Best Sports Movie ESPY Award

The Best Sports Movie ESPY Award was an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual from the world of sports film making. It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2002, and was discontinued nine years later.^[1] The Best Sports Movie ESPY Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan,^[2] was bestowed annually to the sports film adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year.^[1] From 2004 onward, the winner was chosen by online voting through choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee.^[3] Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts.^[4] Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.^[a][5]

Best Sports Movie ESPY Award
Awarded for	best sports film
Location	Los Angeles (2011)
Presented by	ESPN
First award	2002
Final award	2011
Currently held by	The Fighter (USA)
Website	www.espn.co.uk/espys/

The inaugural winner of the Best Sports Movie ESPY Award in 2002 was the baseball themed film The Rookie released the same year. It is based on the true story of Jim Morris' minor but notable Major League Baseball career.^[6] Films that predominantly feature American football have received the award more than any other sport, with three wins and six further nominations, followed by baseball and basketball with two victories apiece, and were nominated twice. John Lee Hancock is the director who holds more victories than any one else, one for The Rookie, and a second for The Blind Side (2010).^[7] The two sports with the most nominations that did not win the award are golf and horse racing, with three each.^[7][8] The final winner of the Best Sports Movie ESPY Award in 2011 was the Boxing film The Fighter, which centers on the lives of former professional boxers Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund, and the issues they are confronted with in both their personal and professional lives.^[9][10]

Winners

Gurinder Chadha's film Bend It Like Beckham was the only soccer film to win the award in 2003.

In 2011, The Fighter, directed by David O. Russell, was the final film to be voted the winner of the award.

Best Sports Movie ESPY Award winners and nominees

Year	Film	Director	Sport featured	Nominees	Refs
2002	The Rookie	John Lee Hancock	Baseball	61* – Baseball Ali – Boxing Joe and Max – Boxing Monday Night Mayhem – American football	[6][7]
2003	Bend It Like Beckham	Gurinder Chadha	Association football (soccer)	A Gentleman's Game – Golf Like Mike – Basketball Poolhall Junkies – Pool The Junction Boys – College football	[7][11]
2004	Miracle	Gavin O'Connor	Ice hockey	Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius – Golf DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story – Dodgeball Radio – American football Seabiscuit – Horse racing	[7][12]
2005	Friday Night Lights	Peter Berg	American football	Cinderella Man – Boxing Coach Carter – Basketball Million Dollar Baby – Boxing	[13][14]
2006	Glory Road	James Gartner	Basketball	Dreamer – Horse racing Four Minutes – Track and field The Greatest Game Ever Played – Golf	[7][15]
2007	Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby	Adam McKay	Stock car racing	Invincible   American football Pride – Swimming We Are Marshall – American football	[7][16]
2008	Semi-Pro	Kent Alterman	Basketball	The Game Plan – American football Leatherheads – American football Resurrecting the Champ – Boxing	[17][18]
2009	The Express: The Ernie Davis Story	Gary Fleder	American football	Sugar – Baseball The Wrestler – Pro Wrestling	[7][19]
2010	The Blind Side	John Lee Hancock	American football	Big Fan – American Football The Damned United – Soccer Invictus – Rugby union The Karate Kid – Martial arts	[20][21]
2011	The Fighter	David O. Russell	Boxing	Secretariat – Horse racing Soul Surfer – Surfing Win Win – Wrestling	[8][9]

See also

• List of film awards