- “Remember The Titans” Looms Just Below
- Strong Female Leads Abound
- Sports Entertainment Drive Fan Interest
America’s favorite sports movies of the 21st century are “The Blind Side” and “Remember the Titans.” These are some of the latest findings from a recent Seton Hall Sports Poll that asked Americans to select their favorite sports movies since 2000.
The integration of Michael Oher into his adoptive family at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, TN just beats out the integration of TC Williams High School football team of Alexandria, VA as the story behind the most popular sports movie since 2000.
Three of ten Americans (30%) selected “The Blind Side” as their favorite sports movie, while “Remember the Titans” is the only other movie to net more than 1 in 4 votes (26%) from Americans. Among avid fans the two movies are tied at 34 percent, and among sports fans “The Blind Side” outpaces “Titans” by only two points (36% to 34%). Despite men preferring “Remember the Titans,” 26 vs. 23 percent, female votes aided “The Blind Side” in coming out on top.
“We always talk about how sports drives culture,” said Daniel Ladik, Marketing Professor in the Stillman School of Business and Methodologist for the Poll. “Here we see two movies of America’s most popular sport coupled with challenges that the players and coaches faced due to the racial struggles of their places and times. And who can forget that these movies also feature compassionate performances including an Oscar winner.”
These results are derived from a Seton Hall Sports Poll conducted October 3rd-6th among 1,519 adults. The Poll, which is sponsored by The Sharkey Institute within Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business, features a national representative sample from YouGov Plc. weighted on U.S. Census Bureau figures for age, gender, ethnicity, education, income and geography and has a margin of error of +/-2.5 percent.
Making the Top Five: “Talladega Nights,” “Happy Gilmore 2” and “Dodgeball”
While dramatic sports films claim the top two positions, comedic ones round out the top five.
In third place was “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” It was chosen by 22 percent of Americans as their favorite sports movie. The movie was well received with sports fans, tying for third place at 27 percent and favored more amongst avid fans (29%). Men (25%) were more likely than women (19%) to choose this film, and it remained a consistent favorite among viewers ages 35-54 (27%).
“Happy Gilmore 2” tied for fourth place overall in the top 10 favorite sports movies at 21 percent. The movie was highly accepted by sports fans (26%). It was also most consistently well received across age groups with 21 to 22 percent in each age group, a testament to its ability to bridge generational gaps.
“Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” placed in the top five at 21 percent, tying for fourth overall with “Happy Gilmore 2.” It ranked first among men (27%) and tied for first among younger audiences (21%). The movie appealed to different age demographics, with strong results from the middle age group as well, placing third (28%).
“Million Dollar Baby” (20%), “Creed” (20%), “Friday Night Lights” (18%), “Moneyball” (17%) and “Secretariat” (15%) round out the top ten favorite sports movies amongst Americans since 2000. A complete list of all the movies polled along with the methodology of inclusion can be found at the end of this press release.
Strong Female Leads Follow Strong Female Support
There are seven films which were selected by a higher percentage of women than men: “The Blind Side” (36% vs. 23%, respectively); “Million Dollar Baby” (21% vs. 18%); “Secretariat” (15% vs. 14%); “Love & Basketball” (15% vs. 11%); “Bend it Like Beckham” (14% vs. 11%); “I, Tonya” (11% vs. 9%); and “Challengers” (6% vs 5%). Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for Best Actress for her lead role in “The Blind Side” which helps to highlight the hallmark of films more popular among women. They all include strong female characters who play a major role in the story of the film. These actresses include Hillary Swank in “Million Dollar Baby,” Diane Lane in “Secretariat,” Sanaa Lathan in “Love & Basketball,” Zendaya in “Challengers,” Margot Robbie in “I, Tonya” as well as Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra in “Bend it Like Beckham.”
Sport Movies and Documentaries Drive Audience Interest
Beyond live competitions, sports are one of the most loved forms of entertainment in the U.S. Starting with “F1: The Movie” being a top 10 film of the summer and “The Smashing Machine,” released less than two weeks ago, there are four major sports films set to be released this year alone. It has been well documented that docuseries like Netflix’s “F1: Drive to Survive” and FX’s “Welcome to Wrexham” have created incredible fan interest.
When asked if sports films and documentaries drive personal interest in a sport, sports fans agreed, with over half of respondents (55%) saying that their interest increased. This trends upward with avid fans to nearly three-quarters (74%). This impact is weaker with older respondents (24%), compared to the 18-34 (47%) and 35-54 (42%) cohorts.
After watching a sports movie and/or documentary, my interest in the sport increased my interest in playing, watching, and/or following that sport.
Further insight from this question includes:
- 37% of Americans have an increased interest in the sport after watching a sports movie or documentary
- 33% of females have an increased interest in the sport after watching a sports film or documentary
October 2025 Seton Hall Sports Poll
Daniel Ladik, Ph.D., Chief Methodologist – Daniel.Ladik@shu.edu
This SHSP was conducted October 3rd through October 6th and includes responses from 1,519 U.S. adults with a margin of error of 2.5%. The sample mirrors the U.S. census percentages on age, gender, income, education, ethnicity, and region.
Q1. Which of the following statements best describes you?
*Note: Presented in each table, Avid + Casual = total sports fandom in the data. Some tables break out the Avid and Casual segments.
Q3a. Do you enjoy watching sports documentaries?
Q3b. After watching a sports movie and/or documentary, my interest in the sport increased my interest in playing, watching, and/or following that sport.
Q3c. Did you watch the 2025 F1: The Movie (either in the theater or on demand) featuring Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Javier Bardem, and Kerry Condon?
Q5. From the list below, please select your favorite sports movies since the year 2000. Please select all that apply.
Sports Movie Methodology of Inclusion
Selecting a list of sports films for respondents to choose from included a rigorous process of creating selection criteria for each movie added. The process began with The Athletic’s 2020 list of the top 100 sports movies then requiring films to be released since the year 2000 and limiting the list to a maximum of 30 movies.
The first two criteria created a list of 42 movies. The Poll then made the editorial decision to include six more movies which were overlooked by The Athletic or had been released since the list was made, bringing the total to 48 movies.
To adhere to our maximum of 30 movies, The Poll found seven other lists of “top” or “best” sports movies by notable entertainment media outlets* and required each movie to appear on at least three of the eight lists reviewed, bringing the number to 33 movies.
To get the list below 30, the Poll made the editorial decision to remove four movies which were not recognized by a majority of the Poll’s staff.
*The media outlets evaluated were The Hollywood Reporter, Rotten Tomatoes, IndieWire, Vulture, Forbes, TimeOut, and Time Magazine.