Last Updated August 16th
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
1) 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.
2) Icarus (2017)
Run Time: 121 min | IMDb: 7.9/10
This Oscar-winning documentary dives into the world of doping in competitive cycling. Netflix bought the distribution rights to Icarus after a strong showing from director and co-writer Bryan Fogel’s film at Sundance. The documentary plays out as a thriller, with Fogel chasing the truth about cycling cheats and stumbling onto a major International doping scandal. Watch as a chance meeting with a Russian scientist turns a story that started as a simple experiment into a geopolitical thriller and one of the biggest scandals in cycling history.
3) 42 (2013)
Run Time: 128 min | IMDb: 7.5/10
Jackie Robinson’s legacy is broadly understood, revered, and expanding all the time. But the story of his arduous journey to break baseball’s color line gets reintroduced to the world with writer-director Brian Helgeland’s 42 thanks to the stirring and strong performance by the late great Chadwick Boseman, who brings the iconic Robinson to life as he deals with loud and intimidating resistance from in and around the game, including in his own locker room.
4) Love And Basketball (2000)
Run Time: 124 min | IMDb: 7.2/10
Basketball brings Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps’ characters together and it tears them apart in this years-spanning love story from writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood. While the off-the-charts chemistry between the leads drives this film, it’s Prince-Blythewood’s careful examination of the strains and isolation that come from being a heralded athlete that allow it to function as much more than a two-dimensional love story. The pressure of living up to your parent’s expectations and legacies is also explored, but while it sounds like a lot is going on, you never lose the thread or find yourself not rooting for the pair at the center of this story to get out of their own way and into each other’s arms.
5) Space Jam (1996)
Run Time: 87 min | IMDb: 6.4/10
Listen, Space Jam is not really a great movie. When you take away the nostalgia for it and a banger of a soundtrack, much like The Mighty Ducks, the bones of the plot are a bit bare. But it’s hard to hate a movie that puts Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny with equal billing on a movie poster. There’s a reason LeBron James was hounded for years to make a sequel to this 1996 blockbuster: people love the idea of the best player in the game getting sucked into a cartoon vortex. If anything, it’s still the only logical explanation for Jordan deciding to play baseball for a few years.
6) 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.
7) Hustle (2022)
Run Time: 117 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
It’s the movie Adam Sandler — pickup basketball god — was meant to make. This shockingly heartwarming tale of a longtime NBA scout and an overseas prospect makes a lot of effort to put you into the NBA world, including everything from IG hoops influencers to the combine to those intense star-filled closed door runs. It feels like NBA2K’s MyPlayer mode come to life, but with a script that keeps you engaged and rooting for Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangomez) to make it to the league.
8) The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience (2019)
Run Time: 30 min | IMDb: 7.1/10
Andy Samberg and his Lonely Island crew return for a parody on notorious baseball stars Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in this visual rap album set in the Bash Brothers’ 1980s heyday. Taking inspiration from Beyonce’s Lemonade, this “visual poem” sees Samber rapping in character and recruiting some famous friends to impersonate popstars — Sterling K. Brown does a mean Sia performance. There’s plenty of baseball references to keep sports junkies happy, and if you don’t care about the sport, you’ll at least be laughing the whole way through.
9) Semi-Pro (2001)
Run Time: 91 min | IMDb: 5.8/10
While not nearly as iconic as Will Ferrell’s Talladega Nights or Anchorman, Semi-Pro nevertheless charms as an unforgettable entry from Ferrell’s dynastic run of machismo skewering comedies. As Jackie Moon, Ferrell is channeling Paul Newman’s Slapshot character as a coach/player who is trying to shepherd his struggling team to glory and, in this case, survival in the midst of the NBA/ABA merger in the ’70s. Really,, Semi-Pro is a sports comedy composite, pairing that underdog story with a collection of goofy oddball supporting characters who share in the lift and make it easier for you to have real feelings about how they fare in fake games.
10) 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.
