10 Best Sports Books Released In 2024

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Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Time is precious and there’s a lot of great reads out there. Every year, hundreds of books are published that revolve around sports to some degree. We’ve sorted through the best of the best and came up with our list of the best sports books of 2024. 

Whether you’re looking for historical summations, a heartwarming underdog, or just something that will look awesome on your coffee table, there's plenty to fall in love with in our list below.

1. The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City
2. Perfect Eloquence: An Appreciation of Vin Scully
3. Marker to Marker: A Woman's Journey of Purpose and Perseverance Amidst Adversity
4. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
5. The Price: What It Takes to Win in College Football's Era of Chaos
6. The Boys of Riverside: A Deaf Football Team and a Quest for Glory
7. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball
8. There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension
9. The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World's Fastest-Growing Sport
10. Courtside: 40 Years of NBA Photography

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The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City

If you’re a baseball historian or just a lover of the sport in general, The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City impressively chronicles the rise of America’s pastime alongside “The City That Never Sleeps.” 

Author Kevin Baker does a riveting job of detailing The Big Apple’s importance in baseball history. From the origins of the game, to Ruth, Mantle, and many others, Baker weaves monumental moments together into an entertaining and informative tale.

The title earned The New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice upon release and has reviewers around the country crossing their fingers for a second installment.

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Perfect Eloquence: An Appreciation of Vin Scully

There are few sportscasters in history that had the kind of impact on their sport as Vin Scully. And that’s essentially what this 288 page read is about. 

Perfect Eloquence: An Appreciation of Vin Scully chronicles the iconic broadcaster’s 67 year career calling baseball games for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The book is constructed of individual essays penned by 67 peers that Scully impacted. And because of that, it’s overflowing with warmth, appreciation, and admiration for one of baseball’s most iconic voices.

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Marker to Marker: A Woman's Journey of Purpose and Perseverance Amidst Adversity

Marker to Marker: A Woman's Journey of Purpose and Perseverance Amidst Adversity is the incredible true story of author Bridgett Watkins' various experiences as a musher in the perilous Alaskan wilderness. 

Watkins braced through blizzards, encountered dangerous wildlife, and faced numerous near death experiences while navigating treacherous terrain. It’s an impressive and inspirational story anyone can appreciate.

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Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

If you enjoyed Ben Affleck’s 2023 film Air, there’s little doubt you’ll find plenty to love inShoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike. While Air focused on Matt Damon’s Sonny Vaccaro, Shoe Dog focuses on Vaccaro’s boss and Nike founder, Phil Knight - probably because it’s authored by Knight himself.

Knight’s memoir takes us through his earlier days as he decides to buck the big companies and go solo. Typically very guarded, Knight shares his ups and downs on his path to becoming one of the biggest brands in all of sports.

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The Price: What It Takes to Win in College Football's Era of Chaos

With the installation of NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals paving the way for a radically new college football landscape, the game has forever changed. Across about 350 pages, six time New York Times best selling author Armen Keteyian, alongside award winning college football journalist John Talty, break down how the game got to where it is today.

The duo interviewed some of the biggest names in college football to get their take on how money eventually won and became the biggest determining factors getting players on specific school fields.

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The Boys of Riverside: A Deaf Football Team and a Quest for Glory

If you’re looking for a picker upper, The Boys of Riverside: A Deaf Football Team and a Quest for Glory is it. Written by New York Times’ Thomas Fuller, the book breaks down the 2021 and 2022 seasons of an all deaf California school’s football team.

As the students chase the possibility of an unlikely undefeated season, Fuller scribes an inspirational read that takes you through daily struggles and earned triumph.

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Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball

Published just a few months before Rose’s unfortunate passing, Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball takes us through the iconic player’s plethora of good and bad baseball moments. 

Author Keith O’Brien has plenty to work with across this 464 page read. This New York Times bestseller is a must read for anyone that has love for the history of baseball - as well as those interested in the shadier side of our immortalized athletes.

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There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension

Hanif Abdurraqib is lauded once again for this raw and personal depiction of life amidst sports. Critics couldn’t stop praising Abdurraqib’s efforts here, and their love for his most recent work is supported further by its nomination for the National Book Award.

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The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World's Fastest-Growing Sport

Formula 1 racing is getting closer and closer to making the podium of the biggest sports in the world. And it’s getting closer in large part due to its surging popularity in the United States. 

If you’ve enjoyed Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive, you’ll be fascinated by Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg’s deep dive into how open-wheel racing became less of a niche and more of a phenomenon.

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Courtside: 40 Years of NBA Photography

Courtside: 40 Years of NBA Photography is exactly what the title implies. One of the NBA’s most renowned photographers, Nathaniel Butler, constructed a gorgeous and entertaining retelling of the last four decades of basketball through 288 pages of iconic photographs. It’s a must have inclusion for any basketball fan’s man cave.

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