Signature films for professional sports franchises

Cafe Society
1

We know that fictional sports teams are often created for movies (Roy Hobbs plays for the New York Knights in The Natural, for example). But sometimes, real sports franchises (past or present) are used–either to recount a moment in their history, or to lend a greater feeling of authenticity to a fictional story.

So, the purpose of this thread is to cite the signature film–most iconic or prominent–for every professional sports franchise out there. A few rules:

  1. Theatrical films only.
  2. No documentaries.
  3. Priority goes to films about the franchise and its players, then about their fans, and then any other plot point that might depict or reference that team.

I’ll start with some baseball titles, but feel free to add your picks for football, basketball, or hockey.

Boston Red Sox - Fear Strikes Out
Brooklyn Dodgers - 42
California Angels - Angels in the Outfield (1994)
Chicago Cubs - Rookie of the Year
Chicago White Sox - Eight Men Out
Cleveland Indians - Major League
Detroit Tigers - For the Love of the Game
Minnesota Twins - Little Big League
New York Yankees - The Pride of the Yankees
Oakland A’s - Moneyball
Pittsburgh Pirates - Angels in the Outfield (1951)
San Francisco Giants - The Fan
St. Louis Cardinals - The Pride of St. Louis
Tampa Bay Devil Rays - The Rookie

Any thoughts on other MLB teams, or other films you think better represent a certain club already listed?

2

New York Mets: Men in Black. They even used it as a team nickname for a few years.

And yes, the team is shown, notably Bernard Gilkey.

3

Isn’t that actually Men in Black 3? Yes, great example.

4

Fun idea. The baseball section will be the biggest.
Different MLB pick:
New York Yankees - 61*

More MLB:
Los Angeles Dodgers - The Sandlot
Milwaukee Brewers - Mr. 3000

Non-MLB professional baseball:
Durham Bulls (Carolina League) - Bull Durham
Kansas City Monarchs (Negro American League) - Soul of the Game
Rockford Peaches (All-American Girls Professional Baseball League) - A League of Their Own
Swing of the Quad Cities (Midwest League) - Sugar

5

Pittsburgh Pythons/Pisces: The Fish that Save Pittsburgh
The ABA: Semi-Pro

6

New York Knicks - Eddie.

Well, it is about the Knicks, and that’s about how good they are now.

It’s funny, the Dallas Cowboys get proxied in two films, Debbie Does Dallas and North Dallas Forty. But neither counts because the teams don’t actually get called the Dallas Cowboys.

7

Too bad you excluded made-for-TV movies. Or else I would nominate Brian’s Song for the Chicago Bears and Fighting Back for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

8

Los Angeles Rams- Heaven Can Wait
Chicago Bears- Brian’s Song

9

I noticed you also excluded documentaries, so that would also disqualify these films as they were docudramas. I withdraw my nomination of these movies.

10

Boston Red Sox - Fever Pitch

Boston Celtics - Celtic Pride

Chicago Bears - Brian’s Song

11

The Mighty Ducks - The Anaheim Ducks.

12

Cleveland Browns - Draft Day

13

Sudden Death-Pittsurgh Penguins (NHL)
The Harlem Globetrotters had a 1951 movie.

14

If real teams named after fictional ones count, then there’s also the Johnstown Chiefs, from Slap Shot.

17

Don’t forget the Isotopes.

18

Actually, it would be the Minnesota North Stars.

19

For the NY Jets, the book is Semi Tough. Even as a fan, I’ll call them the Dog-ass Jets. I don’t know if they used the term in the movie, though.

20

Philadelphia Eagles Invincible

21

Leeds United- The Damned United

22

What’s the line between documentaries and fictionalized-but-based-closely-on-real-people-and-events like 42 or Eight Men Out?