Factual error: When Arantxa Sánchez Vicario cries in anger her accent is Mexican, not Spanish, because that's where the actress portraying her is from.
Factual error: When Sid gives his credit card to Jay to pay for their meal because Jay's mom doesn't have enough money, a magnetic strip is on the back of the card. This technology wasn't used on credit cards until 1980. The film takes place in the 70's.
Factual error: When Marcus is walking down the street after first meeting the team, he gets picked up by Johnny and his sister. You can see Government of Manitoba vehicles in the background, while the movie is set in Des Moines, Iowa. (00:22:38)
Factual error: Swain was leading to Shute 9-13. He got an escape, then a takedown, then a fall. The score should have been 12-13 when he got the fall, but the scoreboard still showed 9-13 after the match when he was celebrating with his team. (01:43:33)
Factual error: At the conclusion of the film it is stated on screen: "Ayrton Senna died aged 34. In the aftermath of his death, the FIA appointed Ayrton's friend Prof. Sid Watkins to improve safety in Formula One. There has not been a fatality in Formula One since." While it is true that no driver has been killed at a Formula One Grand Prix since Senna, there were crashes at the Italian Grand Prix in 2000 and the Australian Grand Prix in 2001 which resulted in the deaths of marshals. (01:37:50)
Factual error: One of the male character is shown wearing a BDU, or Battle Dress Uniform, which wouldn't be developed until the late 70s and wouldn't be released until around 1982, 10 years after the storyline.
Factual error: In the famous "Rumble In The Jungle" fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, the movie portrays Foreman as fighting out of the red corner and Ali fighting out of the blue corner. In the actual fight, Ali fought out of the red corner and Foreman was in the blue.
Factual error: Roger's dad says when the "Angels win the pennant." During the last final scene/regular season game, after the win, Ranch Wilder announces that "the Angels won the pennant." They would have to have won the American League Championship Series in order to win the pennant.
Factual error: The electric meter outside of the restaurant she is working at is not of that era.
Factual error: Kurt Warner worked in the Hy-Vee grocery store in 1994. The Wheaties box he took off the shelf featured Dan Marino #13, which was available in 1995. A 1994 Wheaties box featuring the NFL 75th Anniversary Collectors Edition had a different design and color. Unless Kurt also worked in the store into 1995, the Wheaties box he held in the movie was not yet available. (00:39:50)
Factual error: When the girls go to their motel rooms before the regionals, they exclaim over the color TV in the room. However, that TV has a digital tuner, not available in the mid-60s.
Factual error: When Secretariat crosses the finish line, that finish line pole is not from Belmont, that finish line pole is from Keeneland.
Factual error: After leaving California heading for Texas, the team is shown traveling on the road throughout the day, then we see them on the freeway driving into the sunset, then it's night as the team gets a hotel. If traveling east towards Texas as darkness is soon approaching, the sun would be behind them, not in front. They would be traveling west (not east).
Factual error: The three scorecards of 95-94 for the Dixon vs Balboa fight could not possibly be scored that way for a ten-round professional fight in which so many knockdowns occurred. Each fighter went down multiple times, which would've resulted in a much lower set of numbers using the ten-point-must system enforced in Nevada (and pretty much everywhere else). (01:30:25)
Factual error: After sleeping in and being late for practice, Jack is driving to the gym. It is supposed to be morning yet the shadows made by the sun show the sun is setting over the ocean and therefore evening.
Factual error: During the opening credits, Jack Lemmon walks past two "sailors" in dress whites. If they were actual sailors, they would have rate insignia on the left sleeve, service ribbons on the left breast, and a rocker patch on the right shoulder seam.
Factual error: In one scene Cobb and the sportswriter doing his biography are driving across the country to get to the baseball Hall of Fame. They are stopped next to some railroad tracks fixing a flat tire, and a train goes by that has Burlington Northern markings (BN). Burlington Northern didn't come into existance until ten years or so after Mr. Cobb died.
Factual error: A carton of HEB milk is taken out of the fridge and it has the new (as of 1994) label on it. The movie is set in the late 80s, when the old style label was still used.
Factual error: There is an ostrich that releases an egg on to his plate, however the bird is a male as females are brown and this one was not.
Factual error: The streak ended in '04, but at the beginning of the movie the seniors talking about their last game have letter jackets with the year '05 on the sleeve.