. Official university support for authentic storytelling.

Texas Incentives + SMU

TMIIIP rebate (25%) incentivizes in-state production. SMU's Meadows School of the Arts at the front of modern production infrastructure.

Series Potential

10 episodes charting the rise and fall. Premium platforms match the scale. Global appeal combining Texas football and scandal.

Target Platforms

Introducing a new prestige genre: True Sports — where emotional drama meets forensic true-crime. Package strategy: star-driven, pre-sold series. Disney+, Amazon Prime.

The Team

Producers & Advisors

Thaddeus D. Matula
Director

Thaddeus D. Matula

Emmy & Peabody Award-winning filmmaker behind ESPN's Pony Excess, then-highest-rated doc premiere. Two 30 for 30 features. Deep SMU knowledge and Dallas roots bring authenticity to the Pony world.

Larry Waks
Legal / Strategic Counsel

Larry Waks

Entertainment attorney to A-list talent and brands. Architect of significant exits incl. Casamigos, Aviation Gin, Proper No. 12, Teremana and ZZ Top. Deep Texas ties — SMU graduate, partner in Pantalones Tequila.

King Hollis
Executive Producer

King Hollis

25+ years of turn-key productions across scripted content (ABC, FOX, CW, PBS) and commercial directing. Merging high production values with brand relationships at Octagon, Skydance Sports, Google.

Terri Piñón
Producer

Terri Piñón

Seasoned producer of critically acclaimed independents — My Dead Friend Zoe, You Can Call Me Bill. Prestige-genre expertise with upcoming Kim Novak project. Track record shepherding complex development through distribution.

Theodore D. Matula
Executive Producer

Theodore D. Matula

Most recently Chief Officer of a portfolio under law school. Institutional governance to investment. 30-year transactional attorney and former CLO in renewable energy.

Marklen Kennedy
Executive Producer

Marklen Kennedy

SMU Football Alumnus (1989). Among the university's current leaders bridging the "Death Penalty" era legacy. Major donor liaison — the bridge between Hollywood, Dallas business & philanthropy communities.

Thaddeus Matula's Emmy Award
Series Proof

The Documentary That Started It All

Directed by Thaddeus D. Matula, the original Pony Excess documentary proved this world opens at scale. Same IP, proven demand — the scripted series is the deeper 10-episode exploration the audience has been waiting for.

#1
Highest-Rated ESPN
Doc Premiere
1.6
Nielsen Rating
Primetime
2.52M
Primetime
Viewers
PEABODY
Award
Winner
Nielsen ratings for Pony Excess documentary premiere

Named one of the "Ten Best Documentaries About Texas" by Texas Monthly. Creator continuity — the originating filmmaker ensures authentic expansion from documentary truth to scripted prestige.

Prestige arcs: RISE → EXCESS → FALLOUT = natural 10-episode structure.

Comparable Successes

The Company It Keeps

Winning Time
HBO

Genre pioneer. Proved prestige sports drama commands premium audiences and critical acclaim. The Showtime-era Lakers as cultural phenomenon.

Friday Night Lights
NBC / Peacock

Cultural phenomenon. The Texas football series that defined a generation. 2025 reboot won bidding war vs. Netflix — proving the appetite endures.

The Last Dance
ESPN

Global series hit. Set the standard for how sports stories command mainstream attention and cross demographic boundaries.

"Join us in bringing this legendary Texas story to life."