20 Best Sports Comedy Movies Of All Time

It's no secret we love to laugh. Everyone enjoys a good chuckle and apparently we should all be doing a lot more of it. According to the Mayo Clinic, laughter increases your oxygen intake, as well as stimulating the heart and lungs and causing your brain to release more precious endorphins. A good guffaw also helps relieve stress and tension, resulting in a nice cool, soothing mood, as well as being beneficial for your immune system.

As such, we love a good comedy movie and clearly — given how many different subgenres there are in the world of comedy — so do a lot of other people. Dark comedies are fun when we want our funny bone tickled and perhaps a bit of schadenfreude. Slapstick comedy is great for keeping things silly and fun. You can't go wrong with a good satire to satisfy the need for laughter and irony at the same time. But one of our favorite types of funny film is a good sports comedy.

Sports comedies are not always super accurate in how they present the respective game, given that they serve simply as the backdrop for telling a greater story, though some do focus hardcore on the sport at hand. Some sports movies get things wrong about their sport on an egregious level, though sometimes that makes them even funnier. With that in mind, we present the 20 best sports comedy movies we can come up with, in no particular order, because just like these movies, we're not super serious about keeping score and are just here for a laugh.

If we were rank-ordering these 20 sports comedies in descending order, there's no way you'd be reading about "The Replacements" this soon; we're just super stoked to talk about it. The premise is simple: the players of a fictional football league decide to strike in the middle of the season. Rather than abandon the remaining games, team owners bring in replacement players to finish out the season. The new quarterback of the Washington Sentinels is formerly promising signal-caller Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves), a talented college player who had a disastrous showing at the 1996 Sugar Bowl and a short-lived professional career afterward. He's brought in by coach Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman) to lead a ragtag squad of nobodies on the gridiron and he does a damn fine job of it, eventually. Of course, when team owner Ed O'Neil (Jack Warden) insists that picket-line-crossing QB Eddie Martel (Brett Cullen) play the final game of the season, things get tense.

In addition to the solid cast of "The Replacements," the film has a lot going for it, from smart, funny writing, insane quotability, and a real-life situation — the 1987 NFL strike — from which to draw. Per ESPN, the Washington Redskins even picked up a quarterback on work furlough from prison and, just like in the movie, the final replacement game was contested between Washington and Dallas.

Allstate, sponsor of the Sugar Bowl, recently published a fictional article on Falco's accomplishments in the film and continued the story for multiple characters in "The Replacements." Notably, deaf tight end Brian Murphy (David Denman) went on to become a member of the hall of fame as one of the greatest tight ends in football history.

Another perennial contender in the realm of sports comedies is the Paul Newman hockey classic "Slap Shot." The late screen legend and philanthropist plays grizzled veteran player-coach Reg Dunlop, whose minor league hockey team, the Charlestown Chiefs, are something of a joke, bemoaned by fans. After he learns ownership is likely going to dismantle the team — owing to the closure of the local sawmill and flagging attendance even beforehand — he concocts a scheme to build interest in the club to avoid such a fate, using the grit and tenacity of the newly acquired trio of players, the Hanson brothers, to turn his squad into a roster of tough guys. Either reluctantly or with great enthusiasm, Dunlop gets all of the Chiefs players onboard with the on-ice goonery except star player Ned Braden (Michael Ontkean), whom he manipulates by exploiting his troubled marriage. Braden convinces him to drop the shenanigans before a game with rival Syracuse, which has recently been stocked with the hockey goon version of the United States' Dream Team men's basketball squad.

Despite all the laughs, there are plenty of aspects of "Slap Shot" that have aged poorly, notably its characters use of homophobic slurs and their attitudes toward women. While those behaviors were, perhaps, socially normalized in the late 1970s when the film was made, they would be rightfully frowned upon by modern audiences, regardless of the fact that it presents a realistic portrayal of the locker room culture in professional hockey in the not-too-distant past. Nevertheless, the Hanson Brothers remain a fixture in hockey culture, owing to their ridiculous antics in the film.

Classic football comedy "The Longest Yard" is such a revered sports comedy movie that Hollywood felt the need to remake it in 2005 with Adam Sandler in the lead role of Paul "Wrecking" Crewe, a character portrayed by Burt Reynolds in the original. His character, a disgraced former pro football quarterback, is sent to prison for low-key stealing his girlfriend's car after having been kicked out of the league for point shaving. Prison warden Rudolph Hazen (Eddie Albert) happens to be a big football fan, so he's got a favor to ask of Crewe. He's not looking for an autograph, mind you, and selfies weren't a thing back then; the good warden manages a football team comprised of prison guards and wants the former QB to mentor his team. With the help of James "Caretaker" Farrell (James Hampton), Crewe puts together a team of inmates to take on the guards — led by captain Wilhelm Knauer (Ed Lauter) — in an exhibition game. When it comes time for the big game, the warden blackmails Crewe into sabotaging the inmates' team, intentionally blowing plays so that the guards will win, which is exactly what got him banned from pro football in the first place.

"The Longest Yard" came out two years after Reynolds' breakthrough performance in 1972's "Deliverance" and is one of the crown jewels in his filmography. The year before "The Longest Yard," he made his debut as another outlaw character, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey, a moonshine runner in "White Lightning." Three years after, in 1977, came another iconic role as Bo Darville in "Smokey and the Bandit."

Classic golf comedy "Caddyshack" follows the misadventures of the members of the prestigious and private Bushwood Country Club — in addition to its employees. The loud and slightly obnoxious but charming Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) begins playing at the club and his antics upset some of the regulars, including co-founder Judge Elihu Smails (Ted Knight), the club's co-founder and head of its caddie scholarship program. Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe), a caddy who works at the club, hopes to ingratiate himself to Smails while chaotic-neutral member Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) helps stir the pot. Things come to a head between Czervik and Smails, resulting in a team golf competition and a hefty wager between the warring parties, and all the while the hilariously inept groundskeeper Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) attempts to kill a gopher that's damaging the terrain at the golf course.

"Caddyshack" has remained a popular sports comedy movie in the 40 years since its release owing to several factors. There are elements of class warfare in the clash between the free-spirited Czervik and the stuffy mentality of Smails. The narrative of "Caddyshack" is very much an underdog story, one in which we see the little guy — who, mind you, is still rich — triumph over the establishment and bourgeois properness, with a bit of help from one of the have-nots. Much of the film's enduring success can be traced back to the comedic stylings of its cast; Chase's deadpan delivery, Murray's exaggerated slapstick and physical humor, and Dangerfield's famous wise-cracking one-liner style of humor.

While "Slap Shot" did spawn two of its own canonical sequels, "Goon" could be considered the spiritual successor to the original hockey film that's more about beating people into the ice than beating them on it. When bumbling bar bouncer Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott) is victorious in an altercation with an away-team player in the stands at an extremely low-level minor league hockey game, it results in an offer to try out for the home team. Doug cannot skate, but he's not exactly getting the shot for his hockey skills; he's meant to be an enforcer, on hand to make sure the other team doesn't take any liberties with his teammates and to hand out beatings if they try to. Mentored by coach Rollie Hortense (Nicholas Campbell) and friend Pat (Jay Baruchel), Doug does well enough to earn a shot at playing on an NHL farm team, the Halifax Highlanders in Nova Scotia, Canada. There he's meant to watch the back of cocky-but-struggling superstar Xavier LaFlamme (Marc-André Grondin) for his initial coach's brother, Ronnie Hortense (Kim Coates), a task that will eventually lead to a showdown with veteran tough guy Ross Rhea (Liev Schreiber). In the meantime, Doug finds love interest Eva (Alison Pill), who's totally into the whole hockey violence thing.

In addition to appearing as Pat, Baruchel co-wrote "Goon" and helped to get it independently financed and produced. Despite positive critical reviews — "Goon" holds an 81% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes — it did not fare well at the box office. It did, however, garner enough interest for a sequel, "Goon: the Last of the Enforcers," Jay Baruchel's directorial debut.

While "Cool Runnings" is a very loose adaptation of the story of the real-life Jamaican Bobsled Team, "Fighting with My Family" is both a sports comedy and biographical film — based on the 2012 documentary "The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family" — about now-former professional wrestler Saraya-Jade Bevis, who rose to the top of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) competing under the ring name Paige. The film tells of Saraya-Jade's (Florence Pugh) humble beginnings, following in the footsteps of her parents, wrestlers Rick (Nick Frost) and Julia Knight (Lena Headey), with her brother Zak (Jack Lowden) trying to make it as well. While Saraya-Jade impresses enough in the pair's tryout to land a spot in WWE's developmental brand NXT, Zak does not. Now in Florida, wrestling as Paige, she struggles on multiple fronts, training with inexperienced women and unable to adapt to cutting scripted promos, given her off-the-cuff natural style. Dejected and with no one to support her, Saraya-Jade all but gives up on her dream until she receives inspiration — read: an absolute berating — from a familiar source.

While based on Saraya-Jade Bevis' real journey to stardom, "Fighting with My Family" does play fast and loose with the truth on a few fronts, though you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone surprised by that notion in the context of WWE biographical films. For starters, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson — one of the film's producers — played absolutely zero role in her development. Additionally, Hutch Morgan (Vince Vaughn) is a fictional character, likely a composite of multiple people Saraya-Jade met in her journey to superstardom — a journey that included a lengthy reign as the NXT Women's Champion, something which the film omits.

It's likely that only the warped minds of Peter and Bobby Farrelly could make the ridiculous redemption story of a one-handed former bowler guiding a promising young Amish prodigy work, but make it work they did and "Kingpin" is the result. Of course, it helps when you have the comedic talents of Randy Quaid, Woody Harrelson, and Bill Murray among your cast. "Kingpin" tells of local-boy-made-good Roy Munson (Harrelson), the Iowa state bowling champion who leaves small town Ocelot to become a professional bowler, defeating veteran Ernie McCracken (Murray) in his first outing. When wet-behind-the-ears Roy tries to hustle some amateur bowlers with Ernie, they shove his hand in the ball return and he's left with a hook. Years later, the jaded and disheveled Roy discovers Ishmael (Quaid), a raw but talented bowler from Amish country whom he tries to convince to compete in a tournament in Las Vegas to win $1 million and save his family's farm. Along the way they pick up Claudia (Vanessa Angel), the now-former arm candy of Stan (Rob Moran), her abusive boyfriend and a bowler Ishmael defeated to win them some seed money. As the dysfunctional group makes it way to Vegas, a showdown with Big Ern is on the horizon.

Often vulgar and crude, "Kingpin" was the Farrelly brothers' second feature film, after lowering the world's collective IQ with 1994's idiot classic "Dumb and Dumber." It features all of their penchant for low-brow and slapstick humor but, like any good Farrelly brothers film, has a heart of filthy gold at its center.

Eminently quotable football film "The Waterboy" tells of Bobby Boucher's (Adam Sandler) rise from being a disrespected and abused 30-something water boy for the University of Louisiana Cougars — a position he's held since his youth — to a mean, hard-tackling linebacker for an opposing school. The subject of constant bullying by the Cougars players, Bobby is eventually fired. He then offers to serve as water boy for the lowly and fictional South Central Louisiana State Mud Dogs for Mr. Coach Klein (Henry Winkler), though he's subject to much abuse from his new team as well. When Coach Klein tells Bobby he needs to stick up for himself, he absolutely snaps at the next insult he receives, tackling quarterback Gee Grenouille (Peter Dante) and knocking him out. Coach Klein then convinces Bobby to play for the Mud Dogs, behind the back of his over-protective mother, Helen (Kathy Bates), who hovers over her son after he former husband left them for life in the big city of New Orleans, unbeknownst to Bobby himself. Armed with his explosive new weapon, Coach Klein guides the Mud Dogs to the also-fictional Bourbon Bowl and a showdown with the Cougars, still coached by his old nemesis Red Beaulieu (Jerry Reed).

Admittedly, "The Waterboy" is a sentimental honorable mention in this list. Though beloved by viewers, it was panned by critics, as evidenced by the disparity between its 71% audience score and 34% critics score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Though the movie does have its flaws, it's also overflowing with heart and features Sandler near the top of his late '90s run of hilarity.

"The Longest Yard" was such a beloved sports comedy that, in addition to the 2005 Adam Sandler remake, it inspired a soccer adaptation in the form of 2001's "Mean Machine." Much like Paul Crewe in the American original, Danny Meehan (Vinnie Jones) is a disgraced former English soccer captain who's been banned from the sport for fixing a match; a drunk driving episode and the resulting assault on the arresting police officers lands him in Longmarsh prison, where the institution's governor (David Hemmings) wants him to coach his squad comprised of guards. Meehan, nicknamed "The Mean Machine" during his time on the pitch, pivots the offer, convincing his warden to allow him to train a team of inmates to face off against the guards team. 

The rest of it plays out very much in the way you'd expect a retread to do. "Mean Machine" is recognized here not for its critical reception but for how beloved it is by viewers. Much in the way reviewers were unkind to "The Waterboy" but audiences loved the film, "Mean Machine" manages a nearly identical 34% critics score and 72% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Perhaps the love it receives from fans comes from the film's cast, which serves as a reunion for several of the actors who appeared in the popular Guy Ritchie films "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels." Jones — a real-life former soccer player — Jason Statham, Robbie Gee, Adam Fogerty, Jason Flemyng, and Vas Blackwood all feature in "Mean Machine." 

Closing out our list is another classic baseball comedy, "The Bad News Bears." The film features late screen legend Walter Matthau as Morris Buttermaker, a former minor-league baseball player who's now a bit of a drunk. Buttermaker is recruited to lead a team of castoffs in a youth league in California, a squad comprised of the players in whom none of the other, more competitive teams had any interest. The very first game makes it clear why they didn't want these kids on their team: they allow the opposing team to rack up an insane 26 runs against them without recording an out — the equivalent of turning over a major league roster nearly three times — prompting Buttermaker to forfeit the game and stop the figurative bleeding. Thinking outside the box, he recruits an 11-year-old girl named Amanda Wurlitzer (Tatum O'Neal) and a juvenile delinquent named Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley) to join the team. When the Bears find success, Buttermaker finds himself too focused on winning, an epiphany he has that changes his mentality during the championship game.

"The Bad News Bears" is a candid, brash comedy full of invective and some crude humor and behavior. It also doesn't pull any punches with its message, as sussed out by legendary film critic Roger Ebert. "It's an unblinking, scathing look at competition in American society – and because the competitors in this case are Little Leaguers, the movie has passages that are very disturbing," he wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times (via archive.org).