Sport and Film

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by Seán Crosson

Type

Studies

Subject

General

Keywords

sports

Publishing date

2026 (February 13, 2026)

Publisher

Routledge

Collection

Frontiers of Sport
2nd edition

1st publishing

2013

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 270 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15.5 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-1-032-29480-3

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Book Presentation:
Now in a fully revised and updated new edition, Sport and Film examines the social, cultural, historical, and ideological significance of representations of sport in film around the world. It is an essential guide for all students and enthusiasts of sport, film, media, and culture.

This book traces the history of the sports film, from the beginnings of cinema in the 1890s, its consolidation as a distinct fiction genre in the mid‑1920s in Hollywood films such as Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman, to its contemporary manifestation in Oscar‑winning and nominated films such as Million Dollar Baby, The Fighter, and Creed. Drawing on an extensive range of films as source material, this book explores key issues in the study of sport, film, and wider society, including race, social class, gender, and national culture. It also offers an invaluable guide to ‘reading’ a film, to help students fully engage with their source material. This new edition also includes a new chapter on sport documentaries, a consideration of Russian sport cinema, new pedagogical features – including review questions, proposed projects, case studies, and definitions of key terms – to enhance the reader’s understanding, and a consideration of the significance of sport and sport cinema with regard to the election of businessman and media personality Donald Trump as President of the United States.

Comprehensive, authoritative, and accessible, this is an essential text for any course on sport media, and invaluable reading for general courses on sport and society, film studies, or cultural studies.

A dedicated website with further resources is available at sportandfilm.eu.

About the Author:
Seán Crosson is Associate Professor of Film in the Huston School of Film & Digital Media at the University of Galway, Ireland. He is leader of the Sport in European Cinema project (https://sportandfilm.eu).

Press Reviews:
"Sport and Film is an important addition to the literature which, though not primarily historical in orientation, will be of considerable interest to sports historians." – Marcus Free, The International Journal of the History of Sport, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland

"Seán Crosson can be deservedly said to have moved the ‘frontiers of sport’ and should inspire students to engage with both sport in film and film in sport." – John Bale, Sport in History, Keele University, UK

See the publisher website: Routledge