From the Field to the Screen: The Power of Sports Films and Documentaries in Shaping Brands and Identities

April 9, 2026

By: Andre Lo

Courtesy of Maxim Hopman via Unsplash

We often see sports as a form of entertainment that exists on the field. But in reality, their purpose extends beyond grassy turfs, wooden courts and frozen rinks. Sports are entities that exist as means of storytelling and brand engagement. They operate at the intersection of competition and culture, where every rivalry and legacy contributes to a larger narrative that extends far beyond the final score. Sports create communities and captivate hearts.

However, at their core, sports serve as businesses, necessitating fan loyalty and emotional investment to build their enterprises. Every moment on the field, and every decision made off it, combine to create an identifiable brand that speaks to fanbases and engages new audiences. Organizations are not just competing for victory in games; they are competing for attention and following in an increasingly crowded entertainment landscape.

To further cultivate their brands, sports have ventured into the realm of television and film. What was once merely supplementary content has now evolved into an integral piece of sports marketing strategies. Visual content allows sports leagues and teams to go beyond the on-field product, offering fans deeper insight, reshaping their perception, and expanding the reach of the brand of a team, a league, or a sport in general. In an era where attention is currency, these visual narratives serve as powerful vehicles for brand-building and cultural repositioning.

The Mighty Ducks (1992): Expanding and Growing Hockey across America

In October 1992, The Walt Disney Company, a pillar of children’s animated films, released a movie that was significantly different from its usual catalog. The Mighty Ducks was a live-action film that follows disgraced lawyer Gordon Bombay, who is arrested for drunk driving and is sentenced to community service in the form of coaching a youth hockey team. Due to his tortured past as a hockey player himself, he is reluctant and unmotivated at first, but he eventually grows fond of his team and starts coaching them properly, eventually leading his squad to win the state championship. The film was widely successful, making around $50 million USD at the box office, more than tripling its budget. 

Courtesy of Cinemablend  

At first glance, the film merely seemed like a typical underdog sports story. Yet, The Mighty Ducks would go on to have an undeniable impact on the growth of hockey in the United States.

At the time, hockey’s popularity in America was limited, mainly being rooted in the Northern and Eastern parts of the United States, as sports such as basketball, baseball, and American football were the hot topics. This is where The Mighty Ducks came into play. Children loved the film’s comedic and feel-good story, but more importantly, it exposed the sport of hockey to those who had never experienced it before. 

Around the same time, the NHL slowly started to venture into the Southern and Western markets. Superstar Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988, and there were teams beginning to be established in San Jose, Phoenix, Tampa Bay, and (soon-to-be) Florida, all in an effort to expand their reach and grow the game to show that the sport could exist in warmer-weather markets. 

Disney, led by Michael Eisner, decided to hop on the bandwagon, as only a year after the movie’s release, a franchise was created in Anaheim, and the team would be named after the movie. The kids who grew up with the movie immediately became fans of the team. Furthermore, Disney’s already established presence across America led to the growth of both the team and the sport’s popularity. Across the nation, Disney stores sold memorabilia of the team, and the streets became teeming with kids and adults donning the team’s logo, leading to The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim franchise accounting for 80% of all NHL merchandise sales in their first year alone.  

Courtesy of The Los Angeles Times  

As a result, the movie led to the growth of hockey across the country. Interest in the sport soon began to rise, as the registration for USA Hockey grew from 200,000 players in 1990 to 439,000 in 2000. By around the same time, the number of Americans in the NHL had grown from 2% to 15%. Many current NHL stars attribute the film to what inspired them to play hockey, with Team USA’s captain, Auston Matthews (who was born in California and raised in Arizona), saying that The Mighty Ducks was his favorite movie growing up. The film is often cited as the most iconic hockey movie and has left an undeniable impact on the hockey landscape across the United States, allowing the nation to grow into a hockey superpower. 

Courtesy of The Denver Post  

The Last Dance (2020): Reinventing the Genre and Keeping People engaged in Dark Times

In April 2020, The Last Dance premiered on ESPN before later being released on Netflix. The 10-part docuseries chronicled the career of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dynasty in the 1990s, displaying behind-the-scenes footage and exclusive interviews that were never seen before, showing the internal struggles, the hard-fought battles, and the glorious triumphs the team faced. The series was an instant hit, averaging 5.6 million viewers per episode in the U.S. and over 23.8 million global viewers during its first 4 weeks on Netflix.  

Courtesy of ESPN  

The timing of the documentary couldn’t have been any better. We were in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had brought the whole world to a standstill. Sports were no exception, as games were cancelled and leagues were shut down. Live sports had come to a halt, meaning that fans had a massive hole that needed to be filled. Hence, The Last Dance seized this opportunity, grabbing the attention of sports fanatics who had been starved of content. The documentary became a cultural phenomenon; it was must-see TV, as it spawned 

countless viral and iconic moments, memes, and talking points, keeping people engaged during this hiatus.

At the same time, the documentary created a narrative centred around nostalgia and drama, inciting discussions that allowed audiences to connect with the past and redefine legacies. Michael Jordan was the focal point of the documentary; the cameras followed his every action and recorded his every word, allowing the viewer to not only see his intensity and competitive drive but also to understand his emotional complexities and personal aspects of his life. We saw the different sides of him: a winner, an ego, an addict, a son, and most importantly, a human being. But this wasn't just limited to him, as we also saw the perspectives and dynamics of his teammates (Scottie Pippen, Stever Kerr, Dennis Rodman), his coaches (Doug Collins, Phil Jackson), and his greatest rivals (Isiah Thomas, Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley).

Courtesy of TechRadar  

The reanalysis of his legacy brought back one of basketball’s most quintessential debates: Who is the GOAT? The nostalgia of the 1990s resurfaced through the documentary, allowing older fans to relive it and younger audiences to witness it for the first time. The docuseries added fuel to the fire of who was greater between Michael Jordan and LeBron James (it’s obviously MJ, but Neil might disagree), as it reinforced Jordan’s case with the mythos that surrounded his career.

The Last Dance showed the power of sports documentaries. It didn’t just preserve history as an artifact, but brought it into the modern era for people to experience it in full force. It redefined the genre of sports documentaries, transforming them from simple retrospectives into cinematic, character-driven narratives that can rival live sports in both engagement and cultural impact.

Sunderland Til’ I Die (2018): Rebuilding a Team’s Image and Reputation

In December 2018, the docuseries Sunderland 'Til I Die was released on Netflix. It followed the journey of English football club Sunderland AFC, tracking their progress during the 2017-2018 season in the Championship after being relegated from the Premier League. Similar to The Last Dance, live footage from matches was used, as well as exclusive interviews with players and staff, and a behind-the-scenes view in the boardroom regarding financial decisions and recruitment meetings, giving us the viewer a fly-on-the-wall experience into the inner workings of a professional football club.

Courtesy of The Guardian  

When we often watch sports documentaries, we expect to see the team triumph, ending with a happy ending in the form of a championship. But Sunderland ‘Til I Die isn’t one of these shows. It was far from it.

Instead of getting a story of redemption, Sunderland dismally finished bottom of the Championship, getting themselves relegated back-to-back seasons. Instead of capturing glory and triumph, the cameras captured dysfunction: three different managers in a single season, a drink-driving scandal, players actively quitting on the club, and ongoing instability and incompetence within leadership. Despite how disastrous the season went, the docuseries was renewed for a second season to document the team in League One, where the misery continued as they would fail to get out of the third division.

Yet somehow, despite the documentary capturing everything wrong with Sunderland AFC, people still resonated with it. Many people appreciated the raw and unfiltered nature of the documentary; it felt like an honest and genuine representation of a club in free-fall. There was no sugar coating of the situation nor any propaganda or false portrayals of reality. This was the display of pure, unadulterated dross, yet it was unabashedly authentic, and the audience appreciated the fact that it had nothing to hide.

But amidst the despair and chaos, one aspect of the club emerged stronger than ever: the reputation of its supporters. The production company Fulwell 73 created the series not only as an informative, introspective piece of media, but also as a love letter to Sunderland AFC, a team they themselves supported. The series highlighted the unwavering loyalty of Sunderland’s fanbase, how, despite the constant disappointment and disarray, they always stuck by their team. Sunderland AFC wasn't merely just a struggling football club; it was a symbol of the identity and perseverance of the city and its people during dark times. By making this documentary, Fulwell 73 didn’t celebrate success in the traditional sense but instead celebrated the meaning of the club to its community, strengthening the emotional branding of Sunderland AFC.

Courtesy of The Athletic  

Sunderland ‘Til I Die would eventually get a season 3, capturing the club’s eventual promotion back to the Championship. The narrative had come full circle; the fans who had suffered the heartbreak and endured the hardship prior were rewarded with pure ecstasy. Those who had followed their struggle and journey felt the same sense of joy and release. Sunderland ‘Til I Die shows the true power in sports storytelling. Whilst it doesn’t recount mythology or success, it instead uses vulnerability and failure to shape how a club and its fanbase are remembered.

The Future of Sports Storytelling

Though sports are primarily played on the field, their representation in visual entertainment is instrumental in how they are perceived. What The Mighty Ducks, The Last Dance, and Sunderland 'Til I Die all ultimately reveal is that these types of media aren’t just a reflection of a sport; they instead use storytelling as a driving force in growth and legacy. They give fans a reason to care.

The future of sports will no longer be restricted to in-game moments, but more so on how these moments are framed, remembered, and told. Fandom is no longer just built through competition, but also through connection; the brands that fans can resonate with more are the ones that provide genuine meaning to their audiences.