Best Sports Series Worth Watching
In short: For scripted sports TV, watch Friday Night Lights, Ted Lasso (Season 4 is airing now) or Cobra Kai. For documentaries, The Last Dance, Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Sunderland 'Til I Die or Welcome to Wrexham. You don't need to like the sport for any of them; they're about people.
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Friday Night Lights (NBC, 2006-2011, 5 seasons). Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and his wife Tami (Connie Britton) guide the players of Dillon, Texas. The best family drama on this list, which happens to have football in it.
Ted Lasso (Apple TV, 2020 onward). Jason Sudeikis plays an American football coach hired to manage an English Premier League club he knows nothing about. Kind, funny and a multiple Emmy winner. Season 4, airing August 5 to October 7, 2026, sees Ted back in Richmond coaching a women's team.
Cobra Kai (YouTube Red, then Netflix, 2018-2025, 6 seasons). Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso from The Karate Kid, now middle-aged, reopen their rivalry through a new generation of students. Knowingly cheesy and very bingeable.
GLOW (Netflix, 2017-2019, 3 seasons). Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin in a comedy about a 1980s women's wrestling show. A fourth season was planned but cancelled during the pandemic, so it ends unresolved.
Documentaries
The Last Dance (ESPN and Netflix, 2020, 10 episodes). Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, built around behind-the-scenes footage shot that season. Emmy winner, and gripping even if you don't watch basketball.
Formula 1: Drive to Survive (Netflix, 2019 onward). A season per year, following teams and drivers through the championship. It's dramatised in places, but it turned many viewers into F1 fans.
Sunderland 'Til I Die (Netflix, 2018-2024, 3 seasons). A historic club in freefall, and a city that won't give up on it. Painfully honest about what football means to a community.
Welcome to Wrexham (FX, 2022 onward). Actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buy Wrexham AFC, a Welsh club then in English football's fifth tier, and follow its rise through the leagues. Warm, funny and surprisingly emotional.
Our verdict
For drama, Friday Night Lights. For a feel-good watch, Ted Lasso. For a documentary that plays like a thriller, The Last Dance.
Frequently asked questions
When is Ted Lasso Season 4? It premiered on Apple TV on August 5, 2026, with ten weekly episodes running to October 7. Ted returns to Richmond to coach a second-division women's team.
What's the best sports documentary series? The Last Dance is the most acclaimed, winning the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. Drive to Survive is credited with growing Formula 1's audience, especially in the US.
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