The Best Sports Entertainment Gifts of 2016

It's that time of year—you know, the time to be frantically searching for the perfect holiday gifts and overpaying for shipping when procrastination takes over.

Bleacher Report is here to help with some helpful ideas about what to get the person in your life who loves sports and entertainment.

Blu-rays, books and even game tickets themselves—the following 10 items were selected specifically to get your creative gift-giving juices flowing.

Good luck, and happy holidays!

'Hands of Stone' on Blu-Ray

Robert De Niro starred in a boxing movie in 2016. So really, anyone who has seen Raging Bull should be intrigued by a copy of Hands of Stone.  

Hands of Stone is based on the true story of Panamanian boxer and former lightweight champion Roberto Duran and his American trainer Ray Arcel (played by De Niro).

It didn't get a lot of love on Rotten Tomatoes (59 percent audience score), but De Niro's performance makes this one worth a watch.

Glenn Kenny of the New York Times called it "absolutely a boxing movie" that "scatters pleasures here and there, Mr. De Niro's alert performance among them."

Price: $22.99 on Blu-ray

Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series Collector's Edition

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This gift is a no-brainer for Chicago Cubs fans, but any baseball fan would likely appreciate it.

The 2016 World Series saw the end of a 108-year title drought for the Cubs. Not only that, but the seven-game series was one for the history books. This eight-disc, 1,020-minute set includes all seven games in full. 

The Cubs clawed back from a 3-1 series deficit and won Games 6 and 7 on the road to clinch the title. Game 7, in fact, has been lauded as one of the great games in baseball's history. It was a wild one that included lead changes, extra innings, a rain delay and home run drama.

Ultimately, the Cubs came out on top, 8-7. The Cubs' World Series title was a historic sports moment, one the fan in your life will tell his or her grandchildren about. 

Price: $59.99 on Blu-ray

Desktop Golf

Who doesn't love nostalgia around the holidays?

A vintage or creative sports game is a great idea not only to bring back those childhood memories but also to entertain the family after the holiday meal has been served.

There are plenty of options out there, including NFL electric football games or baseball board games and basketball dartboards.

Or what about desktop golf? It could be a great stress reliever at the office or at home. The folks at Uncommon goods have a lot of quirky sports-related games available just in time for the holidays. 

Price: $35

Madden NFL 17

Madden NFL 17, the latest installment of the iconic EA franchise, was released in August, and it's a must-have title for any sports gaming aficionado.  

A few notable new features include more complex fake-out moves for offensive players, new behaviors for defenders in the secondary and additional trick play options on special teams.  

Forbes' Brian Mazique wrote, "The new ball-carrier animations and controls are sweet. Restricting the types of moves a player can perform based on his physical abilities adds the type of rhyme and reason that simulation gamers will appreciate."

If the football fanatic in your life doesn't have this one yet, it will make a great stocking stuffer. 

Price: $59.99  

NBA 2K17

Similarly, NBA 2K17 was released in September.

The game is already famous for its various modes, such as MyTEAM, MyLEAGUE and MyGM. And in this latest version, even more layers have been added.

Zach Harper of CBSSports.com wrote, "In NBA 2K17, 2K Sports has eliminated the monotony that can permeate into MyGM or any sports franchise mode. The league is ever-changing, the options seem endless and no two trips through MyGM mode will be the same. The way they've accomplished this is by adding two very important elements to this mode."

The two elements Harper mentioned are rule changes and, wait for it...expansion.

Yes, that means the game can bring the SuperSonics back to Seattle, hypothetically speaking, of course.

Price: $59.99

Sony PlayStation 4 Pro

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Really, an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 would be a great gift for the sports fan in your life. And yet, each has its own advantages, depending on the situation.

The PlayStation 4 is the way to go for fans of MLB: The Show 16, a game that is exclusive to PlayStation. And as a bonus, Madden NFL 17 and NBA 2K17 will work there, too.

Tony Polanco of Geek.com wrote of NBA 2K17, "The game looks so good on the PS4 Pro it wouldn't be surprising if you thought you were watching a real basketball game."

In addition, Bryan Wiedey of Sporting News wrote, "The PS4 Pro, however, is a slightly more powerful system allowing for 4K resolution, HDR gaming and higher framerates. The price difference could prove worth it for those with 4K television sets."

Price: $399.99

'Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life'

For the book lover in your life, check out William Finnegan's memoir Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life.

Finnegan is a staff writer at the New Yorker and an avid surfer. The book, about his experiences traveling and catching waves all over the world, really racked up the hardware in 2016.

The book won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for biography/autobiography and was also named the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in November.

Thad Ziolkowski of the New York Times wrote, "There are too many breathtaking, original things in Barbarian Days…observations about surfing that have simply never been made before, or certainly never so well."

Price: From $11.55

'The Legends Club'

College basketball will heat up over the holidays and into 2017, and John Feinstein's 2016 book, The Legends Club: Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano, and an Epic College Basketball Rivalry, is just the thing to get a hoops fan in the spirit.

Feinstein, a sports writer who attended Duke University, details the three-way rivalry between legendary coaches Dean Smith (North Carolina), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke) and Jim Valvano (North Carolina State) in the 1980s and early '90s.

Joe Menzer of the Washington Post wrote, "In a famous speech before he died, Valvano implored all of us to attempt to do three things each day: laugh, think and cry. He would be pleased with The Legends Club because it will evoke all three from readers, no matter where their college basketball allegiances lie."

Price: From $16.95

Gift Card for Tickets

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Tickets are difficult things to purchase for someone unless you know him or her really, really well.

Not to worry—that's what gift certificates are for. Sure, they might seem a bit impersonal, but the truth is, they also just make sense in some scenarios.

For example, secondary ticket marketplaces sell tickets to pretty much any sporting event you can think of, and they have gift cards.

You can go the e-gift card route or get a good old-fashioned plastic job. Either way, it's a perfect stocking stuffer for someone who prefers his or her sports entertainment to be of the in-person variety. 

Price: You decide

Amazon Prime

In addition to its many general benefits—free two-day shipping, live streaming of television shows and movies—Amazon Prime membership has its perks for sports fans as well.

For instance, since January, Amazon Prime members receive a 20 percent discount on new video game purchases.  

And Prime members could get discounted prices and free shipping on all the sports-entertainment gifts Santa did not bring them in 2016.

Finally, according to Shalini Ramachandran of the Wall Street Journal, Amazon has been in talks with the MLB, NBA and NFL to potentially offer a live-streaming sports package. Stay tuned on that one.

Price: $99 per year