A decade later, ‘O.J.: Made in America’ remains ESPN’s crowning achievement

When it comes to sports documentaries, O.J.: Made in America is in a class by itself.

That’s not an opinion, it’s a fact.

Ten years after its release, it remains an exceptionally powerful and unprecedented achievement. Sports documentaries rarely win major mainstream awards. O.J.: Made in America not only won an Academy Award but also forever changed the rules, preventing a multi-part or limited series feature from being eligible for the Best Documentary Feature award.

ESPN knew it had something incredible, so it took a bold approach to the campaign for what would become the crown jewel of its award-winning 30 for 30 series. In its “movie” form, O.J.: Made in America was theatrically released—seven hours and 47 minutes of it—on a limited basis in New York and Los Angeles on May 20, 2016. Most of us, however, saw O.J.: Made in America as a five-part miniseries that premiered on ABC on June 11, 2016.

No matter which version you saw, what we witnessed was arguably the greatest sports documentary experience ever and, arguably, the best thing ESPN has ever done. Director Ezra Edelman wove together the elements that made this true-crime drama a must-see. O.J.: Made in America was a story about football, race, domestic violence, fame, our flawed legal system, the media, and murder. The documentary balanced entertainment and insight while remaining sensitive to the fact that Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were victims of a double homicide in June 1994.

Simpson was acquitted of the murders in the infamous 1995 criminal trial but was later found liable in a civil trial.

If you’re someone who’s fed up with the current banal state of sports documentaries, you’ll immediately notice the skillful storytelling upon rewatching O.J.: Made in America. It’s a testament to Edelman’s genius, and it’s even more maddening that his Prince documentary will probably never see the light of day because of legal and corporate interference.

Creating a high-quality documentary is immense and not for the faint-hearted. Edelman and his team had roughly 800 hours of footage. The challenge increases exponentially when the subject has already been exhaustively covered. Still, Edelman uncovered fresh details and provided nuanced context. He made O.J.: Made in America without Simpson’s cooperation. With Simpson’s death in 2024, the documentary serves as the final word on one of history’s most notorious figures.

O.J.: Made in America remains a masterpiece because O.J.’s story is essentially America’s story and its ongoing reluctance to acknowledge race and racism. That seems especially poignant given what’s going on in the United States today.

Is O.J.: Made in America the greatest sports documentary of all time?

Here are a few points to keep in mind. On Rotten Tomatoes, O.J.: Made in America has a 100% critics’ score and a 98% audience score. Its IMDb rating is 8.9. Will Leitch, writing for New York Magazine, called it a “masterpiece.” Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called it “a movie so compelling you want it never to end.” 

If not O.J.: Made in America, then who? 

Hoop Dreams (1994) is the strongest contender for best sports documentary. When We Were Kings (1996), like O.J.: Made in America, won an Oscar, as did Free Solo (2018). Some might argue for The Last Dance (2020). However, I would not, since it was a Michael Jordan-controlled production released at the height of the pandemic, when we were all starved for entertainment. The Last Dance is partly responsible for the decline in sports documentaries because it emboldened athletes to take greater control over how their stories are told. Unfortunately, those stories are rarely told well. 

It takes an independent person, such as Edelman, to see the most interesting aspects of a subject. His O.J.: Made in America revealed something substantial. Great sports documentaries can illuminate transcendent stories about athletes and about ourselves.