Happy Gilmore & the 10 Funniest Sports Comedies of All Time, Ranked

A lot of the movies on this list aren’t necessarily family-friendly, but Space Jam certainly is. So, if you’re looking for something the kids can enjoy, this is a great introduction to sports movies. 

I remember watching this film as a child and being absolutely obsessed with the alien villains, and also thinking it was incredibly cool that Michael Jordan was friends with Bugs Bunny.

As you’d expect from the Looney Tunes, the comedy in Space Jam is very juvenile and slapstick, but there are also moments of double entendre for the grown-ups in the room. It’s short, sweet, and very silly… and it’s also way better than its sequel, Space Jam: A New Legacy.

Chances are, Gen Z sports fans have probably tuned into the TV show version of A League of Their Own (which is also great), but it’s important to go back to where it all began and watch the movie. 

When you put Tom Hanks and Geena Davis together in a ‘90s movie, you’re going to get magic, and that’s exactly what happened in the film iteration of A League of Their Own. It might be cliché, but this is the perfect date night movie. If you’re trying to get someone to watch a sports movie who usually prefers a rom-com, or if you’re trying to trick a sports fan into watching a cute romance flick, everyone’s a winner with this one.

Here he is, the reason we’re even making this list right now! I’ve seen some angry golfers in my time, but Happy Gilmore takes the top prize in that regard. Thankfully, it’s very, very funny to see Adam Sander lose his cool on the course. Of all his work in the 1990s, this is my favourite of Sandler’s, and that’s not just because I love golf.

In fact, you really don’t need to like golf at all to enjoy this sports comedy. My partner loved it when we watched it together, and she doesn’t give golf the time of day usually. Happy Gilmore is ludicrous at times, but it’s actually got a pretty great story at the core of it. The best thing is that because of the sequel, the original is on most streaming services at the moment, including Netflix, the exclusive home of Happy Gilmore 2.

Will Ferrell appears on this list three times, and this is the first of his movies to make the cut. It seems the comedy legend loves to dive into sports comedies, and he’s very, very good at making them, too. Blades of Glory is arguably his most universally loved, mainly because the actual sports element takes such a backseat here.

So, don’t worry if you don’t know your loop from your lutz; you do not need to be a figure skating expert to have a great time with this one. It’s more like a childish crime caper than anything else, with sabotage and double-crossing the order of the day.

Football (or soccer, for the Americans) is probably the most difficult sport to capture effectively in a film. I suspect that’s largely because of the dynamic nature of the game and how hard it is to convincingly portray that, especially when you stick a camera into the heart of the action. Thankfully, Bend It Like Beckham doesn’t worry too much about the actual game – it’s far more concerned with the human element of it.

It’s very similar to the American football (or soccer) comedy film She’s the Man in many ways, though far less on the nose with its comedy. Bend It Like Beckham is definitely in the rom-com realm as much as it is a sports comedy, with lots of drama and emotional beats underpinning the lighter moments. Much like A League of Their Own, this is perfect for a date night.

Proving that maybe they just don’t make sports comedies like they used to, this is the most recent release of the ten films on this list. The world of WWE gets the Florence Pugh treatment in Fighting with My Family, and it’s not just a really funny family dramedy; it’s also a genuinely very good film, too.

The fight sequences are slick, the story is inspirational and authentic, and there are laughs aplenty throughout. It’s also directed by Stephen Merchant, so if you like the work he does with Ricky Gervais, you’ll be able to get on board with this pretty easily. It’s also on Netflix, which means it’s super easy to track down, especially if you’ve just watched Happy Gilmore 2.

Will Ferrell alert! The big man is back, and this time he’s playing basketball. As the frankly ridiculous Jackie Moon, Ferrell essentially lives out what I’m sure is a dream for a lot of folks, in that he buys out his local basketball team and makes himself the star player. If you think that sounds dumb, you’d be absolutely right, and Semi-Pro is not afraid to lean into that mindless territory.

I’ve seen this film more times than I can count, and so many of the quotes from Semi-Pro have been a huge part of my lexicon for the past 17 years. It’s very crude and brash, and it’s not for everyone by any means. But, if you’re into films like Role Models and The Hangover, you’ll be all in on Semi-Pro.

If you want some golfing action that’s slightly more serious than Happy Gilmore 2, Tin Cup is a guaranteed hole-in-one. Featuring a romantic narrative laced with gently comedic moments, it has a similar tone to something like Jerry Maguire. Rather than slapstick humour, you’ll find yourself chuckling at the playful dynamic between Kevin Costner and Rene Russo as their relationship blossoms.

There’s a very specific type of sports movie in which Tin Cup fits, which is the story of a washed-up ex-Pro finding his love for the game once more to do something incredible. I love that archetype, and that’s why Tin Cup is a firm favourite of mine.

Alongside Happy Gilmore and post-Millennium, it’s hard to find a more universally loved and widely watched sports movie than Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. A big part of this legacy is the brilliant cast, which includes Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Justin Long, all at the top of their game.

The film is very similar to Blades of Glory in the sense that it doesn’t really matter how much you know about dodgeball (people have to avoid getting hit by a ball; it’s pretty simple), as Dodgeball is more focused on tomfoolery and nefarious plans hatched by cartoonish villains. 

It’s on Disney+ and, to be honest, worth a month of subscription fees for this one alone.

Ricky Bobby always says, ‘If you ain’t first, you’re last’. Thankfully, he ends up at the top of the leaderboard in our ranking of the funniest sports comedies with Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. And guess what? It’s the third and final entry for Will Ferrell.

Here, he teams up with his long-time collaborator John C. Reilly, and if you like what they did with Step Brothers, you’re going to find Talladega Nights to be a laugh riot. Simply put, you can’t ask for more from a sports comedy: it comes in at under two hours, it’s relentlessly funny, has a few twists along the way, and best of all, free to watch on Prime Video right now.