10 best 'This is SportsCenter' commercials of all time

Sports are possibly the most popular entertainment medium in the world. Consultancy group Kearny expects the sports industry to be worth $600 billion by 2030. These industries are lifted by the entities that support and cover them. In the United States, there is no more prominent coverage of sports than ESPN.

For years, the pillar of ESPN was the various SportsCenter programs. It was primetime in the morning, afternoon, and evening for years. The SportsCenter anchors were the stars of the network. It started with Chris Berman when the show started back in 1979, but it continued with Rich Eisen, Neil Everett, Suzy Kolber, Bob Ley, Kenny Mayne, Dan Patrick, and the iconic Stuart Scott. 

We treated these anchors like our friends. Fans of the show all had a favorite anchor, and ESPN took advantage of that. They created the “This is SportsCenter” commercials to keep people from changing the channel. 

These commercials are now legendary. They debuted in 1995, a little more than 15 years after the debut of their flagship show. Now, some years we get more than a dozen new commercials, but we’re still not seeing anything better than the classics. Which are the best 10 “This is SportsCenter” commercials of all time?

10. Going Up?

The NJ Devil, the mascot for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, appeared in two commercials in back-to-back years. If we had to pick one, we’d pick 2008’s commercial with Jay Harris. It’s incredibly quick, lasting only 15 seconds, and it only contains two words. Harris walks into an elevator with NJ Devil, and he asks, “Going up?”. 

The mascot just shakes his head. There was so much subtlety and allowing the viewers to fill in the blank. For those who don’t know, the “Devils” are actually named after the mythical New Jersey Devil, which is a creature that lived in the Pinelands, which is a mostly-woodland area between Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore. 

However, there are some implications here that “going down” is referring to a different Devil. Again, the subtlety was great. 

The other NJ Devil commercial also involves the Pittsburgh Penguins mascot, Iceberg. It starts with a SportsCenter anchor touching the thermostat. Iceberg then goes to the thermostat and turns it way down. The Devils' mascot follows up by turning the heat way up.

9. Stone Cole Up Late

One of the first “This is SportsCenter” commercials was back in 1995, and it didn’t have athletes from any of the four major sports at all. In fact, some would claim they aren’t the traditional athletes at all. They were WWE wrestlers. Shawn Michael, The Undertaker, Paul Bearer, and King Kong Bundy head to ESPN Headquarters to politely threaten anchors to start playing wrestling highlights on SportsCenter.

However, we’re going with another wrestler commercial. Stone Cold Steve Austin was a superstar who transcended wrestling. His rivalry with Vince McMahon was relatable. He was an Everyman at a time when we all really needed that in our lives. 

Austin was still at the top of his game in 2002 when he was invited in to do a SportsCenter commercial. And it was perfect for his personality. 

Stone Cold was having trouble staying up, and while Dan Patrick gets coffee, Austin needs something a little… stiffer. Patrick takes a steel chair, a common weapon in the WWE, and he hits him square in the back. And that did the trick. Again, there’s subtlety here, and the inside knowledge of wrestling is rewarded, but normal sports fans can still get a kick out of it.

8. Tim Lincecum's outgoing message

At one point, Tim Lincecum was considered the best pitcher in baseball. It feels like a million years ago at this point, and that is because of how quick his peak was and how fast it was over. Lincecum debuted in 2007, won back-to-back Cy Young awards in 2008 and 2009, fell back towards the pack in 2010-11, became a complete liability by 2012, and he was out of the league after the 2016 season. 

When he was at his peak, he was as desirable as anyone. And SportsCenter desired him, as well. Usually quiet and far from boisterous, Lincecum recorded one of the funniest commercials for SportsCenter in history. 

The concept is simple, but it works so well. Lincecum is recording a new outgoing message for his answering machine. He records and deletes the message over and over again, trying different nicknames like the Freak and the Franchise. He even combined them with “The Freaky Franchise.” 

He finishes with “Big Time Timmy Jim,” but he says nobody calls him that. Then, Karl Ravech walks to his cubicle and says, “Hey, Big Time Timmy Jim, what’s up?” Lincecum just gives up, which we totally understand.

7. Ladainian Tomlinson in the mailroom

Ladainian Tomlinson was iconic in the backfield. He was incredible for the San Diego Chargers. An easy Hall of Famer, Tomlinson was dominant and elusive during his prime. His signature juke was only overshadowed by his signature mirrored visor. 

And this is what the commercial builds upon. Again, like many of these, they are short and to the point. Tomlinson is trying to be a mailroom clerk back in 2007, six years into his career, while wearing his helmet and visor. It doesn’t go well.

We already see Tomlinson having trouble reading the mail, then he fails to see that some of the mail is falling on the floor.

Then, a young Steve Levy walks in to get his mail. He goes through it and informs the superstar running back that none of the letters in his box belong to him. Levy walks away and Tomlinson tries to read the names on the envelopes again.

6. Kobe and Keyshawn get media trainng

Here, we see a very young Kobe Bryant and Keyshawn Johnson coming to ESPN in 1997 to discuss how to deal with the media. It’s interesting that this is happening in 1997, way before media became a true 24/7 entity with the rise of the internet and social media. It’s also before Bryant became the icon he is today. He wasn’t “Black Mamba” in 1997. 

Both Johnson and Bryant were considered the future of their leagues. So, two icons in their own right helped them out. Stuart Scott and Kenny Mayne taught them how to deal with media. It’s funny, as most athletes do get formal media training today. This was a very early version of that. 

Looking back at it, their advice is terrible. Stuart is telling them to “cuss like a sailor,” while Kenny is demanding that they refer to themselves in the third person in every interview. The funniest part is when Scott tells Kobe to yell at Michael Jordan that he was going to “take him to school.”

The look on Bryant and Johnson’s faces is hilarious. They have no idea how to handle the presentation in front of them. We like to think they had no idea what they were walking into and this was a genuine reaction, because neither Bryant nor Johnson is that good of an actor. 

5. Chad Johnson's next touchdown dances

Chad Johnson was a marvel when he played in the NFL. He was in the headlines daily before that was normal. It wasn’t even anything that was newsworthy. He was in the headlines because of things he said in the locker room that had no consequence or his antics, which truly weren’t that bad in the grand scheme of things. 

His biggest claim to fame was his weekly touchdown dances. Whether it was the fake Hall of Fame jacket, taking over a TV camera, a River Dance, and many, many more, Johnson’s touchdown dances were as popular as the touchdowns themselves. 

So it makes sense for the SportsCenter anchors to take a shot at proposing his next dance. Stuart Scott went with the “pop and lock.” Steve Levy went with “sizzling bacon action” while he lays on the table and shakes. John Anderson wins with his magic trick, making the ball disappear under a Bengals bandana. Johnson does have one request. He’d like a puff of smoke added to the celebration.

4. Anchor Slumps

Most of these commercials focused on the athlete, but sometimes, the athletes were supporting actors in these commercials. This was one of those examples. Scott Van Pelt, who was becoming a bigger and bigger star at the network in 2009, was sitting with Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins to watch tape of his previous shows. 

In them, Van Pelt is performing the most insane stunts. His first shot was appearing to have a crick in his neck. Then, he had a chicken-wing motion during his anchor read. Finally, he was straight up backwards. 

We often discuss slumps among athletes, but in reality, everyone at work experiences them as well. We’re sure you’ve been in those positions where it’s been two weeks, and it seems like nothing has gone right at work. We treat athletes like they forgot how to play, and they need a reset. This is kind of making fun of that trope. 

3. Rivalry Headwear

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are often named as the biggest rivalry in sports. That might have lost a little bit of speed because of a lack of postseason connection, but it’s well known how much these fan bases hate each other. 

It doesn’t mean the players can’t interact, and that’s the consensus of this commercial. David Ortiz did two ads in 2007, but the memorable one is him sitting in a boardroom next to long-time Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. They are discussing hats, and Posada’s hat is flat-brimmed. Ortiz notices, and Posada talks about how catchers never wear traditional hats. They wear their helmet in the field. 

Ortiz says that Posada’s hat needs more of a bend. So, Ortiz puts the hat on for a moment to bend the brim. That’s all it took for Wally the Green Monster to walk by and see Ortiz with a Yankees hat. 

The Red Sox already had enough history of Red Sox players leaving for the Yankees. Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, Johnny Damon, and many others made the leap. So, this was a sore spot, even if the curse had been lifted at this point.

2. Y2K

If you didn’t live through the Y2K crisis, it’s hard to explain. It was truly a conspiracy theory based on loose logic that had everyone wondering if the world would go dark once the clock hit the year 2000. People were building bomb shelters and setting up food sources to last for months. 

ESPN took advantage of the madness in 1999, before we really had answers, and they were testing for what would “happen” during a Y2K issue. The power goes out at the ESPN studios, and everything goes off the rails. Mark McGwire, who was coming off his 1998 home run chase, was smashing a computer with a baseball bat. They were reading SportsCenter by candlelight. Mascots were fighting. It was chaos. 

1. John Clayton is done with his segment

There are so many great commercials for ESPN, but the John Clayton commercial, where he’s a rock-loving mama’s boy, is art. Truly, it’s not just the best “This is SportsCenter” commercial; it’s one of the best TV show commercials of all time. It’s truly funny and rewards the viewer for understanding the show. 

John Clayton (RIP) was known as a clean-cut reporter who had his stuff together at all times and always gave the proper scoop. His look was that of a nerdy IT guy. But he was a fan favorite on SportsCenter with whatever football story he had that day.

For the first 10 seconds of the 30-second spot, Clayton looks like he’s doing any football segment he’s known to do. Then, it’s revealed he’s actually in a bedroom in his parents’ house. He rips off his suit top to reveal a Slayer T-shirt. He pulls out a ponytail to reveal about 25 inches of hair flowing behind him, and he plays heavy metal music. 

The coup de gras of the segment was when he yelled, “Hey ma, I’m done with my segment!” while grabbing some leftover Chinese food. Brilliant.