Maybe it's the Men's FIFA World Cup, the onset of Wimbledon season, the Knicks winning in five, or simply a hangover from the phenomenon of Heated Rivalry (and rumours of its forthcoming second season), but something has got us feeling a little extra sporty right now. We're donning jerseys, downloading Kayo, and entering our spectator era.
But if what you're looking for is a little romance – both on and off the field (or court, or whatever surface you prefer to play ball on), then we've got some recs for you. From mega-watt TV shows to classic films – these are our pick of the best in sport romance movies and tv shows.
1. The Cutting Edge (1992)
Where to stream: Amazon Prime Video
Screwball romance. Ice-rink battlefield. Paul Michael Glaser’s cult favourite pairs Olympic figure skating with hockey grit, casting D.B. Sweeney as a sidelined hockey player and Moira Kelly as an exacting pairs skater whose chemistry is combustible. The film is set against the elite world of winter sport and probably best remembered for its endlessly quoted finale. It's a perfect precursor to later enemies-to-lovers sports romances.
2. Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Where to stream: Stan
Few sports films have captured the intersection of identity, ambition and belonging as deftly as Gurinder Chadha’s London-set hit, which launched Keira Knightley's rising star, alongside Parminder Nagra, while using women’s football as a lens through which to explore family, migration and cultural expectation. It's so warm, funny and pretty radical for an early 2000s plot. A modern British classic if you ask us.
3. She's the Man (2006)
Where to stream: Stan or Amazon Prime Video
Inspired by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night but filtered through the genre of a mid-2000s teen comedy, Andy Fickman’s film sees Amanda Bynes disguise herself as her twin brother to compete in elite high-school soccer opposite a young Channing Tatum. What could have been a disposable gender-swap farce has somehow endured through the last two decades though – it's endlessly quoteable, and a beloved cult fave.
4. Challengers (2024)
Where to stream: Amazon Prime Video
With Luca Guadagnino directing and Zendaya commanding the screen alongside Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, Challengers transformed professional tennis into something closer to a psychological chamber drama. It has this kind of kinetic visual style, and a pulsating score courtesy of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It's overall a pretty thorny examination of ambition, desire and competition.
5. Heated Rivalry (2025)
Where to stream: Amazon Prime Video
Adapted from Rachel Reid’s celebrated queer sports romance novel, Heated Rivalry centres on the years-long relationship between two elite professional hockey rivals whose fiercest competition unfolds as much off the ice as on it. It combines this sense of emotional intimacy with a physical intensity. Of course, the project arrived with considerable anticipation from readers, but has since became the source material of a modern genre phenomenon.
6. But I’m a Cheerleader (2000)
Where to stream: Tubi and SBS On Demand
Jamie Babbit’s candy-coloured satire is ludicrously underrated and casts a baby-faced Natasha Lyonne as a teenage cheerleader sent to a conversion therapy camp. It uses exaggerated Americana and razor-sharp humour to dismantle assumptions about gender, sexuality and conformity. It was initially divisive, but later embraced as a landmark queer cult classic.
7. A League of Their Own (1992)
Where to stream: BINGE and Foxtel Now
Penny Marshall’s beloved ensemble drama revisits the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of the Second World War era, bringing together Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Rosie O’Donnell, Madonna and Tom Hanks in one of the decade’s most memorable casts. Yes, it's a sports film, but it's also a bit of a historical tribute and feminist crowd-pleaser too.
8. Blue Crush (2002)
Where to stream: BINGE and Foxtel Now
Filmed on location on Oahu’s North Shore, John Stockwell’s surf drama follows Kate Bosworth as an aspiring surfer chasing professional success amid Hawaii’s competitive surf scene. The film itself is revered for its immersive water cinematography and portrayal of female athletes with seriousness. It also helped bring women’s surfing into the mainstream well before the sport’s Olympic debut.
9. The Hustler (1961)
Where to stream: available to rent or buy on the Apple TV Store and Prime Video Store
Before sports films became synonymous with triumphant underdogs, Robert Rossen’s noir-inflected masterpiece used pool halls and high-stakes billiards to explore obsession, self-destruction and the corrosive pursuit of greatness, with the inimitable Paul Newman delivering one of the defining performances of his career as “Fast Eddie” Felson. The film won two Academy Awards and is considered one of the greatest American films ever made.
10. Wimbledon (2004)
Where to stream: BINGE and Foxtel Now
Roger Michell’s charming romantic comedy places professional tennis at the centre of a classic British love story, pairing Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany against the backdrop of the sport’s most prestigious tournament at the All England Club. It's light, breezy and unabashedly crowd-pleasing.
11. Off Campus (2026)
Where to stream: Amazon Prime Video
Based on Elle Kennedy’s enormously popular hockey romance series, Off Campus is a newer addition to the sporting romances on screen. It's got elite ice hockey teams, collegiate campuses and emotionally charged relationships – all the makings of a hit TV show. It only debuted in April, so it's arrived amid a boom in literary adaptations and sports-centred romance narratives.
12. Love & Basketball (2000)
Where to stream: available to rent or buy on the Apple TV Store
Gina Prince-Bythewood’s debut feature follows the intertwined lives of aspiring basketball players Monica and Quincy, played by Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps, charting their relationship from childhood through the pressures of elite competition and adulthood. It's a film that remains a touchstone of both sports cinema and romantic drama.
Looking for more films that itch that romance scratch? We've curated a list of frustratingly good movies that are full of yearning.
