Season 3 (assuming there is one) of Netflix’s Sunderland ‘Til I Die may finally get the happy ending the club (and its supporters) deserve both on and off the pitch.

Michael Dell, founder of Dell Technologies, is part of an American investment group negotiating to buy the club.

According to the Sunderland Echo, the group includes Glenn Fuhrman, John Phelan and Robert Platek. Dell will reportedly be a passive, minor stakeholder.

The Echo claims that talks are early but “positive.”

How’s Sunderland doing this year?

Sunderland are off to an encouraging start in League One (England’s third division). They are projected as the favorites to win the league, both on FiveThirtyEight probabilities and by oddsmakers.

DraftKings Sportsbook NJ has them priced at +400 to win the league. Portsmouth follows at +550.

Sunderland was relegated from the Premier League in the 2016-17 season. They were then dropped down from the Championship in 2017-18. Their 2018-19 season was an improvement, but they failed to get promoted in the Championship League playoff.

Ouch.

For 93 minutes, season 2 of Netflix’s Sunderland ‘Til I Die looked like it could have a much happier ending than season 1.

Then, well…

Sunderland vs Charlton Athletic Promotion Playoff

The England Football League One (third tier) promotion playoffs were today. The match pitted Sunderland against Charlton Athletic.

As watchers of the Netflix docu-series know, Sunderland have had a
precipitous fall from grace. Just two years ago they were in the Premier League. After a year of ownership and management upheaval, they found themselves relegated from the Championship League into the EFL.

This year was looking better. The Championship League was in sight. And today was looking really, really good early on.

Less than five minutes into the game, Charlton let in an all-time howler of an own goal (0:30 in the vid). It seemed like Sunderland was destined to move back on up.

Then, see…

Charlton leveled 1-1 in the 35th minute.

And then, um, in the final few seconds of stoppage time (hop to 1:40)…

A rip-your-heart-out-your-chest moment.

If nothing else, it’ll make amazing content for season 2 of the show.

For Sunder ‘Til I Die fans, yes, there will be a Season 2, and yes, there may just be a happy ending this time.

For those unfamiliar, proud English soccer club Sunderland were relegated from the Premier League after the 2016/17 campaign. A Netflix documentary was ordered, presumably to capture their promotion back into the Premier League from the Championship (Tier 2).

That didn’t quite happen.

Sunderland had as disastrous meltdown in the Championship. They were relegated down to English League One (Tier 3). With a new owner, the club hoped to have a new outlook as they attempted to restore glory and find their way back into top tier English soccer.

Sunderland in position for promotion

The 2018/19 campaign for Sunderland has been much better. They currently sit with a 68% chance of promotion.

The club avoids playing Luton Town and Barnsley in its final 9 games. A home match-up against Portsmouth on April 27th could prove pivotal in their promotion campaign.

Expect the second season of Sunderland ‘Til I Die documenting their potential rise back into the Championship towards the end of 2019.