Universal Pictures
Last Updated: July 17th
Live sports might be the last thing keeping streaming options from swallowing cable television subscriptions whole. And those barriers are beginning to fall, but that doesn’t mean there’s a shortage of sports content currently on Netflix. In fact, you should have a long list of good sports movies available to watch should your favorite teams have the night off.
While shows like Glow are great for sports fans looking for a slow burn, the best place to start is movies and documentaries. From Netflix originals to classic documentaries and ’90s nostalgia, the Netflix catalog has a little something for everyone. There’s even a bit of romance on the list.
Let’s take a look at the best sports movies Netflix has to offer.
Related: The Best Action Movies On Netflix Right Now, Ranked
Netflix
15) The Battered Bastards of Baseball (2014)
Run Time: 80 min | IMDb: 8.0/10
Did you know Kurt Russell’s dad owned a baseball team? And Kurt played on it? The saga of the scrappy Portland Mavericks is not the most well-executed film on the list, but it’s lovingly done and the archival footage carries the day here. If you’re curious, in need of a true underdog tale, and want to add a bit of baseball trivia to your brain, this might be for you.
Getty Image
14) Iverson (2014)
Run Time: 106 min | IMDb: 7.0/10
This 2014 documentary — which debuted at Tribeca a few years ago — takes a look at the career of former Philadelphia 76ers great Allen Iverson and the perception that many had of him. The film is a satisfying nostalgia trip for AI fans but it doesn’t introduce a wealth of new footage or offer anything new about The Answer. It’s still better than watching him in the BIG3, though.
Warner Bros. Pictures
13) Trouble With The Curve (2012)
Run Time: 111 min | IMDb: 6.8/10
Clint Eastwood stars in a film that uses baseball as a backdrop for a story about an out-of-touch scout and his complex relationship with his lawyer daughter (played by Amy Adams). John Goodman and Justin Timberlake also pop up in supporting roles with the latter having a bit of chemistry with Adams. If you need a baseball-themed drama, this is the best Netflix has to offer, presently.
Netflix
12) The Short Game (2013)
Run Time: 99 min | IMDb: 7.4/10
This 2013 documentary is a delightful look at a youth golf championship. Chronicling the 2012 championship at Pinehurst, it follows a handful of charming golf proteges from around the world as they vie for the title of best 7- and 8-year-old players in the world. Golf greats like Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Annika Sörenstam provide commentary on the difficulty and drama of the game while we watch young golfers deal with the stress of the tournament, parents, and some nitpicky rules. It has its fair share of Sports Parent moments, but the kids are genuinely interesting and full of character.
HBO
11) Mascots (2016)
Run Time: 89 min | IMDb: 5.8/10
Christopher Guest’s absurd Mascots features Guest mainstays Fred Willard, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge, Parker Posey and Ed Begley Jr. It also co-stars Chris O’Dowd as a mascot called “The Fist,” which is a hockey-playing hand with a six-pack that can give the crowd the finger.
The joy of Guest’s movies is that these super weird and specific subcultures like the mascot world really exist. It makes you realize it’s possible that the fringe people in your life are as much into being a mascot as they are into Garfield or seltzer or whatever entirely earnest secret Facebook group you’re a part of that you never knew existed. While crude at times, Mascots doesn’t make fun of these people as much as it humanizes them in an entirely relatable way.
Netflix
10) All Work All Play (2015)
Run Time: 94 min | IMDb: 6.1/10
This 2015 documentary chronicles the growth of pro video gamers and the ESL, a competitive e-sports league that features League of Legends and Starcraft II pros duking it out across the world. It also does a great job explaining those two games, so you might actually know what is going on if you stumbled across a match online sometime.
The film is an in-depth look at something that some feel isn’t a sport, but it goes a long way toward disproving that notion by smartly juxtaposing dramatic e-sports moments with major traditional sports moments and showing how fans of these sports fans react with the same enthusiasm and understanding as the fans of more traditional sports fandom. With the NBA getting involved in e-sports next year, this is the perfect Netflix documentary to give you a primer for exactly what will be happening there.
The Weinstein Company
9) Southpaw (2015)
Run Time: 124 min | IMDb: 7.4/10
White Mountain Films
8) Pumping Iron (1977)
Run Time: 85 min | IMDb: 7.4/10
Part documentary and part scripted film, this 85-minute movie helped launch the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger while taking an extended dive into the very unique world of bodybuilding, including Schwarzenegger’s defense of his Mr. Olympia title against the likes of Serge Nubret and Lou Ferrigno before the latter became a star actor in his own right.
Netflix
7) GLOW: The Story Behind The Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling (2012)
Run Time: 76 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
If you liked the Netflix original, it’s worth watching the documentary that covers the history of the real show. It’s a good look at what the show is based on, and the interviews with the women who made up the show’s cast allow for a fascinating story about wrestling in the ’80s. It’s also a serious look at the physical toll wrestling takes on its competitors.
Magnet Releasing
6) Goon (2011)
Run Time: 92 min | IMDb: 6.8/10
Goon is the Slap Shot of this millennium, in that it’s utterly ridiculous and also somehow wildly entertaining. In the film (which spawned a recently released follow-up), Seann William Scott plays bruising bouncer Doug Glatt, who is brought onto a hockey team to do one thing: pound the opponent’s face in.
Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg (of Superbad fame) co-wrote the film with Baruchel appearing on camera as Doug’s foul-mouthed friend. Allison Pill also co-stars as Doug’s love interest, but it’s Liev Schreiber who steals the show as a veteran enforcer and rival. There’s even a cameo from Georges Laroque. If you can take the brutality of fighting in hockey, you’ll love this film.
Buena Vista
5) The Waterboy (1998)
Run Time: 90 min | IMDb: 6.1/10
I wouldn’t say this movie has aged great in a modern world where every hard impact in sports makes you wonder how dangerous it was for the players involved. Still, of all the Adam Sandler and Happy Madison sports movies, this is probably the best one not named Happy Gilmore. All of these titles follow the same basic pattern: scrappy underdogs get to kiss girls and win despite being extremely unconventional and actually borderline bad.
The fun here is in the direct homages to real life. The rival Louisiana Cougars team, for example, is clearly an LSU clone, including the southern drawl and a trickster coach right out of a Les Miles casting call. The LCSU team also beat Iowa in improbable fashion, and the movie has lots of cameos from NFL legends like former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor and former coaches Bill Cowher and Jimmie Johnson. Though he’s not a real coach, Henry Winkler does his best to nail his role as a slightly-damaged small-time coach who sees something in Bobby, Sandler’s character.
Legendary Pictures
4) 42 (2013)
Run Time: 128 min | IMDb: 7.5/10
Before he was king of Wakanda, Chadwick Boseman took on the role of Jackie Robinson, who became the first black baseball player in the major leagues. After signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson realizes what’s in store for him: facing the prejudice and racism of 1940s America. A biopic of Robinson had been in the works for years, with Spike Lee and Robert Redford both attached at different points. Rachel Robinson, the widow of Jackie, was involved in the production process to make sure the film presented an accurate look at her late husband’s career.
IFC
3) Pele (2016)
Run Time: 107 min | IMDb: 7.2/10
Even if you’re not a fan of futbol, or soccer as we call it here in the States, you know the name Pele. The Brazilian star is widely regarded as the best player to ever grace the pitch, winning three World Cups and breaking countless records in his storied career. But before he was cementing his legend, he was growing up in the slums of Sao Paulo practicing the sport with rotten grapefruits, struggling to survive rampant poverty and crime in his neighborhood. This biopic shows his upbringing, his influential relationship with his father, and a journey to becoming one of the most beloved athletes in the world.
Disney
2) Miracle (2004)
Run Time: 135 min | IMDb: 7.5/10
Everyone knows the story of the 1980 United States men’s hockey team that takes down the Soviet Union during the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. That might be the thing that makes Miracle such a delightful movie: Despite the fact that everyone knows how it ends, it’s still a captivating film, one that keeps you on the edge of your seat by telling the story behind the team that won gold. This is the case even though you know that when the clock hits zero against the Soviets, you’re going to hear Al Michaels give arguably the most famous call in sports history: “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
Universal Pictures
1) Friday Night Lights (2004)
Run Time: 118 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
While the TV show is beloved, the film adaptation of Buzz Bissinger’s timeless non-fiction book is no slouch. Billy Bob Thornton stars as the head coach of Permian High School, the biggest show in town in the city of Odessa, Texas. Beyond telling the story of a team, one that doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending, Friday Night Lights touches on topics like race and the copious (and unfair) amounts of pressure placed on teenagers to perform on the gridiron.
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