By Sam Hill Published Sep 25, 2026, 6:25 PM EDT Sam Hill is a news writer at Polygon covering gaming and entertainment. He's a Portland, Oregon–based journalist known for covering gaming, the outdoors, national parks, tech, food, and internet culture. He has written for a range of publications including Outside Magazine , Boston Magazine , Vice , the Seattle Times and Digital Trends. News The Reacher star trades his usual action-heavy roles for some chaotic Thanksgiving football
Image: Lionsgate The Turkey Bowl Sign in to your Polygon.com account Add Us Summary Generate a summary of this story Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap Sports movies have a pretty impressive track record when it comes to becoming classics. From Rocky and Field of Dreams to Remember the Titans and Moneyball , there are plenty of movies that have managed to stick around in the cultural conversation long after they first hit theaters.
But not every sports movie has to be a big-budget classic. Sometimes you just want something silly, easy to watch, and fun enough to kill a couple of hours. And if that's what you're after, one of the goofiest sports movies is now free to watch on YouTube.
T he Turkey Bowl , a 2019 sports comedy starring Alan Ritchson, is currently available to watch for free on YouTube. You can watch it right now without a subscription, though you'll have to sit through a few ads along the way.
The Turkey Bowl centers on a group of friends who return home for Thanksgiving and revive an annual tradition: a flag football game that has been going on for years. What should be a casual holiday get-together quickly becomes much more serious when old rivalries resurface, with the players determined to finally settle the score on the football field.
As the game gets increasingly competitive, the movie leans into the chaos of a bunch of adults treating a backyard Thanksgiving football game like the Super Bowl. Alongside Ritchson, the cast includes Matt Jones ( Breaking Bad ), Ryan Hansen ( Veronica Mars ), Leah McKendrick ( The Movie Critic ), and Jacob Wysocki ( Pitch Perfect ).
Image: Lionsgate The movie received a fairly mixed response when it was released, but it's ultimately the sort of lightweight comedy that's more interested in having fun with its premise than becoming the next great sports movie.
If you've gotten to the bottom of the sports movie barrel or need to kill some time and are looking for a little seasonal flair, throw this on to enjoy some on-field hijinx. Watching Ritchson get way too invested in a Thanksgiving football game should be a lot more chill than watching him beat the crap out of people as Jack Reacher again .
Alan Ritchson might be the new lead for this upcoming video game adaptation