''BT Sport Films'' are a series of

feature-length A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

sports documentary films airing on the British subscription sports channels

BT Sport TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...

. While the majority of films are about football, other sports covered include rugby, cricket, boxing, UFC, judo, speedway and MotoGP. In July 2023,

TNT Sports TNT Sports is the brand name for sports television channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world that are owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The name originates from the American cable television ...

replaced BT Sport but repeats of BT Sport Films continue to be shown, alongside new films, under the banner of ''TNT Sports Films''.

Background

The initial run of seven films was conceived prior to the launch of BT Sport in 2013, with the first film being shown on the channel's third day on air. The commissioning editors for the series have been Jamie Hindhaugh, Barry Andrews, Sally Brown, Simon Green and Grant Best. A number of the films have received a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

, in which case ''BT Sport Films'' is usually credited as one of the production companies. On most occasions, the first transmission of a film will be commercial-free, with versions including commercial breaks used for subsequent broadcasts. The films are shown on the BT Sport channels alongside documentaries from

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, including ''

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes four "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series und ...

'', ''

Nine for IX ''Nine for IX'' is the title for a series of documentary films which aired on ESPN. The documentaries were produced by ESPN Films in conjunction with espnW, and were intended to have the same creative, story-driven aspect as ESPN Films' other ser ...

'', '' SEC Storied'' and ''Backstory'', as well as official

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

films. In 2015, the channel also had a season of Warren Miller ski and snowboarding films.

List of films

Short films

Four half-hour films have been made under the BT Sport Films Shorts banner. These initial four films were made using unused material from ''State of Play''. * ''State of Play: The Player'' * ''State of Play: The Manager'' * ''State of Play: The Club'' * ''State of Play: Society''

BT Sport Films Club

In December 2020, nine short interstitials titled BT Sport Films Club were aired, featuring presenter

Craig Doyle Craig Doyle (born 17 December 1970) is an Irish television and radio presenter. To British viewers he is recognisable as working for the BBC and ITV and more recently TNT Sports; Irish viewers also know him as the host of RTÉ One chat show ...

discussing the films ''Brothers in Football'', ''The Crazy Gang'', ''Greavsie'', ''Cornered'', ''Rocky and Wrighty'', ''Team of the Eighties'', ''No Hunger in Paradise'', ''Shoulder to Shoulder'' and ''The Gaffer'', promoting the availability of the films on demand. These broadcast whenever a BT Sport channel had time in hand, for example, if live broadcasts of

WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It currently airs Live television, live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Netflix. The show fe ...

WWE NXT ''WWE NXT'', also known simply as ''NXT'', is an American professional wrestling television program. It is produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, featuring wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The show c ...

or Australian A-League football had finished early. BT Sport Films Club was discontinued when BT Sport rebranded to TNT Sports in 2023.

Critical response

The series has had a generally good reception from critics.

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

said that ''Rocky & Wrighty'' was "a fitting tribute to the much-loved avidRocastle", while the same newspaper described ''Golazzo: The Football Italia Story'' as a "terrific documentary" and "well worth a watch." ''Shoulder to Shoulder'' attracted a "phenomenal response on social media" according to the Irish Mirror, with

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

calling it a "compelling documentary." On ''Brothers in Football'', The Sportsman said "for any devoted football fanatic this is a must-watch". The

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...

said ''Two Tribes'' was "evocative, poignant and stirring", capturing "a remarkable snapshot in time."

References

{{BT Group Sports television in the United Kingdom BT Sport Documentary film series