In 2001, the NFL produced its first season of the show Hard Knocks. It was the first-ever sports-related reality TV show that followed an NFL team through training camp and the team's preparation for the upcoming season. It began on a volunteer basis, but when the league struggled to find a team to participate in 2013, the league determined a way to force teams to participate.
The initial rules were that a team could decline to participate in Hard Knocks for one of three reasons: 1. The team has appeared on the show in the past 10 years, 2.