Semi-Pro

In April 2008, Rocky the Bear, who wrestled Jackie Moon, bit and killed Stephan Miller, one of his trainers and a cousin of Will Ferrell's stunt performer, in the neck.

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It was the last New Line Cinema film before the studio was acquired by Warner Brothers.

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The melody of Jackie Moon's theme song "Love Me Sexy" largely came from Will Ferrell's first read-through of the script. Director Kent Alterman sent a recording of Ferrell's improvisation that day to leading record producer Nile Rodgers, who built the song on it.

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With the exception of the Flint Tropics, all team names and uniforms are the same as in the real ABA.

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Will Ferrell stated that this would be his last sports-related comedy.

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As in the real ABA, not all teams that lasted until the end of the 1976 season went to the NBA. The Virginia Squires got nothing because they had missed a $75,000 payment to the ABA about a month before the merger. The Kentucky Colonels, who finished the regular season in 4th place, received $3 million, $1.1 million for Artis Gilmore's contract, and various amounts for other players. The Spirits of St. Louis also did not complete the merger, but they may have been the biggest winners of all. As payment for folding their franchise, the remaining ABA owners agreed to pay the St. Louis owners $2.2 million in cash plus a 1/7 share of the television revenues of the four remaining teams in perpetuity. This deal has generated more than $300 million in revenue for the St. Louis owners since 1976.

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During the Tropics game against the San Antonio Spurs, a banner reading "WOAI" can be seen on the sideline. These are the call letters of a real San Antonio radio station (AM 1200) that continues to broadcast San Antonio Spurs games to this day.

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The famous accident in which Rocky the Bear killed stunt performer Stephan Miller did not actually occur on this film. Although Stephan Miller's cousin Will Ferrell did stunt work and Rocky the Bear appears in the film, no death or accident involving the bear occurred during production. The accident happened after filming was completed, during promotional shoots in Randy Miller's (Stephan's cousin) bear enclosure.

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Michael Westphal, one of the Tropics' bench players, is the son of NBA player and coach Paul Westphal.

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There is a statue of Alfred E. Neuman outside the Tropics' stadium.

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Twiggy's surname is Munson. This is a nod to Woody Harrelson's character Roy Munson in Kingpin (1996).

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The narrator of the Shasta Apple soda commercial during the on-court brawl is Tom Bosley, known for Happy Days (1974).

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Jerry Minor is uncredited in his role as a DJ in the film. Minor is from Flint, Michigan, where the film was shot.

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Amy Sedaris had a role, but her scenes were cut from the final film.

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This is the second Will Ferrell film in which his character ends up in a "fight" with a bear. The first was Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), in which Ron Burgundy tries to fend off bears to rescue Veronica Corningstone.

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The Spurs player Rebenkoff, mentioned twice in the Flint Michigan Mega Bowl, probably takes his name from first assistant director Matt Rebenkoff.

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During halftime of the first game in the film, the Dukes sank a basket from the other end of the court to win the $10,000 check. In 2020 dollars, that would be $46,301.62.

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Woody Harrelson plays an aging professional basketball player. In White Men Can't Jump (1992) he played a street player.

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David Daskal appears as a sound crew member at the Megabowl press conference.

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