The Funniest Movies About Sports
Sports fans take their teams' games very seriously, but on the big screen, athletics can lead to lots of laughter. The funniest sports movies feature underdogs drawing on all their wits to compete against elite athletes. This is a list of the greatest comedies about sports including everything from Happy Gilmore to Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story to Slap Shot.
What films will you find on this list of sports comedy movies? In Caddyshack, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, and more star in this hilarious look at the members and staff of an exclusive golf course. Brian Doyle-Murray wrote the screenplay for the movie, which was directed by Harold Ramis. The Waterboy - starring Adam Sandler - is another funny movie about sports. White Men Can't Jump is largely a drama, but the snappy banter between Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes is downright hilarious. Other funny movies on this best sports films list include Semi-Pro, Kicking & Screaming, and The Longest Yard.
Which funny sports movie deserves the top spot on this list? Give your favorites a thumbs up to move them to number one, and please add any great comedies that are missing.
- Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen
- Released: 1996
- Directed by: Dennis Dugan
All Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) has ever wanted is to be a professional hockey player. But he soon discovers he may actually have a talent for playing an entirely different sport: golf. When his ...more - Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen
- Released: 1989
- Directed by: David S. Ward
The new owner of the Cleveland Indians, former showgirl Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton), has a sweetheart deal to move the team to Miami. But to break the lease with the city of Cleveland, ticket ...more - Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray
- Released: 1980
- Directed by: Harold Ramis
Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe), a teen down on his luck, works as a caddy at the snob-infested Bushwood Country Club to raise money for his college education. In an attempt to gain votes for a ...more - Vince Vaughn, Christine Taylor, Ben Stiller
- Released: 2004
- Directed by: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Average Joe's Gym and its owner, Peter La Fleur (Vince Vaughn), are both down on their luck. A fancy competing gym called Globo-Gym, run by the maniacal health nut White Goodman (Ben Stiller), is ...more - Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Henry Winkler
- Released: 1998
- Directed by: Frank Coraci
Raised by his overprotective mother, Helen (Kathy Bates), Bobby Boucher Jr. (Adam Sandler) is the water boy for a successful college football team coached by Red Beaulieu (Jerry Reed). When Beaulieu ...more - Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen
- Released: 2006
- Directed by: Adam McKay
NASCAR superstar Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) is at the top of his game; adored by fans, a trophy wife by his side, and incredible wealth. But Ricky loses it all when French Formula One champion Jean ...more - Paul Newman, Michael Ontkean, Lindsay Crouse
- Released: 1977
- Directed by: George Roy Hill
In the small New England town of Charlestown, the local mill is about to lay off 10,000 workers. The town's minor league hockey team, the Charlestown Chiefs, is doing no better. After years of ...more - Leon, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba
- Released: 1993
- Directed by: Jon Turteltaub
Four Jamaican bobsledders dream of competing in the Winter Olympics, despite never having seen snow. With the help of a disgraced former champion desperate to redeem himself, the Jamaicans set out to ...more - Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, Vanessa Angel
- Released: 1996
- Directed by: Robert Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Roy Munson (Woody Harrelson) is a young bowler with a promising career ahead of him until a disreputable colleague, Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray), tricks him into participating in a con game that ...more - Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna
- Released: 1992
- Directed by: Penny Marshall
As America's stock of athletic young men is depleted during World War II, a professional all-female baseball league springs up in the Midwest, funded by publicity-hungry candy maker Walter Harvey ...more - Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Rosie Perez
- Released: 1992
- Directed by: Ron Shelton
Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson) is a white basketball hustler who banks on black players underestimating his skills on the court. When he pulls one over on Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes), his victim sees ...more - Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Burt Reynolds
- Released: 2005
- Directed by: Peter Segal
Disgraced pro football quarterback Paul Crewe (Adam Sandler) lands in jail, where manipulative Warden Hazen (James Cromwell) recruits him to advise the institution's team. This turns into a lead role ...more - Emilio Estevez, Joss Ackland, Lane Smith
- Released: 1992
- Directed by: Stephen Herek
After reckless young lawyer Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) gets arrested for drunk driving, he must coach a kids hockey team for his community service. Gordon has experience on the ice, but isn't ...more - Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter
- Released: 1974
- Directed by: Robert Aldrich
An ex-football star doing time is forced by the warden to organize a team of inmates to play against his own line-up of guards. The warden tries to blackmail him into throwing the game, but the ...more - Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins
- Released: 1988
- Directed by: Ron Shelton
In Durham, N.C., the Bulls minor league baseball team has one asset no other can claim: a poetry-loving groupie named Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon). As the team's season begins, Annie selects brash ...more - Emilio Estevez, Kathryn Erbe, Michael Tucker
- Released: 1994
- Directed by: Sam Weisman
An international competition for junior league hockey teams is being held in Los Angeles. Coach Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) is picked to lead Team U.S.A. He reunites the "Mighty Ducks," the teen ...more - Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernsen
- Released: 1994
- Directed by: David S. Ward
The Cleveland Indians, an endearing assortment of oddballs who improbably won the division championship last season, have since lost their edge due to personal pursuits and the excesses of fame. Rick ...more - Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Cheech Marin
- Released: 1996
- Directed by: Ron Shelton
Roy McAvoy (Kevin Costner) was a golf pro with a bright future, but his rebellious nature and bad attitude cost him everything. Now working as a golf instructor, he falls for his newest pupil, Dr. ...more - Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin
- Released: 2008
- Directed by: Kent Alterman
In 1976, singer Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell) uses the profits from his only hit single to fulfill a longtime dream of owning a basketball team. His team, the Flint Michigan Tropics, is the worst team ...more - David Spade, Rob Schneider, Jon Heder
- Released: 2006
- Directed by: Dennis Dugan
A baseball-loving millionaire (Jon Lovitz) helps three inept nerds (David Spade, Rob Schneider, Jon Heder) form a baseball team to compete with the meanest bullies in the Little League. One of the ...more - Wayne Knight, Theresa Randle, Danny DeVito
- Released: 1996
- Directed by: Joe Pytka
Swackhammer (Danny DeVito), an evil alien theme park owner, needs a new attraction at Moron Mountain. When his gang, the Nerdlucks, heads to Earth to kidnap Bugs Bunny (Billy West) and the Looney ...more - Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Michael Dowse
Though a misfit among his brainy family members, Massachusetts bouncer Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott) has a knockout punch that lands him a spot on a minor-league Canadian hockey team. - Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Yasmine Bleeth
- Released: 1998
- Directed by: David Zucker
When slacker friends Joe Cooper (Trey Parker) and Doug Remer (Matt Stone) are challenged to a pickup basketball game against some jocks, they counter by proposing to play a game they learned called ...more - Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett
- Released: 2007
- Directed by: Will Speck, Josh Gordon
Figure skaters Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder) take their intense rivalry too far during the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City; both are banned from ...more - Kevin James, Salma Hayek, Henry Winkler
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Frank Coraci
Once a collegiate wrestler, Scott Voss (Kevin James) is now a 42-year-old, apathetic biology teacher in a failing high school. When cutbacks threaten the school's music program and its teacher (Henry ...more