The Best Animated Sports Commercials

Animation has been put to great use in recent years by sports organisations and television broadcasters looking to capture the imagination of audiences when promoting the worlds greatest sporting events. Here’s one great animation for each of the last four years, enjoy!

2015 Crabbie's Grand National - The Outsider

This beautiful Disney-esque animation that tells the fairy-tale story of a unicorn turned racehorse was produced to promote channel 4’s coverage of this year’s Grand National, and for many it was better than the event itself.

2014 FIFA World Cup - Official TV Opening

The World Cup is one of the most hotly anticipated sporting events on the planet with the final typically attracting the largest global audience of any sporting occasion. This vibrant animated opener for the event caught the imagination of audiences and introduced them to the spectacular Rio landscape and its people.

2013 Rugby League World Cup - Official Trailer

To promote the Rugby League World Cup award-winning studio Blue Zoo created this wonderfully stylised animated short inspired by the Incredibles. It featured oversized low-poly-style characters rampaging across Britain in a battle for the winners trophy. It worked well to convey the brutishness and strength of the game.

2012 London Olympics - Official Trailer

This fantastic animated trailer for the summer games was based around the concept of ‘Stadium UK’ - bringing the nation together in a huge Olympic Stadium to enjoy the BBC's comprehensive coverage of the London 2012 Games.

Despite sparking controversy due to similarities to a Lloyds Bank Ad this stunning animation provides plenty of eye candy in the way of stunning vistas of the British Isles and athletes running through terraced streets; cyclists tackling the Scottish highlands and gymnasts somersaulting along London bridge. Well worth watching again.