In search of authenticity for sports movies, studios often take on leagues and athletes as partners and producers, giving their films the imprimatur of the pros.
Take the 2014 Kevin Costner film Draft Day, which was partially filmed at the NFL draft, where commissioner Roger Goodell read lines for the movie. Or Formula One, which was heavily involved in the making of F1: The Movie. Legendary driver Lewis Hamilton even got a producer credit.
But when it comes to the highest-grossing sports movies of all time, cinemagoers often prefer movies that don’t strive for authenticity or realism at all. What they want is Cars.
You may have forgotten that the Pixar trilogy isn’t just about cars—it’s about car racing, with Steve McQueen trying to win the Piston Cup and, in Cars 2, the World Grand Prix. That 2011 sequel raked in nearly $560 million across the globe to become the highest-grossing sports movie of all time worldwide. And its $191.5 million haul in the U.S. and Canada places it on the podium at #3 domestically. Cars and Cars 3 are also in the top 10 for both the U.S. and worldwide charts.
If you don’t count animated films, live-action motorsports movies still play well both internationally and domestically. The Will Ferrell comedy Talladega Nights was in the top-10 domestically with $148.2 million, until F1: The Movie knocked it out this year. And Pegasus 2, a 2024 Chinese film about rally-car racing, clocked in at #5 on the worldwide charts ($422.9 million).
Boxing also punches above its weight. Creed III ($156.2 million domestic) and China’s Yolo ($433.6 million worldwide) each made one of our lists.
And then there’s football.
While it may be the most popular sport in the U.S., its cultural imprint is much smaller abroad, if our list of films is any indication. While only one football movie is in the top 10 worldwide, four make the domestic top 10: The Blind Side ($256 million) is the all-time domestic box office leader, and it’s joined on that list by The Waterboy ($161.5 million), The Longest Yard ($158.1 million), and Jerry Maguire ($154 million).
(We’re counting you, Jerry, because you complete…this list.)
Ranking the Highest-Grossing Sports Movies of All Time
Here are the lists of the 10 highest-grossing sports movies of all time domestically and worldwide. The lists were compiled using data from Box Office Mojo.
Highest-Grossing Sports Movies Domestically (US and Canada)
| Rank | Movie | Sport | Lifetime Domestic Gross |
| 1 | The Blind Side (2009) | Football | $256 million |
| 2 | Cars (2006) | Auto Racing | $244.1m |
| 3 | Cars 2 (2011) | Auto Racing | $191.5m |
| 4 | The Karate Kid (2010) | Martial Arts | $176.6m |
| 5 | The Waterboy (1998) | Football | $161.5m |
| 6 | The Longest Yard (2005) | Football | $158.1m |
| 7 | Creed III (2023) | Boxing | $156.2m |
| 8 | F1: The Movie (2025) | Auto Racing | $155.1m |
| 9 | Jerry Maguire (1996) | Football (etc) | $154.0m |
| 10 | Cars 3 (2017) | Auto Racing | $152.9m |
Highest-Grossing Sports Movies Worldwide
| Rank | Movie | Sport | Lifetime Worldwide Gross |
| 1 | Cars 2 (2011) | Auto Racing | $559.9m |
| 2 | F1: The Movie (2025) | Auto Racing | $464.3m |
| 3 | Cars (2006) | Auto Racing | $462.0m |
| 4 | Yolo (2024) (China) | Boxing | $433.6m |
| 5 | Pegasus 2 (2024) (China) | Auto Racing | $422.9m |
| 6 | Cars 3 (2017) | Auto Racing | $383.9m |
| 7 | Hello Mr Billionaire (2018) (China) | Soccer | $367.0m |
| 8 | The Karate Kid (2010) | Martial Arts | $359.1m |
| 9 | The Blind Side (2009) | Football | $309.2m |
| 10 | Dangal (2016) (India) | Wrestling | $303.7m |
Updated: July 23, 2025
