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In the vast sea of over 8,000 sports, fans often look beyond the field, or online betting, craving diverse forms of entertainment that bring the drama and excitement of sports to the big screen. This article is your definitive guide to the most popular and best-loved sports films of all time. Discover gripping blockbusters evaluated through global reviews and gross earnings, curated through extensive research and online databases. Embrace a new way to experience your favourite sports - it's time to update your watch list!
A Cinematic Journey Through Sports! 🌎🎬🏆
🎬 Top-Rated Sports Films All Fans Must Watch!
Over 8,000 sports are played worldwide, and many people tune in regularly to watch their favourite athletes play. Live sports can provide enough drama to last a lifetime, but sometimes, we seek different forms of entertainment. With so much sport-related TV and film to get a kick out of, which blockbusters should you be adding to your watch list?
We have compiled a list of the best-loved films and documentaries within the sports genre, and, using the help of online movie databases, we can reveal which are rated the highest overall in terms of global reviews and gross earnings.
Ford v Ferrari is revealed as the highest-rated sports movie of all time, with an overall score of 8.82 /10
Football is the most popular sport in the world when it comes to its number of global supporters, but which sports are the biggest hit with film fans? Here’s what we found.
| Rank | Movie | IMDb Rating /10 | IMDb Metascore /100 | £ | Tomatometer % | Audience Score % | Entertainment Score /10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford v Ferrari | 8.1 | 81 | £178.0m | 92% | 98% | 8.82 |
| 2 | Million Dollar Baby | 8.1 | 86 | £171.1m | 90% | 90% | 8.53 |
| 3 | Creed | 7.6 | 82 | £137.5m | 95% | 89% | 8.29 |
| 4 | The Fighter | 7.8 | 79 | £102.0m | 91% | 89% | 7.63 |
| 5 | Moneyball | 7.6 | 87 | £87.0m | 94% | 86% | 7.51 |
| 6 | Raging Bull | 8.1 | 90 | £18.5m | 92% | 93% | 7.47 |
| 7 | Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India | 8.1 | 84 | £1.4m | 95% | 93% | 7.35 |
| 8 | The Wrestler | 7.9 | 80 | £35.3m | 98% | 88% | 7.23 |
| 9 | Air | 7.4 | 73 | £71.1m | 93% | 98% | 7.02 |
| 10 | Rush | 8.1 | 74 | £76.6m | 88% | 88% | 6.90 |
| 11 | Cinderella Man | 8 | 69 | £85.7m | 80% | 91% | 6.61 |
| 11 | King Richard | 7.5 | 76 | £31.1m | 90% | 98% | 6.61 |
| 13 | I, Tonya | 7.5 | 77 | £42.6m | 90% | 88% | 6.37 |
| 13 | Jerry Maguire | 7.3 | 77 | £216.0m | 84% | 79% | 6.37 |
| 15 | Warrior | 8.1 | 71 | £18.4m | 84% | 92% | 6.29 |
| 16 | Cars | 7.2 | 73 | £364.9m | 75% | 80% | 6.08 |
| 17 | Rocky | 8.1 | 70 | £92.6m | 92% | 69% | 6.00 |
| 18 | Remember The Titans | 7.8 | 48 | £108.1m | 72% | 93% | 5.75 |
| 19 | The Blind Side | 7.6 | 53 | £244.3m | 66% | 85% | 5.63 |
| 20 | Creed II | 7.1 | 66 | £169.2m | 83% | 80% | 5.55 |
| 21 | A League of Their Own | 7.3 | 69 | £104.5m | 81% | 84% | 5.51 |
| 22 | Molly's Game | 7.4 | 71 | £46.8m | 81% | 84% | 5.31 |
| 23 | Field of Dreams | 7.5 | 57 | £66.7m | 88% | 86% | 5.26 |
| 24 | Invictus | 7.3 | 74 | £96.7m | 76% | 75% | 5.06 |
| 25 | The Karate Kid (1984) | 7.3 | 60 | £72.0m | 89% | 82% | 5.02 |
| 26 | Rocky Balboa | 7.1 | 63 | £123.2m | 78% | 76% | 4.78 |
| 27 | Rocky II | 7.3 | 61 | £67.3m | 70% | 82% | 4.24 |
| 28 | Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby | 6.6 | 66 | £129.0m | 71% | 73% | 4.16 |
| 29 | Foxcatcher | 7 | 81 | £15.2m | 87% | 66% | 4.00 |
| 30 | Real Steel | 7.1 | 56 | £236.4m | 60% | 73% | 3.96 |
| 31 | Coach Carter | 7.3 | 57 | £60.6m | 64% | 85% | 3.84 |
| 31 | Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story | 6.7 | 55 | £133.0m | 71% | 76% | 3.84 |
| 31 | The Karate Kid (2010) | 6.2 | 61 | £283.7m | 66% | 67% | 3.84 |
| 34 | Unbroken | 7.2 | 59 | £127.5m | 51% | 70% | 3.72 |
| 35 | Caddyshack | 7.2 | 48 | £31.5m | 72% | 87% | 3.59 |
| 36 | Blades of Glory | 6.3 | 64 | £115.1m | 70% | 68% | 3.55 |
| 37 | Green Street Hooligans | 7.4 | 55 | £3.0m | 46% | 87% | 3.43 |
| 38 | Rocky III | 6.8 | 57 | £98.8m | 65% | 74% | 3.35 |
| 38 | Southpaw | 7.3 | 57 | £72.7m | 60% | 75% | 3.35 |
| 40 | Rocky IV | 6.9 | 40 | £237.4m | 39% | 79% | 3.30 |
| 41 | Space Jam | 6.5 | 57 | £182.2m | 43% | 63% | 2.98 |
| 42 | Cars 2 | 6.2 | 57 | £442.3m | 40% | 49% | 2.90 |
| 43 | Happy Gilmore | 7 | 31 | £32.6m | 62% | 85% | 2.65 |
| 44 | Any Given Sunday | 6.9 | 52 | £79.2m | 52% | 73% | 2.53 |
| 45 | 17 Again | 6.4 | 48 | £107.7m | 57% | 67% | 2.24 |
| 46 | The Basketball Diaries | 7.3 | 46 | £1.9m | 47% | 76% | 2.12 |
| 46 | The Waterboy | 6.1 | 41 | £146.9m | 33% | 71% | 2.12 |
| 48 | The Longest Yard | 6.4 | 48 | £151.3m | 31% | 62% | 2.04 |
| 49 | She's the Man | 6.4 | 45 | £45.2m | 44% | 79% | 1.83 |
| 50 | Rocky V | 5.3 | 55 | £94.8m | 31% | 31% | 1.43 |
Ford v Ferrari - 8.82 /10 overall entertainment score
With an overall score of 8.82 /10, Ford v Ferrari takes the top spot on our list of the highest-rated sports films. Known in some parts of the world by its alternative name, Le Mans ‘66, this biographical sports drama tells the story of how a car designer and racing driver were able to join forces to build a revolutionary vehicle and compete against track giants, Ferrari.
Combining an extraordinary true story with a star-studded lineup of Matt Damon and Christian Bale has earned this movie a worldwide gross revenue of more than $225 million, contributing to its first-place entry on our ranking.
Million Dollar Baby - 8.53 /10 overall entertainment score
Million Dollar Baby is the second-highest-rated sports movie on our ranking. Produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, this movie depicts the story of an amateur boxer and has been a hit with viewers since its release in 2004. Some factors that make up this film’s 8.53 /10 overall entertainment rating are an audience score of 90% and an 86 /100 IMDb Metascore.
Creed - 8.29 /10 overall entertainment score
Next on our list of sporting movies with the highest fan rating is the 2015 sports drama Creed, garnering an overall score of 8.29 /10. Starring the American actor Michael. B Jordan (unrelated to the basketball giant of the same name), this film follows the story of an upcoming boxer who enlists fictional legend Rocky Balboa as his mentor.
The Fighter - 7.63 /10 overall entertainment score
As the third entry in our top five to feature a boxing storyline, this sport has the viewers fighting its corner. Based on a true story, this 2010 film has accumulated a Tomatometer rating of 91% and an audience score of 89%, contributing to its overall entertainment score of 7.63 /10 - the fourth-highest score of any sports movie.
Moneyball - 7.51 /10 overall entertainment score
Completing our top five list of the highest-rated sports movies of all time, with an overall score of 7.51 /10, is Moneyball. Despite its name, this film hasn’t made as much money as other entries on our list. Still, it appears to have won over baseball and Brad Pitt fans, supported by an IMDb Metascore of 87 /100, among others.
Racking up an overall entertainment score of 8.87 /10, The Last Dance takes the title of the highest-rated sporting documentary
Documentaries are often favoured over films for their ability to simultaneously educate and entertain people by telling a true story. The following list reveals the highest-rated sports documentaries based on viewer reviews.
| Rank | Documentary | IMDb Rating /10 | IMDb Metascore /100 | Tomatometer % | Audience Score % | Entertainment Score /10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Last Dance | 9.1 | 90 | 97% | 95% | 8.87 |
| 2 | Hoop Dreams | 8.3 | 98 | 98% | 93% | 8.18 |
| 3 | The Dawn Wall | 8.1 | 81 | 100% | 95% | 7.81 |
| 4 | When We Were Kings | 8 | 83 | 98% | 94% | 7.27 |
| 5 | Minding the Gap | 8 | 89 | 100% | 91% | 7.20 |
| 6 | Free Solo | 8.1 | 83 | 98% | 93% | 7.12 |
| 6 | Senna | 8.5 | 79 | 93% | 95% | 7.12 |
| 8 | The King of Kong | 8 | 83 | 97% | 93% | 6.67 |
| 9 | TT3D: Closer to the Edge | 7.9 | 76 | 100% | 95% | 6.59 |
| 10 | Athlete A | 7.6 | 85 | 100% | 92% | 6.21 |
| 11 | Man on Wire | 7.7 | 89 | 100% | 87% | 6.14 |
| 12 | Murderball | 7.7 | 87 | 98% | 89% | 5.99 |
| 12 | Touching the Void | 8 | 82 | 94% | 92% | 5.99 |
| 14 | Cheer | 8.1 | 81 | 93% | 87% | 5.38 |
| 15 | Beckham | 8.1 | 69 | 91% | 96% | 5.30 |
| 15 | Last Chance U | 8.4 | 79 | 94% | 80% | 5.30 |
| 17 | Welcome to Wrexham | 8.3 | 77 | 91% | 92% | 5.15 |
| 18 | Andre the Giant | 7.8 | 78 | 92% | 92% | 4.70 |
| 19 | The Redeem Team | 7.4 | 76 | 93% | 94% | 4.24 |
| 20 | Icarus | 7.9 | 68 | 92% | 93% | 4.02 |
| 21 | Undefeated | 7.7 | 71 | 96% | 89% | 3.94 |
| 22 | Bigger Stronger Faster | 7.5 | 80 | 96% | 81% | 3.86 |
| 23 | Red Army | 7.6 | 83 | 92% | 85% | 3.79 |
| 24 | Meru | 7.7 | 77 | 88% | 91% | 3.56 |
| 25 | 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible | 7.7 | 68 | 91% | 93% | 3.26 |
| 26 | Dogtown and Z-Boys | 7.6 | 76 | 92% | 88% | 3.11 |
| 26 | The Deepest Breath | 7.7 | 69 | 84% | 93% | 3.11 |
| 28 | Tyson | 7.4 | 83 | 86% | 79% | 2.50 |
| 29 | Bobby Fischer: Against the World | 7.4 | 76 | 88% | 86% | 2.12 |
| 30 | Pumping Iron | 7.3 | 72 | 92% | 84% | 1.97 |
| 31 | Beyond the Mat | 7.6 | 73 | 82% | 83% | 1.82 |
| 32 | Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez | 7.4 | 75 | 70% | 81% | 1.21 |
| 33 | The Armstrong Lie | 7.3 | 67 | 82% | 76% | 0.30 |
| 34 | Generation Iron | 7 | 61 | 81% | 78% | 0.15 |
| Diego Maradona | 7.7 | 78 | 90% | |||
| Formula 1: Drive to Survive | 8.5 | |||||
| Schumacher | 7.4 | |||||
| Ronaldo | 6.3 | |||||
| Untold | 7.1 | |||||
| Sunderland 'Til I Die | 8.1 | |||||
| The Class of '92 | 7.9 | |||||
| Long Shot | 7.4 | |||||
| Sachin | 8.5 | |||||
| The Art of Flight | 8.2 | |||||
| All or Nothing: Manchester City | 8.1 | |||||
| Team Foxcatcher | 7.2 | |||||
| AlphaGo | 7.8 | |||||
| All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur | 8 | |||||
| Maradona by Kusturica | 6.7 |
The Last Dance - 8.87 /10 overall entertainment score
Considered by many as the greatest basketball player who ever lived, Michael Jordan’s career is depicted in the 10-episode documentary series entitled The Last Dance. Some factors contributing to this documentary's first-place entry on our list include an audience score of 95% and IMDb rating of 9.1 /10.
Hoop Dreams - 8.18 /10 overall entertainment score
Hoop Dreams is the perfect watch for any budding basketball player looking for inspiration to make it in the NBA. Following the lives of two high school students chasing college scholarships, this documentary has captured the hearts of many, evidenced by a 98% Tomatometer score and 8.3 IMDb rating, among others.
The Dawn Wall - 7.81 /10 overall entertainment score
Whether you think that free climbing athletes are brave or just stupid, it is clear that viewers are captivated by the extreme stories surrounding this sport. With the third-highest overall entertainment score, totalling 7.81 /10, The Dawn Wall is about two daring athletes who took on the seemingly impossible challenge of climbing the El Capitan rockface in Yosemite National Park.
When We Were Kings - 7.27 /10 overall entertainment score
Whether or not you are a boxing fan, you have likely heard about the 'Rumble in the Jungle.' Released in 1996, the documentary When We Were Kings provides viewers insight into the legendary 1974 meeting between boxers George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. As well as receiving critical acclaim, When We Were Kings has an overall entertainment score of 7.27 /10 - the fourth highest-rated sports documentary on our list.
Minding the Gap - 7.20 /10 overall entertainment score
Minding the Gap is a documentary that explores the friendship between three friends who met through their love of skateboarding. Since its release in 2018, this sporting documentary has bagged itself a range of award nominations, but it's not just the critics who are impressed. Some factors that make up this 7.20 /10 overall entertainment score include a 91% audience score and an IMDb rating of 8 /10.
Each minute of screen time in Cars 2 is worth over $5 million - making more money per minute than any other sports film
Just like with the value of professional athletes, movie success is often determined by the amount of money it makes. Using the worldwide gross earnings, we have revealed which sports films make the most money per minute.
| Rank | Movie | Worldwide Gross Earnings | Earnings Per Minute | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cars 2 | £442,270,523 | 106 | £4,174,946 |
| 2 | Cars | £364,941,520 | 117 | £3,121,272 |
| 3 | Rocky IV | £237,367,329 | 91 | £2,610,047 |
| 4 | Space Jam | £182,164,719 | 88 | £2,071,335 |
| 5 | The Karate Kid (2010) | £283,690,107 | 140 | £2,027,692 |
| 6 | The Blind Side | £244,297,827 | 129 | £1,894,862 |
| 7 | Real Steel | £236,405,913 | 127 | £1,862,690 |
| 8 | The Waterboy | £146,936,625 | 90 | £1,633,556 |
| 9 | Jerry Maguire | £215,953,493 | 139 | £1,555,640 |
| 10 | Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story | £133,045,228 | 92 | £1,447,096 |
| 11 | The Longest Yard | £151,261,899 | 113 | £1,339,361 |
| 12 | Creed II | £169,224,356 | 130 | £1,302,541 |
| 13 | Million Dollar Baby | £171,142,661 | 132 | £1,298,063 |
| 14 | Blades of Glory | £115,109,060 | 93 | £1,238,485 |
| 15 | Rocky Balboa | £123,176,313 | 102 | £1,208,398 |
| 16 | Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby | £129,048,079 | 108 | £1,195,668 |
| 17 | Ford v Ferrari | £178,028,988 | 152 | £1,172,741 |
| 18 | 17 Again | £107,692,699 | 102 | £1,056,410 |
| 19 | Creed | £137,520,466 | 133 | £1,035,207 |
| 20 | Rocky III | £98,789,808 | 99 | £998,484 |
| 21 | Remember The Titans | £108,051,748 | 113 | £956,755 |
| 22 | Unbroken | £127,544,100 | 137 | £931,592 |
| 23 | Rocky V | £94,775,251 | 104 | £911,668 |
| 24 | The Fighter | £102,000,817 | 116 | £880,353 |
| 25 | A League of Their Own | £104,546,632 | 128 | £817,886 |
| 26 | Rocky | £92,629,779 | 120 | £772,355 |
| 27 | Invictus | £96,713,625 | 134 | £722,196 |
| 28 | Moneyball | £87,011,754 | 132 | £659,957 |
| 29 | Air | £71,106,953 | 111 | £641,346 |
| 30 | Field of Dreams | £66,698,542 | 107 | £623,741 |
| 31 | Rush | £76,567,200 | 123 | £623,266 |
| 32 | Cinderella Man | £85,691,269 | 144 | £595,813 |
| 33 | Southpaw | £72,654,839 | 124 | £586,289 |
| 34 | The Karate Kid (1984) | £71,979,813 | 126 | £571,641 |
| 35 | Rocky II | £67,294,246 | 119 | £565,866 |
| 36 | Any Given Sunday | £79,184,095 | 162 | £489,068 |
| 37 | Coach Carter | £60,564,795 | 136 | £445,623 |
| 38 | She's the Man | £45,192,193 | 105 | £430,576 |
| 39 | I, Tonya | £42,581,865 | 119 | £358,296 |
| 40 | Happy Gilmore | £32,551,081 | 92 | £354,035 |
| 41 | Molly's Game | £46,832,657 | 140 | £334,729 |
| 42 | The Wrestler | £35,320,249 | 109 | £324,415 |
| 43 | Caddyshack | £31,535,154 | 98 | £321,983 |
| 44 | King Richard | £31,129,061 | 144 | £216,441 |
| 45 | Raging Bull | £18,479,280 | 129 | £143,416 |
| 46 | Warrior | £18,412,189 | 140 | £131,605 |
| 47 | Foxcatcher | £15,172,208 | 134 | £113,299 |
| 48 | Green Street Hooligans | £3,013,571 | 109 | £27,664 |
| 49 | The Basketball Diaries | £1,897,968 | 102 | £18,618 |
| 50 | Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India | £1,361,821 | 224 | £6,087 |
Cars 2 - $5,281,626 per minute
Regarding sports films, Cars 2 is revealed to be the biggest earner in terms of revenue per minute. Over the years, the Cars film series has played a big part in the childhood (and adulthood) of many. This animated film has made a worldwide gross income of almost $600 million, which equates to around $5.2 million for each minute of this film's 1hr 46 run time.
Cars - $3,948,648 per minute
The second-highest earner per minute of any sports film is the 2006 Cars movie. This Pixar film has made over $461 million, or around $3.9 million per minute of run time. To put these earnings into perspective, each minute of this film could buy you a new top-of-the-range supercar.
Rocky IV - $3,301,909 per minute
Rocky IV may not be the highest-rated film in the series, but it is among the most successful in terms of earnings per minute for sports movies. A short run time of 91 minutes, paired with a high worldwide gross earning, means that each minute of screen time is worth around $3.3 million - the third-highest of any sports movie on our list.
Ford v Ferrari was Googled more than any other sports film in 2023, with a total of more than 7.4 million searches
There have been many classic sports films over the years, but which have been trending the most in the last twelve months? Here’s what we found.
| Rank | Movie | Search Term | Global Search Volume (Nov 2022-Oct 2023) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford v Ferrari | ford v ferrari | 7,461,000 |
| 2 | Air | air movie | 6,874,100 |
| 3 | She's the Man | she's the man | 6,505,000 |
| 4 | The Blind Side | the blind side | 5,663,000 |
| 5 | Space Jam | space jam | 4,744,000 |
| 6 | Moneyball | moneyball | 4,535,000 |
| 7 | Coach Carter | coach carter | 4,489,000 |
| 8 | Southpaw | southpaw | 4,039,000 |
| 9 | Real Steel | real steel | 3,797,000 |
| 10 | Jerry Maguire | jerry maguire | 3,775,000 |
| 11 | Happy Gilmore | happy gilmore | 3,715,000 |
| 12 | Remember The Titans | remember the titans | 3,541,000 |
| 13 | 17 Again | 17 again | 2,941,000 |
| 14 | Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby | talladega nights the ballad of ricky bobby | 2,869,000 |
| 15 | I, Tonya | i tonya | 2,829,000 |
| 16 | Unbroken | unbroken | 2,643,000 |
| 17 | Cars | cars movie | 2,556,000 |
| 18 | Raging Bull | raging bull | 2,268,000 |
| 19 | Field of Dreams | field of dreams | 2,082,000 |
| 20 | The Longest Yard | the longest yard | 2,079,000 |
| 21 | Molly's Game | molly's game | 2,045,000 |
| 22 | Rush | rush movie | 1,989,000 |
| 23 | Rocky | rocky movie | 1,854,000 |
| 24 | Caddyshack | caddyshack | 1,835,000 |
| 25 | The Fighter | the fighter | 1,756,000 |
| 26 | The Basketball Diaries | the basketball diaries | 1,675,500 |
| 27 | Blades of Glory | blades of glory | 1,646,000 |
| 28 | Green Street Hooligans | green street hooligans | 1,336,500 |
| 29 | Cinderella Man | cinderella man | 1,302,500 |
| 30 | The Waterboy | the waterboy | 1,286,500 |
| 31 | The Wrestler | the wrestler | 1,245,000 |
| 32 | Foxcatcher | foxcatcher | 1,224,000 |
| 33 | Warrior | warrior movie | 988,500 |
| 34 | Rocky IV | rocky iv | 941,500 |
| 35 | Any Given Sunday | any given sunday | 859,000 |
| 36 | Rocky V | rocky v | 797,000 |
| 37 | Creed | creed | 698,800 |
| 38 | Creed II | creed ii | 685,900 |
| 39 | Rocky III | rocky iii | 549,700 |
| 40 | Rocky II | rocky ii | 455,700 |
| 41 | Invictus | invictus movie | 264,400 |
| 42 | A League of Their Own | a league of their own movie | 191,900 |
| 43 | King Richard | king richard movie | 191,200 |
| 44 | Rocky Balboa | rocky balboa | 88,100 |
| 45 | Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story | dodgeball a true underdog story | 85,500 |
| 46 | Cars 2 | cars 2 movie | 64,200 |
| 47 | Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India | lagaan once upon a time in india | 12,060 |
| 48 | Million Dollar Baby | million dollar baby | 0 |
| 48 | The Karate Kid (1984) | the karate kid 1984 | 0 |
| 48 | The Karate Kid (2010) | the karate kid 2010 | 0 |
Ford v Ferrari - 7,461,000 global searches
Ford v Ferrari was revealed as the highest-rated sports movie on an earlier ranking in our Sports Entertainment Index. This film appears to be on everyone’s mind, with more Google searches than any other sports film on our list, totalling 7,461,000 in the last twelve months.
Air - 6,874,000 global searches
Air is based on a true story about the origins of the famous shoe brand Air Jordan. Since its release earlier this year, this film has made a box office total of more than $90 million worldwide and received many award nominations. Given the success of this film, it is no wonder that almost 6.9 million people have wanted to learn more about it.
She’s The Man - 6,505,000 global searches
Completing our top three list of the most searched-for sports films in 2023 is She’s The Man. The film is loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night but with a footballing twist, where the protagonist disguises herself as a man so she can play for a boy’s soccer team. Despite being released in 2006, this film has captured the interest of more than 6.5 million people worldwide over the last year.
With more than 9.6 million searches in the last twelve months, Cheer has been Googled more than any other sports documentary
Documentaries are based on facts, which can pique the interest of many. The following list reveals which sports documentaries have been Googled the most in the last year.
| Rank | Documentary | Search Term | Global Search Volume (Nov 2022-Oct 2023) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cheer | cheer documentary | 9,673,000 |
| 2 | Welcome to Wrexham | welcome to wrexham | 2,525,000 |
| 3 | Free Solo | free solo | 1,956,000 |
| 4 | Meru | meru | 1,830,000 |
| 5 | The Deepest Breath | the deepest breath | 1,599,510 |
| 6 | The Last Dance | the last dance | 1,394,000 |
| 7 | Minding the Gap | minding the gap | 820,500 |
| 8 | Pumping Iron | pumping iron | 787,500 |
| 9 | Last Chance U | last chance u | 717,800 |
| 10 | Beckham | beckham documentary | 683,770 |
| 11 | Touching the Void | touching the void | 387,500 |
| 12 | Senna | senna documentary | 331,500 |
| 13 | Icarus | icarus documentary | 292,800 |
| 14 | The Dawn Wall | the dawn wall | 283,800 |
| 15 | Hoop Dreams | hoop dreams | 282,200 |
| 16 | Man on Wire | man on wire | 256,800 |
| 17 | The Redeem Team | the redeem team | 219,400 |
| 18 | When We Were Kings | when we were kings | 175,500 |
| 19 | Athlete A | athlete a | 136,200 |
| 20 | The King of Kong | the king of kong | 130,700 |
| 21 | 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible | 14 peaks nothing is impossible | 115,500 |
| 22 | Murderball | murderball | 95,200 |
| 23 | Bigger Stronger Faster | bigger stronger faster | 66,600 |
| 24 | Beyond the Mat | beyond the mat | 56,200 |
| 25 | TT3D: Closer to the Edge | tt3d closer to the edge | 38,500 |
| 26 | Bobby Fischer: Against the World | bobby fischer against the world | 37,800 |
| 27 | Andre the Giant | andre the giant documentary | 29,500 |
| 28 | The Armstrong Lie | the armstrong lie | 28,200 |
| 29 | Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez | killer inside the mind of aaron hernandez | 17,600 |
| 30 | Undefeated | undefeated documentary | 15,560 |
| 31 | Tyson | tyson documentary | 14,600 |
| 32 | Red Army | red army documentary | 10,160 |
| 33 | Generation Iron | generation iron documentary | 8,570 |
| 34 | Dogtown and Z-Boys | dogtown and z boys | 0 |
Cheer - 9,673,000 global searches
Many people associate cheerleading with halftime entertainment at sports games, but competitive cheerleading has been around for decades and is a billion-dollar industry. The documentary series Cheer has brought this sport to the attention of many, with more than 9.6 million global searches for this show in the last year.
Welcome to Wrexham - 2,525,000 global searches
Before it was taken over by actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds back in 2020, Wrexham A.F.C were enduring a 12-year run of mediocrity in the 5th tier of England’s professional football system. Fast forward to today, and they are known worldwide, with the documentary Welcome to Wrexham racking up the second-highest number of Google searches of any sports documentary, totalling around 2,525,000 in the last year.
Free Solo - 1,956,000 global searches
Completing our top three list, with a total of almost two million searches in the past twelve months, is Free Solo. This documentary follows the thrilling journey of the first solo free climb of the El Capitan rock face. As well as taking the title of the third most Googled sports documentary over the last year, Free Solo has received various awards for its storytelling and cinematography.
METHODOLOGY
We used IMDb to list the top sports movies for which we could find all the data. To find this data, we refined the films by 'Movies' and 'Sports' before filtering these results by 'Number of Ratings.' We repeated this process for sports documentaries, refining them by 'Documentary' and 'Sports.'
We used IMDb to find the following data for each sports movie and documentary: IMDb rating and Metascore (Metacritic was used to find the Metascore of items that weren’t available on IMDb). The additional factors of worldwide gross earnings and movie run time were compiled for all sports films.
We used Rotten Tomatoes to find each movie and documentary's Tomatometer percentage and audience score on our seeding list.
We used the entertainment-related factors (IMDb rating, IMDb metascore, worldwide gross earnings, Tomatometer percentage, and audience score) and normalised each factor out of 10 before taking an average of those scores to get our overall' entertainment score' for each sports movie. The same process was used for sports documentaries but without the 'worldwide gross earnings' factor.
We divided the worldwide gross earnings by the total minutes of run time for each film to calculate the earnings per minute of each sports movie.
We used Google Ads Keyword Planner to find the number of global Google searches for each sports movie and documentary between Nov 2022- Oct 2023.
All data was collected on 05/12/2023.
