12 best sports films and TV shows on HBO Max

Where does our fascination with athletes and professional sports come from? Fictional super-agent to the sports stars Arliss Michaels may have said it best in the opening credits of his namesake HBO series from the ’90s.

As actor Robert Wuhl says in the voiceover preceding every episode: “For most of us the dream of becoming a champion remains a fantasy. But for a special few it is very much a reality. We cheer them. We live through them. Athletes are our last warriors..

Nowadays, most people’s definition of “athlete” spans a sprawling lineup of people, teams, and even non-humans. It covers physical excellence and mental excellence both. We see that reflected all the time in the ever-widening category of sports-focused films and TV shows. And as it turns out, HBO Max is one of the best streaming destinations out there for fans of such things.

Whatever a star athlete looks like to you, there’s a good chance you’ll find something sports-related that’s up your alley in the sprawling HBO Max library. Here are our favorites.

1. Ballers

Everyone has heard stories about young, talented football players who sign multi-million dollar contracts and end up broke because they spend it all way too fast. Ballers is a TV show about  the guy who’s trying to make sure that doesn’t happen anymore.

Spencer Strasmore (Dwayne Johnson) is a retired football player who now works for a money management firm, where he uses his connections in the NFL to bring in new clients. Some of those clients, like the cocky Ricky Jerret (John David Washington) and the seriously overexploited Vernon Littlefield (Donovan W. Carter), come to see Spencer as more of a mentor than a financial advisor, and their relationships evolve over five fascinating seasons. —Alexis Nedd, Senior Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Ballers is now streaming on HBO Max.

2. Arli$$

In some ways, HBO’s Arli$$ feels like a precursor to Ballers. Both shows are about athlete-focused super-agents who are just trying to do right by their clients. But Arli$$, which ran from 1995 until 2002, is very much a product of its time. That doesn’t always work in every episode’s favor — some of the comments and situations that come up have aged… poorly.

Arli$$ works well enough to carve out its own place on this list, however, because the show is largely guided by a wholesome worldview. While Arliss Michaels (Robert Wuhl) is presented as a shark-y agent, he also regularly chooses the harder path of standing up for what’s morally right in any given situation. There’s also a killer cast that includes Sandra Oh(!), Michael Boatman, and Jim Turner. But the show’s heart is ultimately its best feature, and the main reason it’s worth looking past any deficiencies and dated bits.

How to watch: Arli$$ is now streaming on HBO Max.

3. He Got Game

He Got Game is just as much about corruption and unethical behavior behind the scenes at the highest levels of college sports as it is about basketball. The 1998 film, written and directed by Spike Lee, tells the story of the Shuttlesworth family. Jesus Shuttlesworth (Ray Allen) is a high school basketball star who is the envy of college scouts everywhere. His dad, Jake (Denzel Washington), is in jail for the murder of Jesus’ mother years earlier. The two men are unexpectedly thrown back together when Jake receives an unexpected offer: He can reduce his prison term if he gets Jesus to sign with “Big State,” the New York governor’s alma mater.

That’s easier said than done. Jesus is hardly his father’s biggest fan, for one. There’s a dark history between them that isn’t clear right away, but it looms over everything. Jake’s efforts also land as disingenuous in the face of a more sprawling effort to push his son in a particular direction, which includes everyone from a high-powered sports agent to Jesus’ girlfriend Lala (Rosario Dawson). He Got Game is vintage Lee. It’s an angry, emotionally powerful story that takes a sharp look at the inherent racism in America’s commercialized sports industry.

How to watch: He Got Game is now streaming on HBO Max.

4. Caddyshack

The late, great Harold Ramis made his directorial debut with Caddyshack. The 1980 golf comedy is ostensibly about a young caddie — that’s golf for “person who carries a player’s clubs, and also offers advice” — named Danny Noonan (Michael O’Keefe) who’s working at a high-fallutin’ country club in the hopes of it helping him get to college. But really, Caddyshack is a movie about legendary comedians doing really funny things.

There’s Al Czervik, an obnoxious, loud-mouthed newcomer who immediately rubs the club’s white collar, old money clientele the wrong way — he’s played by a Rodney Dangerfield, who was at that point best known for his stand-up work. Meanwhile, Carl Spackler, the club’s groundskeeper played by Bill Murray, is a dim-witted weirdo who wages an ongoing war against a wily gopher that plagues the course. The highlight is Ty Webb; Chevy Chase plays the eccentric and ultra-wealthy golf snob with the perfect mix of comically enhanced privilege and genteel good vibes. Even today it’s one of Chase’s most memorable roles.

Danny’s story is the framework that brings all of these colorful characters together in sometimes unexpected ways, but the assemblage of legendary comedic talents is what makes Caddyshack a winner.

How to watch: Caddyshack is now streaming on HBO Max.

5. Well Groomed

Tell me competitive dog grooming isn’t a sport and I’ll tell you to shut up! In this adorably amusing documentary film from writer-director Rebecca Stern, four professional canine creatives snip, scult, and dye their way to the United States’ largest grooming contest. At Pennsylvania’s annual Groom Expo, it’s all about big, ambitious doggie do’s that don’t so much dress up the dog as turn the dog into a living, breathing art exhibit. This isn’t a flick with a ton of action or drama, but it is a soothing and cute watch for a lazy weekend. —Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Well Groomed is now streaming on HBO Max.

6. Rocky IV 

Rocky IV is entirely a product of its time, and in fact that’s the movie’s superpower. Sylvester Stallone returns for this 1985 boxing drama which pits Rocky Balboa, star boxer, against Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), a superstar athlete and fighter from the then-Soviet Union. Their deeply personal rivalry is sparked when Drago shows up in the U.S. and challenges Rocky’s old friend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) to a fight, which ends with Apollo’s death. That leads a grief-stricken Rocky to challenge Drago himself, leading to a Christmas Day showdown in the Soviet Union.

Rocky IV is to this day one of the most commercially successful sports films of all time. There’s an enduring appeal in the way the simple story is built, but the historical context surrounding its release matters just as much. Rocky IV is a product of Hollywood during the late stages of America’s Cold War with the Soviet Union. Rocky is a determined fighter who will always pick himself back up in pursuit of victory. Drago, on the other hand, is an emotionless enigma brimming with danger and barely restrained hostility. The Soviet fighter’s legacy went on to provide a backdrop for the story in Creed II, but Rocky IV is to this day still a strong contender in its own right.

How to watch: Rocky IV is now streaming on HBO Max.

7. Blades of Glory

During the Golden Age of Will Ferrell comedies — so roughly Elf (2003) through The Other Guys (2010) — the King of Cringe was delivering so many laughs in so many films it was hard to keep them all straight. So you’re forgiven if you forgot about or missed out on the unimpeachable delight that is Blades of Glory (2007). 

In this underdog adventure about rival ice skaters-turned-begrudging partners, Ferrell and Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder pair up to win the gold, stick some stunts, and deliver a ton of killer lines. (For example: “They laughed at Louis Armstrong when he said he was gonna go to the moon. Now he’s up there, laughing at them.”) It’s an odd couple narrative with leotards and lunacy to spare that’ll get some laughs out of you, guaranteed. —A.F. 

How to watch: Blades of Glory is now streaming on HBO Max.

8. Hoop Dreams

Hoop Dreams dives into the lives of Arthur Agee and William Gates, two young men from inner city Chicago who dream of making it big in the NBA. Both are recruited to play for St. Joseph’s high school’s highly regarded basketball program early on in the film, but over the next four years they take extremely different paths. Through Agee and Gates’ basketball careers, director Steve James explores issues of race, class, and how sports recruitment can cross into the realm of the exploitative and put undue amounts of pressure on young players.

What’s astonishing about Hoop Dreams is the level of intimacy James achieves with both Agee and Gates. He follows their journeys on and off the basketball court as they and their families experience parental separations, sports injuries, and financial struggles. The resulting documentary makes you feel like you’re experiencing life alongside Agee and Gates, so you desperately want them to succeed. It all comes to a head in the thrilling and tense basketball sequences. Even though these games were played decades ago, James makes every missed shot feel like a lost opportunity and every successful play feel like a massive victory. —Belen Edwards, Entertainment Fellow

How to watch: Hoop Dreams is now streaming on HBO Max.

9. André the Giant

HBO’s original documentary André the Giant is a thoughtful examination of what it means to be larger than life. It gives André Roussimoff credit for his contributions to sports entertainment by identifying him as a pioneer who fully understood how gigantism, the medical condition responsible for his seven-foot-four frame, could elevate him to the status of a living myth. Interviews with wrestling personalities like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Vince McMahon offer a rare glimpse behind the curtain of kayfabe by documenting Roussimoff’s keen awareness of the awe he inspired and how his example transformed the WWF franchise into the massive performance showcase that exists now as the WWE. —A.N.

How to watch: André the Giant is now streaming on HBO Max.

10. Bend It Like Beckham

Part romantic comedy and part sports movie, Bend it Like Beckham is a heartwarming story about a British Indian girl named Jess who plays soccer against her conservative parents’ wishes. Jess, who is very talented, gets noticed by a local women’s team and has to juggle her own love of soccer with her parents’ wishes for her, all the while falling for her new coach Joe. It’s just a classic feel-good sports movie. —Kellen Beck, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Bend It Like Beckham is now streaming on HBO Max.

11. Eastbound & Down

When it comes to capturing a very specific subgenre of white male American bluster, few are doing it better than Danny McBride. Eastbound & Down — the first, rawest, and arguably laugh-out-loud funniest of what McBride calls a “misunderstood angry man” trilogy, which also comprises Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones — stars McBride as Kenny Powers, a washed-up major league pitcher desperate to reclaim some semblance of his former glory at any cost. —Angie Han, Deputy Entertainment Editor

Floridly obnoxious and offensively crude, Kenny is hard to like and even harder to root for. But McBride makes you enjoy watching him in spite of yourself, no matter how low he sinks, how depraved his actions become, how pathetic he’s revealed to be. —A.H.

How to watch: Eastbound & Down is now streaming on HBO Max.

12. Space Jam

There can be no debate over the best sports movie of the ’90s — nay, of history. Space Jam stars Michael Jordan as himself, a retired basketball player and underwhelming baseball player who gets caught in an all-star game for the ages. The cartoon Monstars, a group of aliens from Moron Mountain, have stolen the basketball talent of prolific NBA players, and it’s up to Jordan and the Looney Tunes to beat them in a game and set things right. With signature Looney Tune one-liners, high-stakes athletic competition with a lot of heart, and a surprising amount of Bill Murray, Space Jam still scores big. —Proma Khosla, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Space Jam is now streaming on HBO Max.