When the New York Knicks clinched their long-awaited championship title during Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals matchup against the San Antonio Spurs after a 53-year drought, the hundreds of thousands of rapturous fans lining the streets of the city at public watch parties weren’t the only ones reveling in the moment. Brand marketers also went all-in for the historic win, which saw the scrappy veterans roar back from a game-long deficit once again in spectacular fashion to seal a nailbiting 94-90 victory in front of Knicks faithfuls including Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, Tracy Morgan, Timothée Chalamet and many of the team’s legends, including Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Charles Oakley (who was famously banned from the Garden, making his appearance in San Antonio an emotional one for fans).From cinematic spots featuring Knick stars past and present, to out-of-home activations showing love to the team’s exuberant fanbase, brands including Nike, Michelob Ultra and Pepsi brought their A-game to celebrate the Knickerbockers — who gave “the city that never sleeps’” multiethnic and multigenerational following ample reason to connect, party … and momentarily turn off their pacemakers.Let’s get into it… NikeFollowing the Knicks win over the Spurs, the apparel brand, which had earlier released an OOH campaign featuring portraits of Knicks fans including Lee, released a film created by Wieden + Kennedy and directed by Marty Supreme director Josh Safdie, centered on a relieved fan excitedly running and cartwheeling through the streets as Billy Joel’s classic “New York State of Mind” plays. The brand’s Jordan Brand also released a video featuring Lee — fresh from leaving the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio — in character as Mars Blackmon, allegedly calling Michael Jordan to excitedly share the news of his team’s win. Could he be teasing a collab? We don’t know but we love this for Spike. Oakley MetaLee also turns up in an OOH campaign from the smartglasses brand debuting outside Madison Square Garden. In the ad, Lee wears the brand’s Performance AI glasses with cheering fans reflected in the lenses and the tagline “Who’s got the best fans?” The campaign was created by Mother LA. (Photo credit: Oakley Meta, used with permission)MichelobThe beer brand, which is the first global brand sponsor of the NBA, went all out for the occasion, hosting watch parties with former players and staging OOH takeovers in New York City’s Times Square, on taxi tops, LinkNYC kiosks and at MSG. But the kicker was A Pass For the Ages, an emotional spot that aired immediately after the trophy presentation narrated by Frazier, who was integral in the franchise’s last championship win in 1973. Created by BBDO, the film features footage of a young Frazier “passing the torch/ball” to the team’s current star and Finals MVP, Jalen Brunson, symbolizing Brunson’s cemented spot in the team’s storied legacy. PepsiDays before the finals, the cola brand launched We Outside, an OOH campaign using a popular slang term featuring a colorful selection of expression-filled Knicks fans with Pepsi-cans in hand celebrating out in the wild during the team’s playoff run beginning with Game 3 and refreshing throughout the series. The real-time campaign was shot by NYC photographers @shottinyc and Jack Underwood, with photos turned into billboards that ran across the city. It supports the brand’s Knick Fans Deserve Pepsi campaign, which also featured a collector can scavenger hunt.(Photo credit: PepsiCo, used with permission)47The licensed sports merchandise brand released a beautiful tearjerker of a film in which a young woman commuting on the subway listens to an emotional voice message from her father, who waxes poetic about the significance of the moment as the camera subtly focuses on her perfectly fitted team cap. Bring tissues. Also: Take our money. New York LotteryThe state lottery organization asked over 13,000 retailers across the state to voluntarily switch off their NY Lottery signs during the game in support of the Knicks Finals run. The activation was teased on the Thursday before the game with a video capturing bodega owners and retailers dimming their lights. The org and its agency McCann recently released its Can You Imagine campaign, which shows young players dreaming of what they would do with their winnings. The clever stunt made a statement that a Knicks Finals win was a dream every New Yorker collectively shared. FanaticsThe sports collectibles platform released The City That Finally Slept, a comical video using AI-generated images depicting Knicks player Karl-Anthony Towns, Lee, Stiller, Chalamet and girlfriend Kylie Jenner, Fat Joe and exhausted fans across the city finally crashing out after a rowdy, confetti and hijinx-filled night.SpotifyThe music streamer unveiled a new billboard near the Garden promoting the playlist of a user and fan titled “Songs for Transcending down 7th Ave.” The new billboard caps off a week of the platform releasing OOH featuring fan-created playlists, starting with the release of “Waiting for This Since ‘99.” Both playlists can be found here and here. (Photo credit: Spotify, used with permission)