Ranking The 14 Best ‘This Is SportsCenter’ Commercials Of All Time

SportsCenter has been a core staple of ESPN’s lineup since it debuted in 1979, and most longtime viewers of the network agree the show had its “Golden Era” in the 1990s and early 2000s. That period also spawned the hallowed “This Is SportsCenter” ad campaign, which produced more than a few commercials that have firmly stood the test of time.

These are the best “This Is SportsCenter” commercials that were ever produced

In 1995, ESPN rolled out a new marketing approach in the form of the “This Is SportsCenter” commercials, which featured the company’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut serving as the backdrop for various shenanigans involving its personalities and the athletes and mascots who popped up on the campus.

The ads hilariously juxtaposed the clichély mundane office environment with the over-the-top antics fueled by the notable names who routinely appeared in those spots. The campaign officially ended in 2024, and here’s a look back at the best commercials it spawned over the course of nearly three decades.

14. Alexander Ovechkin

The notion of Russian spies in America was a tired trope by the time Alexander Ovechkin arrived in the NHL, and the decision to revive it while recruiting Capitals goaltender Semyon Varlamov for a Mission Impossible-inspired bit couldn’t have worked any better.

13. LaDanian Tomlinson

“Professional athletes performing mundane office tasks” is a recurring theme in the “This Is SportsCenter” commercials, and I’m not sure if there’s a better example than LaDanian Tomlinson trying (and failing) to sort through mail while rocking his signature tinted visor.

12. Overseas

This one probably would have been the subject of some unnecessarily long meetings if it were proposed in this day and age, but if laughing at some largely harmless stereotypes (and Kenny Mayne prancing around in lederhosen) is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

11. Lebron James

The “This is SportsCenter” ads are rooted in absurdity, and there aren’t many that master the art of that particular style of comedy more than the one where Scott Van Pelt pleads ignorance after LeBron accuses him of switching their chairs.

I also have to give an honorable mention to the one where Stuart Scott mocks him over the “Chosen One” nickname as he struggles with a copier, but the chair takes the cake for me.

10. Seth Hayes

A lot of “This Is SportsCenter” commercials revolve around what basically boils down to stunt casting, but there are a number where in-house personalities get the chance to shine.

Bob Ley and Jack Edwards were both tasked with playing the straight man in an ad where a young anchor named Seth Hayes is used as a stand-in for NBA players who were drafted out of high school, and the actor absolutely nailed the awkward delivery of a teenager who wasn’t ready to hang with the big boys in Bristol.

9. The Oregon Duck

This one might not be laugh-out-loud funny, but if there’s a single “This Is SportsCenter” commercial that qualifies as a piece of art, it’s the one of Oregon’s mascot staring longingly at the ducks in a pond outside a window while confined to a cubicle.

8. Scott Van Pelt’s Performance Enhancers

There are a number of “This Is SportsCenter” ads that spawned quotes that were endlessly repeated by middle schoolers around the country, and Scott Van Pelt was responsible for one of them by uttering “Unhand me, you rapscallion!” after getting busted for performance enhancers.

7. Albert Pujols

As we’ve established, there are a number of “This Is SportsCenter” commercials that revolve around a copy machine, but I think the one featuring Albert Pujols channeling his inner Terminator is the best of the best.

6. David Ortiz and Wally

The Red Sox and the Yankees have one of the fiercest rivalries in sports, and it arguably peaked in the early 2000s at a time when David Ortiz and Jorge Posada respectively played for those organizations.

There’s only so much mascots can do to convey emotion, and whoever was inside Wally the Green Monster deserved an Emmy for the essence of betrayal they were able to exude after spotting Big Papi wearing a Yankees hat.

5. Y2K

The amount of attention that was paid to the pending Y2K crisis is pretty hilarious in hindsight when you consider it ended up being a bit of a nothingburger, but it was a major topic of conversation in the social zeitgeist leading up to the start of the new millennium.

This spot nailed the fears of widespread chaos with the test that plunges the newsroom into chaos. It would be a classic in its own right based solely on the clip of Mark McGwire bashing a computer with a bat, but Charley Steiner ends up stealing this scene with the “Follow me! Follow me to freedom!” tag.

4. The New Jersey Devil

The mascot for the New Jersey Devils appeared in multiple “This Is SportsCenter” commercials, including one where he engages in a thermostat battle with the one representing the Pittsburgh Penguins.

However, I’ve always been partial to the ad where Jay Harris beats a hasty retreat from an elevator after being informed it is not, in fact, going up.

3. Steve Irwin

There are a few spots on this list that are brilliant in their simplicity, and that is absolutely the case with the one that features Steve Irwin grappling with the mascot for the Florida Gators.

2. Arnold Palmer

Most of the “This Is SportsCenter” commercials were 30-second spots, but the one featuring Arnold Palmer whipping up the drink he lends his name to in the cafeteria only needed 15 seconds (and three words delivered by Scott Van Pelt) to become an instant classic.

1. John Clayton

The late, great John Clayton joined ESPN as an NFL reporter in 1995, and primarily contributed to the network in remote hits that featured him looking directly at the camera.

Dan Patrick helped fuel a rumor about his stoic colleague rocking a massive ponytail most people had never seen, and Clayton decided to lean into it for the legendary spot where he unveiled some luscious locks and a Slayer t-shirt hidden underneath a tearaway suit while rocking out in a room in a home where he lives with his mom.

This one doesn’t really hit unless you spend years watching Clayton do his thing, but his unexpected willingness to literally and figuratively let his hair down makes this one the G.O.A.T. as far as I’m concerned.