2014's Best Sports Commercials

When executed properly, the best sports commercials have the ability to both amuse and inspire.

In 2014, viewers were treated to memorable spots that ran the gamut, getting a taste of all forms of clever and witty.

The year’s biggest sporting event—World Cup—inspired a collection of cinematic shorts, with companies like McDonald’s and Nike taking full advantage.

The year also saw the great Derek Jeter hang up his cleats, and certain tribute commercials left a lasting impression as they paid The Captain the type of profound respect he deserves.

Finally, stealing a page out of Peyton Manning’s book, James Harden teamed up with Foot Locker this year and made us laugh hysterically, while Manning himself worked with Gatorade on yet another chapter.

With these commercials in mind, then, we’ve worked to highlight 2014’s 11 best sports commercials.

While some are funny and others more serious, each commercial skillfully achieved what it set out to accomplish, taking viewers on an emotional and entertaining ride, in one direction or another.

The “This is SportsCenter” commercial franchise returned in 2014 and did so without skipping so much as a beat.

To no one’s surprise, our favorite clip is both funny and timely, as it humorously explores the tension that obviously exists between the Broncos and the Seahawks, who met in last year's Super Bowl.

The bedrock of the franchise—the intermingling of SportsCenter anchors, athletes and mascots in an ordinary office setting—is present here, too, while the competitive and nasty nature of the NFL’s newest and hottest rivalry is captured in both succinct and witty fashion.

And, perhaps most importantly, the spot is super relatable as well, as most viewers undoubtedly know what it’s like when some child—with regard to age or immaturity—hits all the buttons during what suddenly becomes a far-too-long elevator ride.

“Now we have to stop on every floor, jerk!”

As our list will soon enough indicate, this year’s World Cup brought with it some pretty clever advertising.

In one of our favorites, the sport of soccer is celebrated for all its glory.

The game’s most obvious appeal—that athletes can so skillfully control a ball with their feet—is captured here through eye-opening trick shots, while the sport’s international flair is highlighted as well.

The commercial also does well to feature the cultural passion and pride at soccer’s core, which, as the spot demonstrates, exists regardless of age or gender.

With its “I Will What I Want” ad, Under Armour struck gold in 2014.

For one, it delivers a message that is both profound and universally relevant—most notably the importance of perseverance, self-confidence and inner will in the face of rejection.

At some point in time, everyone—even the most talented among us—is questioned or denounced in life, but, as Under Armour illustrates, the most successful people find a way to overcome and carry on.

Better yet, the commercial communicates its powerful principles by way of Misty Copeland, the world’s first recognized badass ballerina and the type of athlete that is far too often overlooked and underappreciated.

In a world where Johnny Manziel’s arrogant and unrelatable ways can sometimes overwhelm, his role as aerobics instructor serves as a breath of fresh air.

So thank you, Snickers, for disarming—and embarrassing—Johnny Football.

Of course, we should give Manziel some credit too.

It’s a fantastic part, but also an emasculating one that would fall flat without tremendous commitment from the signal-caller.

Manziel’s willingness, then, to be humbly self-deprecating transforms a quality script into a classic commercial.

No athlete does funny quite like Peyton Manning, a scientific truth on which Gatorade made sure to capitalize in 2014.

The premise on which the commercial is based—that one has to be visually sweaty in order to purchase a Gatorade—is as hilarious as it is far-fetched.

And the gas-station disagreement that ensues is sufficiently humorous too.

Of course, when the store manager—who turns out to be Peyton Manning himself—is called upon to settle the whole Gatorade-sweat dispute, the commercial goes from funny to instant classic.

While one can certainly question LeBron’s motive for returning home, no one can debate how significant the decision was for Cleveland as a city.

Leave it to Nike, then, to capture this seminal moment in such a vivid and dramatic manner.

It’s hard to say exactly how or why, but some sports teams have a way of transcending the arenas or stadiums in which they play, infecting the surrounding neighborhoods and cultures to the very core.

For certain cities, these teams come to symbolize and embody powerful notions of hope, community and unity, ideas Nike embraced tastefully and with precision.

In the end, the visual of LeBron leading all of Cleveland into the huddle—while promoting weighty motifs like “hard work," “together” and “Cleveland”—is undeniably inspirational in both its honesty and simplicity.

Speaking of communal support, perhaps no idea, team or player received more of it in 2014 than one Derek Jeter.

When Jeter—one of baseball’s all-time greats—decided to call it quits in 2014 following 20 seasons of legendary work, the baseball world rallied behind the future Hall of Famer.

As one of the very best to ever don Yankee pinstripes, Jeter was beloved all around the Big Apple. But thanks to a career that included five world championships and 14 All-Star appearances—all while doing it the “right way"—the Yankee shortstop earned respect far beyond the boroughs too.

Fittingly, then, the Jordan Brand put together a classy tip-of-the-cap montage designed to show The Captain the type of love and admiration he so clearly deserves.

Jeter was bigger than baseball—earning respect from the likes of Michael Jordan, Jay-Z, Tiger Woods and Red Sox fans—and the commercial’s grand scope and emotional imagery capture this fact to perfection.

It turns out, the King of Funny sports commercials—Peyton Manning—may have some serious competition, and it comes in the form of Houston Rocket James Harden.

Thanks to Foot Locker’s 2014 “Short Memory” campaign, Harden has solidified himself as one of the funniest pitchmen in sports.

In our favorite version of the ad, the bearded baller gets the chance to poke fun at the great Charles Barkley, addressing his extra weight as well as the time he tossed a man through the window of an Orlando bar.

And Scottie Pippen’s amnesia-inspired proclamation—that he was better than Michael Jordan—only further reinforces Foot Locker’s hilarious, short-memory concept.

By the way, it’s worth noting, Harden was actually all-around hysterical in 2014.

Nike was one of many companies to capitalize on 2014’s World Cup and, in its best ad, used three of soccer’s biggest stars—Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney—to do so.

The commercial is all about communicating the importance of staying calm and cool under pressure and it perfectly illustrates the chaotic path—created by fans and media—down which each star must travel before taking the grandest of stages in front of all the world.

Sports are about more than X's and O's and athletic prowess; they are equally about mental clarity and psychological resilience, which Nike eloquently portrays in its “Risk Everything” campaign.

Tim Tebow has every reason to be bitter, cut from the NFL despite proving he can consistently win games as a starting quarterback.

Instead, though, Mr. Class teamed up with T-Mobile to sarcastically make fun of his unfortunate predicament.

In the commercial, Tebow humorously suggests he’s actually better off without an NFL contract, demonstrating the many productive things he’s managed to accomplish with all the extra time.

Tapping into Tebow’s Chuck Norris-like reputation, T-Mobile shows the former quarterback delivering babies, capturing Big Foot and saving dogs from a burning building.

Sure, Tebow still has the chance to make a dent in the NFL; in the meantime, though, he has us all laughing outwardly at his utterly bizarre sabbatical.

We end our tour of 2014’s top sports commercials with another World Cup-inspired spot, which, in truth, plays more like a short movie than a television ad.

No matter what, though, the “Game Before The Game” commercial remains epic, from both a visual and conceptual standpoint.

It begins with what would ordinarily be a rather personal moment: A phone conversation between Neymar and his father.

In it, Neymar’s father tells the Brazilian star to run like “a crazy man," for both family and friends. The conversation is both touching and ordinary, centered around the type of simple fatherly advice so many sons have received. And the relatable passion and love displayed between the two work to humanize one of the world’s greatest athletes.

As the commercial then moves to widen in scope—spotlighting fans from around the world as well as international stars in media, music, soccer and other sports—the tournament's epic significance is illustrated in concrete terms.

As what seems like the entire world readies for kickoff, one can’t help but be moved by the magical aura and profound gravitas of the World Cup, which Dre's commercial so beautifully demonstrates.