30 for 30 is the umbrella title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN and its sister networks and online properties. The series, which highlights people and events in the sports world that have generally received small amounts of attention, has featured two "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series under the ESPN Films Presents title in 2011-2012, and a series of 30 for 30 Shorts shown through the ESPN.com website.
Written by Sophie and last updated on feb 08, 2023.
PS: The following content contains spoilers!
PPS: I will admit that parts of this page was written with the help of AI - it makes my work so much easier to not start from a blank page!
A look at the notorious 1988 Notre Dame–Miami football game and its personal and cultural impact. Creadon was a senior at Notre Dame when the game took place; his roommate that year was one of the people behind the controversial t-shirt that gave the game and the film its name. (2 hours in length)
The episode was rated 7.76 from 99 votes.
Conclusion of a look at the 1980s Celtics-Lakers rivalry, focusing on the three years after the 1984 NBA Finals, as the teams’ disdain for each other gradually turns to respect while meeting in two more Finals. From filmmakers Jim Podhoretz and Jon Hock.
The episode was rated 7.80 from 70 votes.
A profile of the Buffalo Bills teams of the early 1990s, when the franchise became the first team to play in—and lose—four consecutive Super Bowls.
The episode was rated 7.88 from 72 votes.
A 10-year retrospective of the Duke lacrosse case, in which a party thrown by members of the school's men's lacrosse team led to an accusation of rape—a claim that, though later proven to be false, ignited both a firestorm that damaged the school's prestige and an investigation that ruined careers.
The episode was rated 7.91 from 68 votes.
A comprehensive look back at each chapter of Michael Vick's saga: the incredible rise, shocking fall, and polarizing return.
The episode was rated 7.94 from 18 votes.
A profile of the Orlando Magic teams of the mid-1990s, led by Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway, who gained prominence both on the NBA hardwoods and in popular culture, before Shaq's departure to the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency and injury issues for Penny ended the Magic's budding dynasty before it could ever take flight.[62]
The episode was rated 7.96 from 91 votes.
In 1971, after being rejected by Hollywood, Bruce Lee returned to his parents’ homeland, Hong Kong. Over the next two years, he’d complete four iconic films that would define his legacy, a legacy cut short when he died, stunningly, in the summer of 1973. He was 32 years old. “Be Water” is a gripping, fascinating, intimate look at not just those final, defining years of Lee’s life, but the complex, often difficult, and seismic journey that led to Lee’s ultimate emergence as a singular icon in the histories of film, martial arts, and even the connection between the eastern and western worlds.
The episode was rated 8.04 from 27 votes.
Two longtime friends, pro wrestling impresario Vince McMahon and NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol (Charlie Ebersol's father), team to form the XFL; the film follows the league's rushed development, its innovative approaches to televised football, and its rapid implosion. The ending foreshadows McMahon's plans to launch a new XFL in 2020 and the Ebersols' upcoming involvement in the competing Alliance of American Football in 2019.
The episode was rated 8.06 from 98 votes.
A comprehensive look back at each chapter of Michael Vick's saga: the incredible rise, shocking fall, and polarizing return.
The episode was rated 8.06 from 16 votes.
A look at Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, focusing specifically on a 24-hour span in 1992 when he sandwiched an NFL game between a pair of Major League Baseball postseason games in cities separated by 1,000 miles.
The episode was rated 8.08 from 177 votes.
In any other year, the 1988 team from Dallas's Carter High School would have gone down as one of the greatest in Texas football history, featuring 28 players who received college scholarship offers, eight of whom would eventually play professional football. Fighting off racial prejudice and a grades controversy—not to mention the team that would overshadow them in book and film (Odessa Permian)—Carter would claim the state title, only to be rocked to their core when six of their players were involved in an armed robbery that's affected the community's reputation to this day; the grades controversy would ultimately lead the UIL to strip the team of the title.
The episode was rated 8.14 from 74 votes.
During the 1987 players' strike, the Washington Redskins field a roster of replacement players that goes 3–0 and helps pave the way for the Redskins' Super Bowl victory. Thirty years on, those players bear the stigma of being dismissed as "scabs" by fans in general and Redskins management in particular.
The episode was rated 8.15 from 65 votes.
The unfettered and definitive look at the life and career of Dennis Rodman.
The episode was rated 8.31 from 13 votes.
A 30-year retrospective on the 1985 Chicago Bears, from how they were assembled to their swaggering, dominant run to Super Bowl victory.
The episode was rated 8.38 from 79 votes.
The unlikely rise and sudden fall of boxer Tommy Morrison.
The episode was rated 8.39 from 64 votes.
