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From scripted teen dramas like Friday Night Lights to documentaries like The Last Dance, sports are a common theme in entertainment for the competitive personalities and inherent drama that they can draw out. Regardless of whether they focus on high school, collegiate or professional sports, the best sports shows find a way to make what can sometimes be a topic only sports fans enjoy into a story about people who have to learn to navigate expectations and pressure, something that any audience member can relate to.
Now that the 2024 Summer Olympics have come to a close, fans may be eager to find something else to watch that might capture their attention with high stakes, intense pressure and the emotional hopes and dreams of athletes like the Games did. While nothing can substitute for the real thing, here are some of the best sports shows to satisfy the same craving for athletic prowess and easy-to-root-for personalities.
10 ‘All American’ (2018 – )
Created by April Blair
This teen drama follows Spencer James (Daniel Ezra), a teenage football player who catches the attention of a Beverly Hills high school football coach. Inspired by Spencer Paysinger‘s life, Spencer transfers to Beverly Hills High School from his school in South Crenshaw, Los Angeles and must learn to manage the change in his environment and his old and new relationships, all while staying focused and making a name for himself on his new team.
Despite Spencer’s struggles fitting in at his new school, he never loses sight of what football means to him and of the opportunities that it can provide. This grounds All American in a story about football, despite the other boxes this show checks including high school drama, romance and challenges wrought from the merging of two different worlds. This CW show is perfect for viewers who want an entertaining teen drama mixed in with their sports content.
9 ‘One Tree Hill’ (2003 – 2012)
Created by Mark Schwahn
Following a group of teenagers in Tree Hill, North Carolina, One Tree Hill stars Chad Michael Murray as Lucas Scott and James Lafferty as Nathan Scott, who play half-brothers forced to co-exist on their high school’s basketball team. With the pressure to win coming from both their over-demanding father and their school, the tension between the two comes to a head often and threatens both of their love for the sport.
This teen drama surrounds the lives of the students at Tree Hill High School, including storylines about teen pregnancy, single parenthood, and friendship conflict. Basketball can sometimes take a back seat within the show’s main plot lines, but whether it’s a game looming in the distance that the players are training for, or a pickup game at the river court, One Tree Hill always finds its way back to basketball.
8 ‘QB1: Beyond The Lights’ (2017 – 2023)
Directed by Peter Berg
Each season of QB1: Beyond The Lights follows three quarterbacks from different schools across the country during their last football season. Audiences watch these young stars navigate their recruitment to college teams, manage school and family and prepare for a major change in their athletic and personal lives.
Highlighting the stories of now nationally known professional football players such as Justin Fields and Jake Fromm, this documentary gives viewers a chance to get to know these quarterbacks before they make it to the Saturday or Sunday Night football lineup, providing a more grounded and intimate perspective on what it takes to build a nationally recognized player. Football is the main driver of this series, but the documentary’s close look at these young men’s lives allows for a greater appreciation of the type of commitment required to pursue football at a high level.
QB1: Beyond the Lights is available to stream on Tubi in the U.S.
7 ‘Make It or Break It’ (2009 – 2012)
Created by Holly Sorensen
Kaylie Cruz (Josie Loren), Payson Keeler (Ayla Kell) and Lauren Tanner (Cassie Scerbo), stars of the elite gymnastics training club The Rock, navigate friendship struggles, family woes and elite competition in this teen drama from Freeform. This drama never shied away from heavy topics, doing justice to storylines from infidelity and divorce to eating disorders and sexual abuse. Make It or Break It combined high school drama with the immense responsibility of pursuing an Olympics-worthy gymnastics career.
While shedding light on the home lives of its main characters, Make It or Break It made sure to always bring it back to gymnastics. The friendship between Kaylie, Payson, Lauren and their new teammate Emily Kmetko (Chelsea Hobbs) was integral to the way the girls performed in competition and who was gunning for whose spot on the podium. The combination of highly competitive personalities with boyfriends, expectant parents and overeager coaches made for a highly dramatic sports show.
6 ‘Spinning Out’ (2020)
Created by Samantha Stratton
Set in Idaho, Spinning Out follows Kat Baker (Kaya Scodelario), a talented ice skater with a complicated backstory. Kat has been managing her bipolar disorder for a while now, and has recently struggled to get her confidence back in the rink after a head injury she sustained while competing. When a pairs skater named Justin Davis (Evan Roderick) is in need of a new partner, she manages to work up the courage to help him out.
Spinning Out‘s honest portrayal of mental illness and the effects it can have on loved ones and one’s commitment to an elite sport is the standout in this sports drama. With its portrayal of the ins and outs of the pursuit of an athletic career, friendships complicated by competition, and how positive role models can help one manage a mental illness, Spinning Out gives the full picture of the reality of pursuing lofty athletic aspirations.
5 ‘America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders’ (2024)
Directed by Greg Whiteley
In this up-close and personal docuseries following a few members of the iconic Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC), fans get a new perspective on a group that has been in the reality TV spotlight for 15 years on CMT. Audiences get to meet rookies and veterans, as well as the director Kelli Finglass and head choreographer Judy Trammell. Shedding light on the physical and mental toll of the position, as well as the realities of their pay and their grueling schedule, America’s Sweethearts gives a harsh reality check to the lives of professional dancers.
From encounters with stalking, struggles with eating and exercise to remaining eternally polite and unflappable, the persona that a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader must uphold at all times is incredibly demanding. America’s Sweethearts sheds a light on what it’s actually like trying to take advantage of one of the most notable opportunities for dancers who wish to pursue a professional career. Viewers gain an intense amount of respect for the women who move their entire lives to Dallas to pursue a dream of theirs, especially as they witness the amount of determination and hard work required to don the uniform.
4 ‘Friday Night Lights’ (2006 – 2011)
Developed by Peter Berg
Football is the main focus in this teen drama set in the fictional, small town of Dillon, Texas. Kyle Chandler plays Coach Eric Taylor, a family man who loves football and coaches at Dillon High School. In a town where one loss can result in a yard full of For-Sale signs, Coach Taylor is tasked with taking care of the most sacred thing in Texas, all while helping his players excel not only on the football field, but in life as well.
The Dillon Panthers were always front and center on Friday Night Lights, keeping football the focus, while maintaining a full cast of characters with relatable stories. Whether it was Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki) who just wanted to find her way out of Dillon to Brian “Smash” Williams (Gaius Charles) whose entire future revolved around his success on the football field, Friday Night Lights was an incredibly realistic portrayal of the opportunities that sports can provide, but also of the ways that centering young people’s lives on a sport can hurt them in the long run.
3 ‘Untold: Swamp Kings’ (2023)
Directed by Katharine English
In the third volume of Untold, Netflix’s series of sports documentaries, fans learn about the reign of Urban Meyer during his time as head coach of the University of Florida Gators football team. Through the testimonials of famous former players like Tim Tebow, viewers get to know the behind the scenes of the six-season run of Coach Meyer, including the reasons he was hired, what the locker room was like under his watch and what it took to win two national championship titles.
This football documentary lets fans in on what it’s really like playing for a beloved football team in a place where winning is a must. With its honest portrayal of how difficult it can be to balance the expectations of coaches, teammates, the media and the state of Florida, Untold: Swamp Kings puts audiences in the shoes of the college-aged kids who were thrust into the spotlight and expected to succeed under such intense pressure.
Untold: Swamp Kings is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
2 ‘Cheer’ (2020 – 2022)
Directed by Greg Whiteley
In this docuseries about the Navarro College cheerleading team, one of the best collegiate cheer programs in the country, audiences get an inside look at what it takes to meet the exacting standards of head coach Monica Aldama, who has won seventeen national championship titles. Over two seasons, fans have seen the Navarro team take on their competitors in the annual National Cheerleading Competition held in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Cheer gives audiences insight into the physicality of cheerleading, the pressure to make the mat for the competition and how tricky it can be to juggle a coach’s opinions and one’s own. Greg Whiteley‘s characteristic highlighting of members of the program at different stages, from newcomers to coaches to old members, helps paint a full portrait of the life of a Navarro cheerleader, from the highest highs of winning the national championship title to the dread of losing out on a spot on the mat.
1 ‘The Last Dance’ (2020)
Directed by Jason Hehir
Legendary basketball player Michael Jordan walks fans through the 1997-98 basketball season of the Chicago Bulls in this docuseries, with the help of former coaches and teammates. Chronicling Jordan’s personal life during the season, the media coverage of the team and the struggles on and off the court, the series gave fans of the sport, and the Bulls specifically, a new perspective on Jordan’s mentality and life throughout his last season on the team.
The grit and tenacity required to be one of the most popular and skilled athletes of all time is on full display in The Last Dance. Through testimonials and archival footage, the audience learns more about the story behind Michael Jordan’s success, adding weight to what was seen on television in real time. With its intimate look at the life of one of sport’s biggest stars, along with old footage of the glory moments from his career, this miniseries captures the attention of both loyal sports fans and occasional viewers.
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