Putting sports on film can be a difficult genre to master. While the history of Hollywood and indie filmmaking has been peppered with great sports movies like Raging Bull and Moneyball, there have also been plenty of brilliant sports documentaries. Some, like Hoop Dreams, stand tall as all-time classics, whereas others are underrated gems that have somehow missed mainstream attention.
There are many ways to engage with sports: watching the game, badgering our favorite athletes on social media, or dabbling in some NFL football betting before a big game. However, sports documentaries allow different stories to be told, showing us another side of a sport, team, athlete, or particular epoch in sports history.
Below, we list 10 of the best, aiming to highlight both well-known sports documentaries and some that are somewhat underrated:
The Endless Summer (1966)
One of the first great sports documentaries, The Endless Summer, charts the global surfing scene’s ups, downs, pitfalls, and friendships. Directed and shot by Bruce Brown, a pro surfer himself, it is a masterpiece that perfectly captures the cult of chasing the perfect wave.
Changing the Game (2019)
The debate over transgender participation in sports deserves more than the soundbites and gotchas you see on Twitter/X. Changing the Game approaches the topic with nuance and respect, laying out the facts so the viewer can decide.
Successive Goal Wins (2014)
This is not Cool Runnings. It is the story of Dutch American soccer coach Thomas Rongen, who was tasked with transforming the fortunes of one of the world’s weakest soccer nations, American Samoa. There was no happy ending, but this is an excellent documentary about what it means to be an underdog.
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (2008)
This documentary ostensibly focuses on college football, yet it is about so much more. It touches on themes like youthful aspiration and dealing with getting older. The tale of how a one-off game in the 1960s touched so many lives is endlessly engrossing.
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (2018)
The bad boy of 1980s tennis was always an enigma, but few could doubt his will to win. This documentary transports us back to 1984 and the French Open, giving us courtside seats and insight into the mind of someone who was both loathed and adored.
Beyond the Mat (1999)
Pro wrestling isn’t for everyone, and we understand that many see it as glorified pantomime. Yet Beyond the Mat was one of the first documentaries to reveal how real things got. In 2025, the curtain will be lifted on the scripted nature of wrestling and what the performers do for applause, but Beyond the Mat was the first to give us insight and has lost none of its impact.
Diego Maradona (2019)
The genius of Asif Kapadia’s documentary on one of the greatest soccer players in history is that he focused on a small portion of Maradona’s career rather than a drawn-out biopic. That gave us an accurate impression of the flawed genius as he navigated the murky waters of Naples and superstardom in the 1980s.
The Armstrong Lie (2013)
We would wager that many people know the Lance Armstrong doping scandal without truly understanding the man himself. Alex Gibney puts that on screen, allowing Armstrong to set the record straight, perhaps getting caught in more lies in the process. Critics have observed that it’s not, at heart, a sports movie, but one about the human condition, and all the flaws that come with it.
Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator (2013)
It’s difficult to describe this documentary without giving a treatise on late 20th-century skateboarding culture, but it’s enough to say that Stoked is an incredible story of how fame and fortune, as well as human hubris, led to the fall of its subject, Mark “Gator” Rogowski.
King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
Should video gaming be considered a sport? Perhaps, perhaps not. Yet, this compelling documentary demonstrates the same obsessions and dedication that pro athletes possess in the story of how Steve Wiebe tried to beat the all-time high score in the Donkey Kong arcade game.
