10 Best Sports Movies Of All Time, Ranked By Box Office

The best sports movies can be inspiring, triumphant, and tragic, but how do the greatest of all time stack up in terms of box office success? There is something so cinematic about the thrill of sporting competition, so it only makes sense that they make for great movies. The history of cinema is littered with amazing sports flicks, and every style of sport is well-represented on the big screen.

The quintessential sports films not only capture the glory of their respective sports, but also tell compelling stories that explore the human side of the competitors. Sports are often a symbol for the day-to-day struggles of humanity, and many of the best films embrace that theme with compelling characters that resonate with the audience.

Because of the universal appeal of sports, films on the subject tend to be popular at the box office. Unlike other genres that have plenty of hidden gems, the best sports movies are usually the most popular and successful of the bunch. Though it rarely happens elsewhere in cinema, high critical scores often go hand-in-hand with stellar box office numbers when it comes to sports films.

This is a list of the best sports movies of all time, but the actual ranking is determined by their box office numbers. Therefore, the film at the bottom isn't necessarily the worst, but merely the lowest-grossing. This list excludes documentaries like Hoop Dreams or When We Were Kings, and instead opts exclusively for narrative feature films. Unsurprisingly, all of these picks did pretty well at the box office.

10 Breaking Away (1979) - $20 million

With a small budget of only $2 million, Breaking Away is actually a profitable flick, despite being the lowest-grossing on the list. It concerns a recent high school grad who dreams of becoming a competitive bicycle racer in order to escape his working-class town. In a somewhat dour era of cinema, Breaking Away is a heartwarming coming-of-age movie.

The bike racing is the crux of the plot, but not really the point. The relationships between the characters and their respective dreams are the real driving force behind the film. Breaking Away scored several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, but ultimately lost to Kramer vs. Kramer.

9 Raging Bull (1980) - $23 Million

With additional costs considered, Raging Bull's $23 million box office indicates it is actually a bomb. The Martin Scorsese classic concerns boxer Jake LaMotta, and chronicles his turbulent life in and out of the squared circle. Robert De Niro puts on an acting masterclass as LaMotta, and it is a highlight of his collaborative career with Scorsese.

Raging Bull isn't just one of the best sports movies ever made, it's one of the best movies of the '80s. The boxing sequences brilliantly invoke the frenetic nature of fights, and the stellar makeup work helps tell the story of LaMotta's life throughout the years. The rise and fall narrative structure in Raging Bull is a precursor to Scorsese's later hits like Goodfellas.

8 Slap Shot (1977) - $28 Million

Though Slap Shot's financials indicate modest success, it is a stretch to call the legendary hockey flick a cult classic. Paul Newman stars as an aging player manager who resorts to extreme measures on the ice in order to keep the team from being sold. Hockey is the perfect sport to explore the working-class issues of the 1970s, especially in the declining industrial sector.

Slap Shot is remembered for its goofy scenes on the ice, particularly the ultra-violent Hanson brothers, but there is a lot more to the film than its humor. It's one of those movies that taps into the contemporary zeitgeist, and it is a perfect window into the mood of the late 1970s. $28 million isn't anything to shake a stick at, especially on a reported budget of only $6 million.

7 The Wrestler (2008) - $44 Million

Arguments may rage about the inclusion of The Wrestler on a list of sports movies, but Darren Aronofsky's masterpiece is too good not to include. Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke) is a washed-up professional wrestler who tries to resurrect his career, manage his declining health, and fix his relationship with his estranged daughter. The movie peels the curtain back on the wrestling business, and pulls no punches.

The drama comes first in The Wrestler, but its commitment to showing the reality of professional wrestling makes it a quintessential sports flick. It's unflinching and dour, and eschews the usual hopeful narrative in most sports movies. With Oscar nominations and a $44 million box office against a $6 million budget, The Wrestler is an undeniable hit.

6 Bull Durham (1988) - $50 Million

Kevin Costner's baseball movies are all great, but Bull Durham is an extra special case. On the minor league Durham Bulls, a veteran catcher (Costner) and a seasoned groupie (Susan Sarandon) bond over their efforts to teach a volatile rookie (Tim Robbins) how to be a pro. Bull Durham is a love story about the love of the game.

Other movies are simply about baseball, while Bull Durham captures the fanatical culture of America's pastime. It's funny and romantic in equal measure, but doesn't forget to have a lot of great baseball moments too. Few sports flicks have such a well-rounded approach to their stories. With a $50 million box office take, Bull Durham hit a home run in theaters.

5 Miracle (2004) - $64 Million

$64 million against a $28 million budget means that Miracle isn't a world-beating sports film, but that isn't all that important to the movie's legacy. The biographical film tells the story of the 1980 Men's U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, and their miraculous journey to the gold medal. One of the sport's greatest stories makes for one of its greatest films as well.

Kurt Russell leads the film as coach Herb Brooks, and he's the emotional anchor. The rest of the ensemble is strong as well, and the off-ice storylines are as compelling as the games themselves. A lot of biographical sports films lean too heavily on spectacle, but Miracle gives the viewer reasons to care other than patriotism and underdog excitement.

4 Field Of Dreams (1989) - $84 Million

With a box office take of over $84 million, Field of Dreams is Kevin Costner's highest-grossing baseball movie. In the film, he plays a farmer who is compelled to build a baseball diamond in his corn field so that the spirits of great players can return. Despite an odd premise at its heart, Field of Dreams is an emotional ride.

Like all the sports greats, it's a movie about ambition and hope. The game of baseball is often a metaphor for life itself, and Field of Dreams examines the almost spiritual side of the sport. Though it's light on baseball action, few films match the unabashed heart of Field of Dreams.

3 Moneyball (2011) - $110 Million

Moneyball is the newest sports movie GOAT, but it deserves just as much praise as the older greats. Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) uses advanced analytics to find the best players for the least amount of money. It's a movie about the nerdiest part of baseball, but it is never boring.

That's because Moneyball zeroes in on the human side of the game, examining why Billy is obsessed with his craft and what playing the sport means to the players. Though it uses unconventional means, Moneyball is a love letter to the romantic side of baseball. Unfortunately, $110 million against a $50 million budget means the film isn't particularly profitable with other costs factored in.

2 Remember The Titans (2000) - $136 Million

There are tons of great football movies out there, but Remember the Titans is the best of the best. In 1970s Virginia, an all-white and all-Black school are merged, and Coach Boone (Denzel Washington) must make them a winning football team. One marker of a great sports film is that that story is about something bigger than the game itself. Remember the Titans is a prime example.

Washington is electric as always, and the movie really understands the importance of football in small town America. There's a rosy sentimentality not usually found in football films, and that's what makes it such a nostalgic and rewarding experience. Remember the Titans made over $100 million more than its production budget, a stunning feat in sports movie history.

1 Rocky (1976) - $225 Million

Rocky is one of the highest-grossing sports movies ever made, on top of being one of the greatest sports movies in general. An aspiring boxer in Philadelphia (Sylvester Stallone) gets a chance to battle the champ, and must train for a new level of competition. Rocky is a boxing movie first and foremost, but it also has a compelling love story as well.

Stallone's working-class hero is the perfect audience surrogate, and his folksy simplicity immediately wins over the viewer. The impossible odds make everything a lot more tense, and the ending is a brilliant subversion of sports movie tropes. There's a reason an entire Rocky franchise exists, a rarity in the world of sports movies.

Sources: The Numbers. Box Office Mojo