Sounds Like Ballers Season 3 Won’t Shoot in Miami

Though nothing official has been announced by HBO, a report suggests that Ballers season 3 will film somewhere a lot further west than Miami.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a Miami guy. He played football at The U and still calls South Florida home. But while it must have been nice for him to shoot Ballers in his own backyard, that looks like it won’t be the case for season 3.

A report in the Miami Herald suggests that Ballers is leaving Miami and will likely film its next batch of episodes in Los Angeles. The article is based on info from anonymous sources who note that the show’s sets and costumes have already been packed up.

The reason? Taxes, of course, as is often the case when film and TV productions choose where to film these days. Florida decided not to renew the tax breaks it had given companies in recent years, while California has done just the opposite beginning last year, hoping to reclaim its previous status of entertainment capital of the U.S. after seeing many shows and movies head to the East Coast.

What’s interesting is that the series has naturally been preparing for such a day all along, even if it was being done unintentionally. Miami figured heavily in season 1 since Johnson’s character Spencer Strasmore was a former star player for the Dolphins, but much less so in season 2.

Without getting too far into spoiler territory for those who haven’t seen the season 2 finale, Strasmore is definitely at a point in his life where his next move could take him anywhere. And with that in mind, Los Angeles is as good a place as any.

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Expect HBO to say something official sooner or later. There’s no rush, though, as Ballers season 3 won’t even begin production until after the new year, and it’s expected back on the HBO schedule sometime next summer.