Best Sports Documentaries

List Hai Toh Hit Hai

Due to the rise in the popularity of online streaming platforms, Docuseries has become a current trend that has taken the world by storm. One of the most common themes to emerge up here is the sports genre. Sports has always been a highlight for moviemakers for long, filming sports documentaries of great players has been a great challenge for them. The inside stories, specific interviews and behind the scenes looks are captured marvellously giving these documentaries a whopping hit.

The Last Dance

It is a 2020 Sports Documentary miniseries with 10 episodes that was co-produced by ESPN and Netflix. The show has set a benchmark amongst all sports documentaries made till date, bagging the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary miniseries. The series showcases the career of American former basketball player Michael Jordan during the rise of the Chicago Bulls in the 90s and covers some of his past and present interviews. It also features interviews of many other NBA players including Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, Phil Jackson and Steve Kerr. A must watch for any sports enthusiast.

OTTplay Rating - 9.4

Available - Exclusively on Netflix

Schumacher

The Netflix documentary chronicles the journey of Formula One legend Michael Schumacher from his early years in F1 teams Jordan and Benetton, to his dominance in the early 2000s with Ferrari, and his return to the sport with Mercedes. The film features interviews with his family, including brother Ralf, a former F1 driver, and son Mick, who drives for Haas in the ongoing F1 calendar. There are also fascinating insights provided by former colleagues Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Damon Hill, and his longtime time rival Mika Häkkinen.

Formula 1 : Drive to Survive

A 2019 sports documentary series is a collaboration of Formula One and Netflix. A truly engaging show that never fails to bring in the adrenaline rush, excitement and emotions of the F1 fans. The series follows the behind-the-scenes glance of races of the Formula One World Championship. Currently airing the third season, it features the inside stories of the high octane speed machines that are driven by the world’s fastest drivers.

OTTplay Rating - 8.8

Available - Exclusively on Netflix

Untold: Deal with the Devil

This is a 2021 biographical sports documentary of America’s former boxer Christy Martin. The series has promisingly highlighted the life story of Martin that includes her success and failures and depicts how she competed in her boxing championships while also dealing with an abusive husband and her coach Jim Martin who was found guilty of shooting and stabbing her was sentenced to jail. Kudos to the production team for covering the interviews of the victim and accused which is unusual.

OTTplay Rating - 7.3

Available - Exclusively on Netflix
Break Point

An Indian sports documentary series with a total of 7 episodes is based on the success story of the duo tennis players Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. They were not only childhood friends but grew up picking tennis as their interest. They were teamed up for the Men’s doubles Tennis Tournament winning them a smashing Doubles number 1 title in 1997. The show follows a few highlights from their childhood life and entry into the Tennis sport, and incidents that grew them apart with their differences never to get back as a team in any future tournaments.

OTTplay Rating - 9.0

Available - Vi and Zee5

Sunderland ‘Til I Die

Released in 2018 this docu-series is all about the English football club Sunderland A.F.C. The show has two seasons with a total of 7 episodes. The series follows the locals of Sunderland football club who are driven by their passion for the game. Season 1 focussed on the EFL Championship having been relegated from the Premier League in 2017. After the series success, the producers documented the 2018 championship in season 2.

OTTplay Rating - 7.6

Available - Exclusively on Netflix

At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal

A 2019 American crime documentary film that is based on the life story of USA gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar. The film shows how Nassar sexually abused and molested close to 200 young female gymnasts, who were minors. Though it was quite disturbing, the US gymnastics official kept this crime under cover until all those victims came forward to show Nassar’s cruel face to the world.

OTTplay Rating - 7.7

Available - Disney + Hotstar

Well, that's the List hai toh hit hain theme special for today, I shall be back again tomorrow with a brand new theme, until then it’s your host Nikhil signing out.

Aaj kya dekhoge OTTplay se poocho!