The genre of fiction that places the focus on sports, usually following a player, coach, or team as they challenge themselves to rise to the top of the sport in question.
Sports Stories can span a single game, a tournament, or an entire career. While the rules of the game, training, and the rivalry between players is the most common source of drama in these types of works, it is often the protagonist team that must learn something important about themselves to overcome the odds.
For related tropes, see Sports Story Tropes. See also Professional Wrestling and Sports Game.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
Subindex:
American Football
Archery/Kyudo
Association Football
- Area no Kishi
- Blue Lock
- Captain Tsubasa
- DAYS
- Farewell, My Dear Cramer
- Ganbare Kickers
- Giant Killing
- Ginga e Kickoff!!
- Hungry Heart: Wild Striker
- Inazuma Eleven
- Mai Ball
- Sayonara Football
- Whistle!
Badminton
Baseball
- Ace of the Diamond
- Big Windup!
- Dorabase
- H2
- Major
- One Outs
- Princess Nine
- Rookies
- Taisho Baseball Girls
- Touch
Basketball
- Basquash!, 3x3 Basketball with Humongous Mecha
- BREAK THE BORDER
- Dash Kappei
- Harlem Beat
- Kuroko's Basketball
- Slam Dunk
Bicycling
Boxing
Card Games
Cheerleading
Figure Skating
Inline Skating
Judo
Kendo
Lacrosse
Mahjong (Hey, if chess counts as a sport, this probably does too)
Mixed Martial Arts
Ping Pong/Table Tennis
Racing
- Bakusou Kyoudai! Let's & Go!! (with toy cars)
- Dash! Yonkuro (with toy cars)
- Future GPX Cyber Formula
- IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix
- Initial D
- Machine Hayabusa
- Red Line
- Scan 2 Go (with toy cars)
- Speed Racer
- Two Car
Rugby
Running
- Uma Musume: Has an extra twist where the winners perform concerts after the race.
- The Vision of Escaflowne: Protagonist Jitomi Kanzaki is a runner.
Skateboarding
Ski Jumping
Swimming
- Azumanga Daioh: Kagura, one of the protagonists, is a member of the swimming team.
- Free!
- Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho
- Rough
Sumo
- Baki the Grappler
- Dragon Ball
- Mobile Fighter G Gundam: A Gundam installment that focuses on a Martial Arts tournament where the winning country rules the world.
- Ranma ½
- Street Fighter II V
- Tenjho Tenge
Tennis
Toy/Plastic Model Battle
- Angelic Layer
- Battle B-Daman
- Beyblade
- Crush Gear Turbo
- Gundam Build
Volleyball
Wrestling
Other Sports
- The Gymnastics Samurai: About gymnastics.
Fictional Sports
- Girls und Panzer (Tank Combat): In this series, tank combat is a traditional ladies' sport.
- Keijo!!!!!!!! (Keijo): A physical contact-based sport where the only points of contact are breasts and butt. As fanservicey as it sounds, it's extremely brutal.
Asian Animation
Racing
Multiple
- Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf has two sports-themed seasons - 2008's Pleasant Goat Sports Game (soccer) and 2021's Dunk for Victories (basketball).
Comic Books
Auto Racing/Motorsport
Baseball
- Slugger Slackers: From The Dynamite Twins and Friends, a Crossover feature comic that satirizes Sports Stories.
- Sullivan's Sluggers
Fencing
- Fence is about, well fencing along with a lot of Boys' Love content.
Pro Wrestling
Fan Works
Boxing
- Eight Count is an Alternate Universe DCU story involving Harley Quinn's rookie year in a somewhat exaggerated and legally dubious pro boxing league.
- Well-Matched is a Pseudocanonical Fic that deals with Kate Kane fighting in a championship boxing match during her time as a West Point cadet.
- Tokimeki PokéLive! and TwinBee Just like Pokémon proper, the Pokémon of the protagonists are trained to battle those of other Pokémon Trainers and are also used in battles against villains such as Dr. Eggman.
Film
Air Racing
American Football
- Any Given Sunday
- Big Fan - A New York Giants fan is beaten up by his favourite player, and does nothing so he can still play.
- The Blind Side
- Brian's Song
- Concussion - About the pathologist
who diagnosed chronic brain damage in former NFL players, and how the NFL had tried to cover it up for years.
- Draft Day — The general manager of the Cleveland Browns tries to make a big splash in the NFL Draft.
- Facing the Giants
- Francis Goes to West Point
- Friday Night Lights: The film based on the book of the same name.
- The Game Plan: Also a family movie on the side.
- The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon
- Gus
- Knute Rockne, All American
- Leatherheads
- Little Giants
- The Longest Yard: Prisoners play football against their guards.
- Necessary Roughness
- O.J.: Made in America: Documentary series (three parts in theaters, five on TV) about the life, career, and criminal cases of O.J. Simpson. Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature winner.
- The Program
- Radio
- Remember the Titans
- The Replacements (2000)
- Rudy: The classic college football movie about the titular character and his struggle to play football for Notre Dame.
- Second String
- Undefeated
- Varsity Blues
- Wildcats
- The Waterboy
- We Are Marshall is about rebuilding a college football team after a plane crash.
Association Football
- Bend It Like Beckham is the story of the daughter of a conservative Indian immigrant family in London, who dreams of becoming a football player against her parents' wishes.
- The Big Green
- * The Champions - a martial arts take on soccer, made 18 years before Shaolin Soccer below.
- The Damned United – British film based on the book The Damned Utd
- Early Man - two prehistoric tribes play a football match to decide who controls a valley
- Escape to Victory (AKA Victory)
- Fever Pitch (UK film based on Nick Hornby's book)
- The Football Factory — movie about Football Hooligans that meet up to brawl in the streets of London.
- Gregory's Girl
- Kicking & Screaming
- Ladybugs
- Mean Machine - British version of The Longest Yard.
- Mike Bassett: England Manager
- Next Goal Wins is a documentary about the worst team in international soccer and their attempts to win one game.
- Shaolin Soccer
- She's the Man
- A Shot at Glory
- United Passions - a FIFA-funded drama about the founding and history of the World Cup. It was produced in 2014 to counter accusations of corruption, and was released in 2015 a week after FIFA executives were arrested for corruption.
Auto Racing/Motorsport
- The Cannonball Run
- Days of Thunder, the NASCAR racing film starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
- The Devil's Hairpin
- Driven
- The Fast and the Furious series highlights the world of illegal street racing.
- Ford V Ferrari, a film based on the rivalry between Ford and Ferarri at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans.
- Grand Prix
- The Great Race
- The Gumball Rally
- Le Mans
- The Love Bug series
- Rush (2013)
- Senna, a documentary about Formula One legend Ayrton Senna
- Safari 5000, also known as 5000 KM To Glory
- Speed Racer
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a parody of NASCAR racing.
Baseball
- 42: The Real Life biopic of Jackie Robinson.
- 61*
- Angels in the Outfield
- The Bad News Bears
- Battlefield Baseball
- The Beaning — what if Ray Chapman's death from being hit by a pitch was actually a Human Sacrifice?
- Benchwarmers
- Bull Durham: Starring Kevin Costner
- The Catcher: A sports-focused Slasher Film.
- Damn Yankees
- Death on the Diamond, about a serial killer stalking the St. Louis Cardinals. Really!
- The Fan
- Fever Pitch (US remake)
- Field of Dreams: Kevin Costner's other baseball movie.
- Finding Buck Mc Henry
- A League of Their Own: During WWII, women flourish as professional baseball makes room for both genders.
- Little Big League: A 12-year-old boy is given ownership of the Minnesota Twins after his grandfather dies.
- Major League
- Million Dollar Arm: The journey of agent J.B. Bernstein to open up the market of India, traditionally a fanbase for cricket, to the sport of baseball, and find himself some athletic prospects for his failing agency.
- Moneyball: Follows both the Oakland Athletics history-making 20-game winning streak, and Billy Beane's use of sabermetricsnote to assemble a successful team (on paper) that didn't cost as much as higher ranked teams'.
- Mr. 3000
- The Natural
- The Pride of the Yankees Gary Cooper plays Lou Gehrig in one of the most popular biopics ever made.
- The Rookie: A 40-year-old coach tries out for the Majors on a bet to the high school team he coaches.
- Rookie of the Year: A 12-year-old with a freak arm joins the Cubs.
- The Sandlot: Kids playing baseball and having big adventures.
- Season of Miracles
- Trouble with the Curve
- The Winning Team: Ronald Reagan!
Basketball
- 17 Again: The protagonist is a high school varsity player.
- Celtic Pride
- Church Ball
- Coach Carter
- Drive, He Said
- Edge of America
- Glory Road: Based on the true story of the 1965–66 Texas Westernnote team that became the first team ever to win an NCAA title with an all-black starting lineup.
- High School Musical: The male protagonist is a high school varsity player.
- Hoop Dreams: Documentary on the development and college recruitment of two Chicago high-school stars.
- Hoosiers: A disgraced college coach gets a fresh start in 1950s small-town Indiana. Very loosely based on the small-town Indiana team that won the real 1954 state title.
- Like Mike
- Love & Basketball
- The Mighty Macs: Based on the story of Immaculata College, a small Catholic college in Pennsylvania that became an early powerhouse in womens' college basketball.
- "O": An adaptation of Othello set in a modern-day American high school, focusing on its basketball team.
- Semi-Pro: Fictional story about the merging of the ABA and National Basketball Association.
- Space Jam: Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan play basketball against space aliens.
- Thunderstruck: OKC Thunder's Kevin Durant's basketball talent gets transferred to an awkward teen.
- The Way Back (2020): A former player becomes a coach and struggles to overcome alcoholism.
- White Men Can't Jump: Street hustling games in L.A.
Bicycling
Boxing
- Against the Ropes
- Ali: Bio Pic of Muhammad Ali.
- Above the Shadows
- The Champ (1931 original and 1979 remake)
- Cinderella Man
- Diggstown
- The Fighter
- Girlfight
- Golden Boy
- Grudge Match
- The Hammer
- Hands of Stone
- The Harder They Fall - Roman à Clef about the highly controversial career of Primo Carnera.
- Kid Galahad
- Knockout
- The Milky Way
- Million Dollar Baby - An Oscar-winning film about a female boxer.
- Raging Bull
- Real Steel – A science fiction version of boxing, where humans have been replaced by robots.
- Requiem for a Heavyweight
- The Ring
- Resurrecting the Champ
- Rocky
- Somebody Up There Likes Me
- Southpaw
- When We Were Kings - documentary about the 1974 Ali-Foreman "Rumble in the Jungle" fight.
Chess (It counts, dammit!)
Cricket
Figure Skating
- Blades of Glory: Two men explore the world of couples figure skating.
- The Cutting Edge
- Go Figure
- Ice Princess: The story of a Math Genius who wants to compete as a figure skater.
- I, Tonya: A dramatized version of the life and controversies of Tonya Harding.
Golf
- Bobby Jones Stroke Of Genius
- Caddyshack — a 1980 golf comedy.
- Happy Gilmore
- The Legend of Bagger Vance — Magical Negro helps win golf game.
- Little Loopers
- Tin Cup
Horse Racing
Ice Hockey
- Goon
- Les Boys
- The Mighty Ducks
- Miracle: The USA defeats the Soviets in Olympic hockey.
- Slap Shot: A failing small-town team resorts to violent play to draw spectators.
Martial Arts (Traditional)
- Best of the Best
- The Karate Kid
- Mortal Kombat: The Movie is based upon an (albeit highly fantastical) martial arts tournament.
- Mortal Kombat (2021) as well.
- Only the Strong: A Green Beret teaches Capoeira to underprivileged youth.
- Sanshiro Sugata: Brash young man becomes a judo master.
- Sanshiro Sugata Part II, the sequel, in which the judo guys get attacked by karate guys.
Mixed Martial Arts
- ...All the Marbles
- Beyond the Mat
- The Calamari Wrestler
- Card Subject to Change
- Fighting with My Family: Bio Pic centering the Knight Wrestling Family from England, particularly WWE wrestler Paige.
- Kayfabe: A Fake Real Movie About A Fake Real Sport
- Monster Brawl
- Nacho Libre
- No Holds Barred
- The Peanut Butter Falcon
- Pro Wrestlers vs. Zombies
- Racket Girls
- Ready to Rumble
- The Wrestler
Roller Derby
- Rollerball
- Whip It is about a beauty pageant contestant turned roller derby girl.
Running
- Chariots of Fire: 1924 Olympic Runners.
- It Happened in Athens
- The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
- McFarland, USA: a film about a California high school cross-country running team.
- Reverse Runner
Skateboarding
- Lords of Dogtown: A biographical skateboarding film.
Surfing
- Blue Crush and Blue Crush 2
- The Endless Summer: Classic surfing documentary.
- Soul Surfer: Fact-based story about teenage surfer Bethany Hamilton and her life after losing her left arm to a shark.
- Surf's Up
Table Tennis
- As One
- Balls of Fury
- Ping Pong Playa: A story about an immature NBA wannabe who is forced to teach ping pong to a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits.
Tennis
- Battle of the Sexes: A dramatization of Bobby Riggs' (in)famous challenge match against Billie Jean King.
- 7 Days in Hell: A HBO Mockumentary about two tennis players locked in the longest tennis match of all time, unable to score a match point.
- Wimbledon
Ten-pin Bowling
- Gutterballs: I warned you not to bowl tonight.
- Kingpin a bowling comedy with Bill Murray.
Other Sports
- Akeelah and the Bee: Spelling bees
- Airborne: Rollerblading
- The Big Blue: Freediving
- Bring It On: A series of films that focus on high-school cheerleading competitions.
- By the Sword: A film centered around a fencing school.
- Chak De! India: Field hockey
- Cool Runnings: A film about the Jamaican bobsled team.
- Crackerjack: Lawn bowls
- DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story: Self-explanatory
- Eddie the Eagle: About the real-life Olympic ski jumper of the same name.
- Foxcatcher: A dramatization of the twisted relationship between Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz and his eccentric benefactor, John du Pont. Spoiler alert: It doesn't end well.
- The Hustler and its sequel The Color of Money: pool.
- Invictus: a film about South Africa's campaign during the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
- Iron Will: Sled dog racing
- Kevin of the North: Sled dog racing
- A Knight's Tale: Jousting
- Men with Brooms: A Romantic Comedy about curling.
- On Any Sunday: A documentary about motorcycle sports.
- Poolhall Junkies: Pool
- Swimfan: Someone likes swimmers just a bit too much.
- Stick It: A film about gymnasts and rebellion.
Multiple Sports
- Air Bud and its sequels are about a Golden Retriever playing sports.
- Baseketball a comedy that plays with most common sports movie tropes.
- The World's Greatest Athlete a comedy about two coaches who recruit a Tarzan Expy to compete at the NCAA Track & Field Championship
Literature
Air Racing
American Football
- The Blind Side: Part chronicle of the teenage years of future NFL offensive tackle Michael Oher, and part chronicle of the evolution of Oher's left tackle position. Spawned a film concentrating more on Oher; Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for portraying Oher's adoptive mother Leigh Anne Tuohy.
- Scott Sigler's Galactic Football League series of YA novels. In the distant future, Galactic Conquerors (the Creterakians) use this sport to help keep the other races (including but not limited to Humanity) in line. Described by many as Star Wars meets The Godfather meets Any Given Sunday.
Association Football
- The Damned Utd – fictionalised version of Brian Clough's real-life tenure as manager of Leeds United; spawned a film whose title spells out "United".
- Fever Pitch
- Running With Lions
- Unseen Academicals chronicles the exploits of wizards playing football.
Baseball
- Battery
- Batter Up Wombat
- Casey at the Bat
- The Man Who Brought the Dodgers Back to Brooklyn
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game: Before Moneyball was a film, it was a best-selling book by Michael Lewis, who also brought us The Blind Side.
Basketball
Canadian Football
- The Tim Tebow CFL Chronicles: Surreal web novel in which an alternate-history version of Tim Tebow joins the CFL, breaks records, and breaks the game itself.
Diving
Horse Racing
Ice Hockey
Ice Skating
Pro Wrestling
Running Run with the Wind (also adapted into a manga, movie, and anime)
Swimming
Multiple Sports
- The King Of The Bench series
Live Action TV
American Football
- All American, loosely based on the life of real formel NFL player Spencer Paysinger and playing football for a rich high school while living on the wrong side of the tracks.
- Blue Mountain State is about college football. And beer.
- Coach, a sitcom about the coaching staff of the Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles.
- Friday Night Lights
- The Game (2006), though it focuses more on the relationships between football players and their wives than the game.
- Necessary Roughness
Association Football
- C'Mon Midffîld!
- FC De Kampioenen
- Just for Kicks
- The Kicks
- Mustangs FC is an Australian teen drama about an all girls soccer team.
- Ted Lasso
Baseball
Basketball
Cricket
Handball
Martial Arts
- Cobra Kai: Karate.
- WMAC Masters: Martial arts soap opera.
Motorsports
- Formula 1: Drive to Survive: A Docu Soap style show following Formula One.
- Harley and the Davidsons: A Docudrama about the origins of motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson, albeit focusing on racing in the first act of the three-part miniseries.
Other Sports
- American Gladiators
- Backyard Wrestling
- Make It or Break It focuses on gymnastics.
- Wipeout centres around obstacle courses.
Surfing
Multiple Sports
- Arliss: About a sports agent and his clients.
- Glee: Half of the main cast consists of high school football players, cheerleaders and a synchronized swimmer.
- Sports Night: A bit more meta than some of the examples, this show is about sports anchors and the games that they cover.
Manhua and Manhwa
- Bowling King is about ten-pin bowling.
- My Heart Is Beating is about a boy blackmailed into joining the girls' water polo team.
Newspaper Comics
Association Football
- The Sun has a long running story called Striker, though that's an Artifact Title now as the title character, Nick Jarvis, retired years ago and is now a manager.
- The Mirror also had a football comic strip, called Scorer.
- Cleats
- Roy of the Rovers
Boxing
- Joe Palooka
Multiple Sports
- Gil Thorp
- Ozark Ike
- Tank McNamara
Tabletop Games
Fictional Sport
- Blood Bowl is designed to allow a group of players to form their own teams within a custom League. Each player on each team can develop in a multitude of ways, or even die on the pitch, allowing for a dynamic story to develop around your players, teams, and League based on how the game goes.
Theatre
Video Games
American Football
- Both Blitz: The League games included elaborate story modes set in a fictional football league, written by ex-writers from ESPN football drama Playmakers.
Association Football
- "The Journey" in FIFA 17 is a Story Mode about aspiring talent Alex Hunter's rise through the ranks of the English Premier League. It continues in 18, introducing Alex's American half-sister Kim as she tries for a spot with the US national team, and concludes in 19 when Alex faces the challenge of the UEFA Champions League.
Basketball
- One of the main features of the NBA 2K series is the MyCareer mode, which has been featuring a backstory for your created player since 2K14.
- NBA Ballers Series
- The Campaign Mode for Head Basketball features a different one of these for each character.
Skateboarding
- Tony Hawk's Underground centers around a rookie skater's journey from their humble beginnings in a New Jersey neighborhood to becoming a professional athlete. Underground 2 and American Wasteland are similarly story-driven, with the latter returning to the "rookie making a name for himself" angle.
Toy/Plastic Model Battle
- Bakuten Shoot Beyblade
- Bakuten Shoot Beyblade (GBA)
- Bakuten Shoot Beyblade - Gekitō! Saikyō Blader
- Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2002 - Ikuze! Gekitō! Chō Jiryoku Battle!
- Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2002 - Gekisen! Team Battle!!
- Jisedai Beigoma Battle Beyblade
- Bakuten Shoot Beyblade (GBA)
Visual Novels
Association Football
- Tokimeki Memorial Drama Series Vol.1: Nijiiro no Seishun is a Visual Novel telling the story of a Soccer Club player aiming at becoming a regular in his team, all while being cheered by the club's cute manager and developing a romance with her.
Baseball
- Butterfly Soup is about a group of Asian-American girls who join their high school's baseball club.
Running
- Prince of Stride tells about the adventures of the Honan Stride Club. Stride is a fictional sport invented by the game that mixes relay races with parkour.
Web Original
Association Football
- AH World Cup is a Scrapbook Story following an alternate world FIFA World Cup. Unlike most of the other examples, it follows the entire tournament instead of a single player or team.
- Jelle's Marble Runs (with marbles)
Western Animation
American Football
Association Football
Baseball
- Baseball Bugs, a famous Bugs Bunny cartoon
- D'Myna Leagues, about baseball leagues with Funny Animal bird players
Basketball
Hockey
- Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series has little to do with the films of the same name, instead focusing on a team of anthropomorphic ducks who fight crime and play hockey on the side.
- Bunny Hugged
- The Flintstones: Stone Age SmackDown!
- Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling
- Mongo Wrestling Alliance
- ¡Mucha Lucha!
- Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery
Racing
- Alien Racers
- Cars
- Dragon Booster: Racing with dragons!
- Hot Wheels Acceleracers
- Pole Position
- Metajets
- Michel Vaillant cited above had an Animated Adaptation titled Hot Wheels in the US.
- NASCAR Racers is about two rival racing teams.
- The New Adventures of Speed Racer
- Planes, like Cars but in the sky!
- Scooby-Doo! and the WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon
- Speed Racer: The Next Generation
- Turbo, a snail in Indianapolis 500.
- Wacky Races
Surfing
Multiple Sports
- Animalympics
- Laff-A-Lympics
- Mutant League
- ProStars features three of the biggest athletes in the early 90s helping kids and battling bad guys across the globe.
- Sports Cartoons
Other
- Ballmastrz: 9009, a parody of the genre involving the titular Blood Sport.
- Bowlopolis
- Ferdinand: It could qualify as the bulls, except the titular character, hone their skills to be chosen as the bull to fight the matador.
- Heavy Gear: The Animated Series has tournament-based battles between mechs.
- She’s a Good Skate, Charlie Brown
