The creators of The Tournament have signed a deal that could see the series retooled and reborn on Fox. The network has ordered a pilot script from creators Howard Busgang, Marty Putz and Howard Nemetz for an Americanized version of the sports comedy – with Little League Baseball replacing the original’s junior league hockey.

The Tournament ran on CBC for two seasons, and caught the attention of producer/director Tom Schlamme (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The West Wing), who took it to Warner Bros. and to Fox through his Shoe Money Productions.

Busgang says the new version will be changed ‘quite dramatically’ from the original. ‘This show is much bigger,’ he says. ‘It’s about the parents, but it’s also about the small town in America… that desperately is depending on these kids to bring back the glory of the entire town.’

‘It’s not being sitcom-ized, but it’s also not a mockumentary in exactly the way we did The Tournament,’ adds Putz.