9 sports TV shows to binge without real sports to watch

There are no more live sports on TV — at least for a while — but there is still plenty of sports-related programming to ease the sting of sports’ absence. From sitcoms to dramas to docuseries, there are shows to suit almost anyone’s binging needs now that doubleheaders are no longer an option.

Of course, your first stop should be the SB Nation YouTube channel, which has oodles of videos about the wildest, weirdest and best moments in sports, including some that are purely hypothetical. But once you’re done watching a few (dozen) episodes of Rewinder and Fumble Dimension, check out the list below for of some of the SB Nation staff’s favorite shows, with information on where to find them.

Sports Night (1998)

Most episodes available on YouTube, others purchasable online

Before Aaron Sorkin went off the deep end and became a parody of his own writing style, his first TV show Sports Night was a highly entertaining sitcom about a nightly SportsCenter-type show. Featuring many special guests from the late 1990s in sports!

— Pete Volk

The only non-awful Sorkin show. Robert Krause will never transcend his role as the Keith Olbermann of an alternate timeline.

— John Ness

Friday Night Lights (2006)

Available on Hulu, Starz and NBC

If not the grand-daddy of them all, FNL is at least the grand-daddy of a whole sub-genre of small town-meets-big sports dreams reality series (Cheer, Last Chance U, QB1: Beyond the Lights, etc. — all worth watching in their own right). That’s how affecting this show is: its closest analogues depict a gorgeously edited, still tragic reality. FNL’s roots are in non-fiction (the book of the same name by Buzz Bissinger), but the strength of the acting, the plot (even if Season 2, filmed during the 2007-08 writer’s strike, is controversial) and rough-hewn cinematography fuel its realism. FNL painted an unflinching portrait of an American heartland where football is central, but not everything. The parts of the show that take place off the field tend to be the ones that stick with you most. Clear eyes, full hearts — if you don’t already know the rest, you absolutely must watch this show.

— Natalie Weiner

Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019)

Available on Netflix

Kim McCauley laid out all the reasons why this show rocks, both as an intro to the mad world of Formula 1 and as flat-out entertaining television.

— Pete Volk

Ballers (2015)

Available on HBO

This is TV at its silliest and least demanding, which might just be pitch perfect for this particular moment. The Rock doing just about anything is entertaining. In this case, he plays a harder luck version of himself: a retired professional football player. Cameos from just about every relevant professional athlete, as well as topical (if not wholly realistic) storylines make it sing. Escapism at its finest.

— Natalie Weiner

Sarah and Duck (2013)

Available for purchase

Sarah and Duck is a children’s show about a little girl named Sarah and her best friend, a duck. Neither are very good at sports. But Sarah and Duck also features one of the most skillful athletes in the history of children’s television. Scarf Lady is a multi-sport genius. She participated — many decades ago, admittedly — at elite level in ice hockey, figure skating and bobsled, winning gold in the latter. Even in her old age she’s active in the nascent sport of hot air balloon racing. Far from being hung up about past glories, Scarf Lady is humble about her many achievements, enthusiastically inviting Sarah and her friends to participate whenever they show any interest. Any show with Scarf Lady in it is de facto sports.

— Graham MacAree

Avatar: The Legend of Korra (2012)

Available on CBS All-Access and DirecTV

Cheating a bit here, as both Avatar series are among my favorites ever and I wanted to find a way to fit one in here. The Legend of Korra heavily features a pro-bending league, an awesome fictional sport to which the show’s writers clearly dedicated a lot of time figuring out the minutiae.

— Pete Volk

Brockmire (2017)

Available on Hulu

Hank Azaria plays an MLB announcer, named Jim Brockmire, who has a meltdown on air after finding out his wife cheated on him (it’s bigger than that, but that’s the basic idea). He ends up getting hired by Amanda Peet, who owns what appears to be an independent Minor League Baseball team. The show is about Brockmire’s lows and highs. He goes through rehab at one point. He acknowledges he has all sorts of problems. It parses through his various relationships. But the show also uses baseball to center him, and it’s fantastic if you’re a baseball fan. The best part of the show might be his love/hate relationship with Joe Buck, who makes semi-regular, hysterical cameos on the show. Also, Brockmire claims to be responsible for Bob Costas getting pink eye at the Sochi Olympics. I think that should be enough to justify watching it.

— David Fucillo

All American (2018)

Available on Netflix and The CW

Don’t be put off by the CW teen drama gloss, All American is a smart look at how race and class divisions are amplified by football. With lots of heightened drama that mostly steers clear of after-school special-style moralizing, the show impressively navigates a lot of issues around racism and poverty that a lot of others wouldn’t touch.

— Natalie Weiner

Pitch (2016)

Available for purchase

A really, really smart and thoughtful show based on the hypothetical first woman to make it in MLB (she’s got a killer screwball). It deserved way more than the 10 episodes it got. Makes for an easy binge, though.

— Natalie Weiner