As Business Of Sport has previously discussed, football documentaries are going to take off in 2018. Amazon has signed a deal with Man City, while Netflix has also partnered up with Juventus. Read more about this here.
Best Sports Documentaries Ever – Top Five
However, before these new documentaries are released, what are the best sports documentaries ever?
Find my top five below:
1. Senna
Ayrton Senna, considered one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers ever, won three Formula One world championships, yet lost his life tragically in a crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. This documentary charts his amazing career, the effect he had on F1 and what happened in the aftermath of his death. Truly amazing.
Best line in the documentary
Ayrton Senna: “When you no longer go for a gap, you no longer racing driver.”
2. Beyond The Mat
Called “The movie Vince McMahon does not want you to see!”
The first movie to ever really go behind the scenes of the professional wrestling circuit in America, it shows the lives that WWE, WCW, ECW and independent wrestlers go through. You see what legends like Jake The Snake and Mankind (Mick Foley) go through. Not an easy watch, but essential viewing for sports fans.
Best line in the documentary
New Jack: “I ain’t a forty-hour motherf*****, man.”
3. The U – ESPN 30 For 30
A real throwback this one. Highlighting the rise of the Miami Hurricanes American college football team in the 80s/90s in their quest for National Championships (which they won four times).
The documentary also charts the evolution of the Miami area as well as focusing on racial issues.
Best line in the documentary
Randall Hill, Miami Hurricanes Player: “It wasn’t my fault that they built that stadium where there was a tunnel in the endzone that I scored in.”
4. The Two Escobars – ESPN 30 For 30
Another ESPN 30 For 30 documentary. This time about a footballer who was unlucky enough to have the same last name as the notorious Pablo Escobar.
A truly tragic watch, but essential for anyone with an interest in how football can be affected by wider societal and political issues.
Best line in the documentary
Colombian National Soccer Team Player: “A dark hand intervened, reaching into our psyches. And that’s how we entered the field.”
5. The King Of Kong
A potentially divisive pick this one as playing video games might not be considered sport by some.
Years before eSports took off (read my blog on this phenomenon here), Billy Mitchell set a world record for a score on the Donkey Kong video game (874,300 points on August 13, 1982). The film follows Mitchell disputing newcomer Steve Wiebe’s record haul of 947,200 points in 2003.
Best line in the documentary
Billy Mitchell: “I gotta try losing sometime.”
Colombian National Soccer Team Player: “A dark hand intervened, reaching into our psyches. And that’s how we entered the field.”
More and more documentaries are now being released from Sunderland ‘Til I Die to Golazzo sports fans have never been spoiled more than now.