Journal

In the legends of Camelot, Merlin kept a journal — a place where visions, experiments, and future worlds were first imagined. Merlins Journal continues that tradition: a living archive of behind-the-scenes stories, development notes, immersive concepts, and cinematic journeys that reveal how Merlins Sports Entertainment turns imagination into r

Beyond the Tour 2027: Merlins Screen to Streets Along the UK Grand Départ

Tour de France UK • Edinburgh • Manchester • Lake District • Yorkshire • Cardiff • Leeds • Tour de France Femmes • Live from the Streets

In 2027, the Tour de France comes to the United Kingdom in historic fashion.

For the first time ever, the men’s Tour de France will begin in Edinburgh, Scotland, marking the first occasion Scotland has hosted the race. Stage Two will start in England, travelling through Manchester, the Lake District, and Yorkshire — the fifth time England has welcomed the Tour since 1974. Stage Three moves to Wales, finishing in Cardiff, before the race crosses to France for Stage Four.

The Tour de France Femmes Grand Départ will also take place in the UK, visiting Leeds — only the second time in history the women’s Tour has started outside France, following the Netherlands in 2024.

This unprecedented UK opening transforms the Tour into more than a race. It becomes a national moment — across Scotland, England, and Wales.

Merlins Screen to Streets: Live Coverage from the Route

Along the entire UK route, Merlins Sports Entertainment will deploy dedicated Merlins Street Teams in every host city.

Merlins will recruit and train young, future journalists and creators, equipping them with the latest wearable and mobile broadcast technology — including smart glasses and live-streaming tools — to capture the Tour as it unfolds on the streets.

From start lines to city centres.

From cafés to crowd barriers.

From backstreets to fan zones.

This is not highlight coverage.

This is not studio storytelling.

This is real people, real reactions, real streets — live.

No filters.

No scripts.

No delay.

Beyond the Tour: A Living Documentary

Merlins’ Beyond the Tour is a living, evolving street documentary — bringing audiences inside the emotion, culture, and atmosphere surrounding the Tour de France in the UK.

While the peloton races forward, Merlins Street Teams document what surrounds it:

the fans, the families, the first-time viewers, the lifelong followers, the cities, and the stories that never make the broadcast.

This is Merlins Screen to Streets — where global sporting moments move beyond television and return to the streets they pass through.

Edinburgh.

Manchester.

The Lake District.

Yorkshire.

Cardiff.

Leeds.

One route.

Three nations.

Countless human stories.

Beyond the Tour 2027. Live from the streets.

Visit YouTube

Beyond the Grand Prix: Screen to Streets 2026

A Limited Merlins Series Micro-Dramas

Beyond the Grand Prix • Screen to Streets • Formula 1 Culture • 2026 Limited Series

In 2026, as the world’s largest sporting event — the FIFA World Cup 2026 — takes over the global stage, Merlins will launch a focused, limited series:

Beyond the Grand Prix: Screen to Streets.

Rather than competing with the World Cup calendar, Merlins’ Beyond the Grand Prix series will operate in selected Formula 1 host cities outside of FIFA’s peak months — creating space to explore the culture, creativity, and human stories that surround Grand Prix weekends.

This is not race coverage.

This is the world around the race.

Champagne Carbon x Merlins: A Culinary Street Series

Select episodes of Beyond the Grand Prix: Screen to Streets will feature chefs and culinary creators and will be presented in collaboration with Champagne Carbon — formerly the official Champagne partner of Formula 1 and now in collaboration with Bugatti.

Through kitchens, pop-ups, restaurants, paddock cities, and late-night streets, Merlins will document how food, celebration, and craftsmanship intersect with Grand Prix culture.

The 2026 Circuit (Planning Phase)

The 2026 Beyond the Grand Prix Screen to Streets circuit is currently in planning, with locations being selected to align with Formula 1 host cities and to avoid conflict with FIFA World Cup months.

As circuits are confirmed, this Journal will document each city, each route, and each street-level chapter.

Merlins Screen to Streets: Live from the Circuit

At every selected Grand Prix location, Merlins will deploy local Street Teams — recruiting and training young journalists and creators in each city.

Using the latest in non-obtrusive mobile and wearable technology — including smartphones, compact cameras, and smart glasses — Merlins Street Teams will bring conversations, culture, and live moments directly from the streets to Merlins’ live YouTube feeds.

From food stalls to fan zones.

From late-night cafés to morning markets.

From backstreets to boulevards.

Real.

Raw.

Unedited.

Unfiltered.

This is Beyond the Grand Prix: Screen to Streets.

A limited 2026 series by Merlins Sports Entertainment.

Episode 1 – NBC 30 Rock: Where the Merlins Story Began

Merlins Podcast: Knights of Sports

Before Merlins became a world a world of films, immersive experiences, and global sports storytelling, there was the beginning at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza – a two-part movie, a first real collision with broadcast television and a moment that changed everything.

Episode 1 of the Merlins Podcast opens inside the birthplace of modern broadcasting — where a young idea collided with one of the most powerful media institutions in the world. What began as a simple opportunity quickly became a lesson in storytelling, access, pressure, and belief.

This first episode chronicles the origins of the Merlins journey: the rooms, the people, the risks, and the realization that sports is not just competition — it is cinema, culture, and mythology in motion.

NBC 30 Rock was not just a building.

It was a proving ground.

And this episode marks the first page in the Merlins Journal.

Merlins Podcast: Knights of Sports

Episode 1 – NBC 30 Rock

Watch or Listen to Knights of Sports on YouTube.

The Studio World : Screen to Streets

Where Studio Worlds Begin

Merlins was born from a simple question:

What happens to great worlds after the screen goes dark?

Films live for a moment in cinemas, then forever in memory.

But what if they could live again — in cities, in culture, in physical space?

Not as exhibits.

As experiences.

Not as replicas.

As living worlds.

The Florence Origin

That question became real in Florence, Italy.

Working alongside our creative partners in Florence, Merlins developed and produced an immersive exhibition inspired by the legendary film Cinema Paradiso — a project that transformed cinema itself into a walk-through emotional journey.

As the experience took shape, a larger realization emerged.

If Cinema Paradiso could become an immersive world…

what about the worlds that have shaped generations?

What about epic sagas?

Future visions?

Heroic myths?

Entire studio libraries?

We asked the question.

Could studio films become immersive worlds?

The answer from our partners was immediate:

Yes. Absolutely.

Every Film Is a World Waiting to Be Entered

Every film that has lived on screen carries more than a story.

It carries:

atmosphere.

architecture.

philosophy.

ritual.

emotion.

identity.

These are not films.

These are worlds.

Worlds that can become places.

Worlds that can be walked through.

Worlds that can be felt.

Worlds that can gather filmmakers, fans, artists, technologists, and cities into a single living experience.

Merlins exists to help studios unlock that next life.

The Role of Merlins

Merlins is not an IP owner.

Merlins is a creative bridge.

We work alongside the creative forces of any studio — filmmakers, storytellers, designers, archivists, and technologists — to translate cinematic worlds into real-world journeys.

From screen into reality.

From story into living experience.

We bring those worlds out of theaters and into streets, museums, arenas, historic spaces, and global touring environments.

This is our philosophy.

This is Screen to Streets.

From NBC to Now

Merlins began in 1998 with NBC, built on the idea that stories could live beyond broadcast.

Today, that same philosophy guides everything we build.

Only now, the tools are richer.

The worlds are larger.

And the opportunity to merge cinema, culture, and immersive design has never been greater.

What started as an experiment has become a platform.

A studio collaboration model.

A world-building practice.

A living development room.

The Journal as an Open Chronicle

Every Studio World Merlins explores is not just an outcome.

It is a journey.

Each project we pursue is envisioned as a documented creative expedition — from the first idea, to design, to collaboration, to construction, to public experience.

Nothing hidden.

Nothing manufactured.

A living chronicle of how worlds are awakened.

So filmmakers, fans, partners, and future creators can not only experience the worlds…

…but witness how they are brought to life.

What Comes Next

The Studio Worlds you see forming are not announcements.

They are invitations.

To imagine what cinema can become.

To explore how film libraries can evolve.

To consider how studio universes can move through cities, cultures, and generations.

Because great studios create worlds.

Merlins exists to awaken them.

Because we believe magic is real.