The NBA's New TV Deal Includes Plans For Ads On Jerseys

[Kevin W.]

Please, at least keep them off the retail versions!

Why would they do that? That's the whole point.

I thought the point was to have them shown on TV.

Retail soccer jerseys include the shirt sponsors. I expect NBA jerseys to be no different.

[M4One]

There's 24 billion reasons why there shouldn't be any ads on NBA jerseys. If the NBA does it, you can bet the others will be next. Remember rumours of the NHL going with different colour jerseys for the goalies with ads on them after the lockout that was supposed to be the last lockout ever before the last lockout?

[arcane]

[Phils Phan]

..........

Nothing is sacred in sports anymore.

Uniforms are a team's identity. Essentially it's who the team is. I heard Silver say ads would be small for a healthy balance. Right now ad free jerseys ARE there healthy balance. Stadiums with corporate names, ads surrounding the court, endless commercial breaks. The one relief is that the team themselves only represent the franchise. But no more. Now everything's just one giant billboard. Teams are going to be a display for the highest bidder. It's hideous and it's disgusting, it's the last bit of non-commercial real estate in the game gone. Everything belongs to the companies now. Identity is dead.

:censored: the NBA. You greedy :censored:ing pieces of :censored:, enjoy your filthy money you get from making your franchise beloved by many into a corporate wasteland.

[taantumus]

..........

Nothing is sacred in sports anymore.

Uniforms are a team's identity. Essentially it's who the team is. I heard Silver say ads would be small for a healthy balance. Right now ad free jerseys ARE there healthy balance. Stadiums with corporate names, ads surrounding the court, endless commercial breaks. The one relief is that the team themselves only represent the franchise. But no more. Now everything's just one giant billboard. Teams are going to be a display for the highest bidder. It's hideous and it's disgusting, it's the last bit of non-commercial real estate in the game gone. Everything belongs to the companies now. Identity is dead.

the NBA. You greedy :censored:ing pieces of , enjoy your filthy money you get from making your franchise beloved by many into a corporate wasteland.

This is one response. The other one would be to say "Meh. It kind of sucks, but whatever. It's only a small patch, it's still the same team."

If identity dies with sponsorship, I would like to know what Greek basketball was before the teams lost their identities. http://youtu.be/WcvAOpnnMK0

[Nyk33]

..........

Nothing is sacred in sports anymore.

Uniforms are a team's identity. Essentially it's who the team is. I heard Silver say ads would be small for a healthy balance. Right now ad free jerseys ARE there healthy balance. Stadiums with corporate names, ads surrounding the court, endless commercial breaks. The one relief is that the team themselves only represent the franchise. But no more. Now everything's just one giant billboard. Teams are going to be a display for the highest bidder. It's hideous and it's disgusting, it's the last bit of non-commercial real estate in the game gone. Everything belongs to the companies now. Identity is dead.

the NBA. You greedy :censored:ing pieces of , enjoy your filthy money you get from making your franchise beloved by many into a corporate wasteland.

This is one response. The other one would be to say "Meh. It kind of sucks, but whatever. It's only a small patch, it's still the same team."

If identity dies with sponsorship, I would like to know what Greek basketball was before the teams lost their identities. http://youtu.be/WcvAOpnnMK0

I don't think having flares near a wooden basketball court is a good idea.

[OnWis97]

..........

Nothing is sacred in sports anymore.

Uniforms are a team's identity. Essentially it's who the team is. I heard Silver say ads would be small for a healthy balance. Right now ad free jerseys ARE there healthy balance. Stadiums with corporate names, ads surrounding the court, endless commercial breaks. The one relief is that the team themselves only represent the franchise. But no more. Now everything's just one giant billboard. Teams are going to be a display for the highest bidder. It's hideous and it's disgusting, it's the last bit of non-commercial real estate in the game gone. Everything belongs to the companies now. Identity is dead.

the NBA. You greedy :censored:ing pieces of , enjoy your filthy money you get from making your franchise beloved by many into a corporate wasteland.

This is one response. The other one would be to say "Meh. It kind of sucks, but whatever. It's only a small patch, it's still the same team."

If identity dies with sponsorship, I would like to know what Greek basketball was before the teams lost their identities. http://youtu.be/WcvAOpnnMK0

My response is much closer to the profanity-filled post you quoted.

From an aesthetic standpoint, I don't want to hear the word "tasteful". Sticking a McDonalds logo on a Bulls jersey is not tasteful. It's tacky. It may not be as tacky as what teams do in Europe but it's still tacky.

From a practical standpoint, they are diluting their identity; how much it matters is another question. One of the early stories (that had us believing 2014-15 would be the year) said that the adds stood to generate $100,000,000 per year. That's a lot of money. Of course, divided by 30 teams, it's just over $3,000,000 per (not accounting for the value of an add on a Lakers jersey vs. a T-Wolves jersey).

I wonder, is diluting the team's identity--sharing it with some product sponsor--worth it for amount they pay players that some of us have never heard of? I guess it is....it occurs to me that the league would be better off not sharing its uniforms with corporate sponsors for that reason (though smarter people than I have probably already figured this out). When Phils says that "identity is dead", he may not be totally right, but it is watered down. They are no longer going to be the Chicago Bulls,. They are going to be the McDonalds Chicago Bulls, at least to an extent. And while most fans won't care (hell, I'd bet nearly half of the people on this uniform/logo board don't care), a part of me wonders whether this is ultimately a disservice to themselves.

You don't see Coca-cola putting Toyota logos on its cans...why should the Lakers put a Chap Stick logo on their primary packaging?

It's going to look more minor league. But when it becomes official, you'll see maybe 10% of fans saying that they are now done with the NBA. And of those 10% maybe 1% (for a total of one tenth of 1%) will actually abandon it. For my part, I have not decided. I'll know what to do when it happens.

Anyway, to me, this is more than "it kind of sucks." It's a slap in the face to team identities, a showing of crass tasteless greed, and the end of one of the things that sets North American sports apart from the rest of world.

Unfortunately the other sports will be watching...and when the NBA goes along just fine, they will be next in line. The "Big 4" have 122 teams. Five years from now 121 will have corporate sponsors. Maybe 122 (I could see the Yankees holding out if MLB lets 'em).

And, of course, they will get bigger and bigger until one day, a league goes the WNBA route and puts the team logo on a little patch to make room for a sponsor wordmark.

North American pro sports, you had a good run. We should be thankful this did not happen decades ago, I suppose.

[guest23]

..........

Nothing is sacred in sports anymore.

Uniforms are a team's identity. Essentially it's who the team is. I heard Silver say ads would be small for a healthy balance. Right now ad free jerseys ARE there healthy balance. Stadiums with corporate names, ads surrounding the court, endless commercial breaks. The one relief is that the team themselves only represent the franchise. But no more. Now everything's just one giant billboard. Teams are going to be a display for the highest bidder. It's hideous and it's disgusting, it's the last bit of non-commercial real estate in the game gone. Everything belongs to the companies now. Identity is dead.

the NBA. You greedy :censored:ing pieces of , enjoy your filthy money you get from making your franchise beloved by many into a corporate wasteland.

This is one response. The other one would be to say "Meh. It kind of sucks, but whatever. It's only a small patch, it's still the same team."

If identity dies with sponsorship, I would like to know what Greek basketball was before the teams lost their identities. http://youtu.be/WcvAOpnnMK0

My response is much closer to the profanity-filled post you quoted.

From an aesthetic standpoint, I don't want to hear the word "tasteful". Sticking a McDonalds logo on a Bulls jersey is not tasteful. It's tacky. It may not be as tacky as what teams do in Europe but it's still tacky.

From a practical standpoint, they are diluting their identity; how much it matters is another question. One of the early stories (that had us believing 2014-15 would be the year) said that the adds stood to generate $100,000,000 per year. That's a lot of money. Of course, divided by 30 teams, it's just over $3,000,000 per (not accounting for the value of an add on a Lakers jersey vs. a T-Wolves jersey).

I wonder, is diluting the team's identity--sharing it with some product sponsor--worth it for amount they pay players that some of us have never heard of? I guess it is....it occurs to me that the league would be better off not sharing its uniforms with corporate sponsors for that reason (though smarter people than I have probably already figured this out). When Phils says that "identity is dead", he may not be totally right, but it is watered down. They are no longer going to be the Chicago Bulls,. They are going to be the McDonalds Chicago Bulls, at least to an extent. And while most fans won't care (hell, I'd bet nearly half of the people on this uniform/logo board don't care), a part of me wonders whether this is ultimately a disservice to themselves.

You don't see Coca-cola putting Toyota logos on its cans...why should the Lakers put a Chap Stick logo on their primary packaging?

It's going to look more minor league. But when it becomes official, you'll see maybe 10% of fans saying that they are now done with the NBA. And of those 10% maybe 1% (for a total of one tenth of 1%) will actually abandon it. For my part, I have not decided. I'll know what to do when it happens.

Anyway, to me, this is more than "it kind of sucks." It's a slap in the face to team identities, a showing of crass tasteless greed, and the end of one of the things that sets North American sports apart from the rest of world.

Unfortunately the other sports will be watching...and when the NBA goes along just fine, they will be next in line. The "Big 4" have 122 teams. Five years from now 121 will have corporate sponsors. Maybe 122 (I could see the Yankees holding out if MLB lets 'em).

And, of course, they will get bigger and bigger until one day, a league goes the WNBA route and puts the team logo on a little patch to make room for a sponsor wordmark.

North American pro sports, you had a good run. We should be thankful this did not happen decades ago, I suppose.

Actually companies co-brand and cross promote all the time.

[guest23]

Granted may fans may have a breaking point where the commercialization becomes too intrusive and it affects their interest in the team.

And when it does, they should expect snark about a "capitalist enterprise"?

No snark at all. If you don't like your sports commercialized then vote with your eyes and pocketbook and find something else to do with your time and money. I just don't understand this fan entitlement mentality and the rationale that sports are somehow to be preserved in some sort of nostalgic golden era of when it was about the game and not a business.

[MDGP]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11700335/brooklyn-nets-boston-celtics-play-44-minute-preseason-game

Something tells me that reducing game time and, in turn, reducing the number of TV timeouts is a direct result of the attempt to place ads on the jerseys. I guess if there have to be ads on the jerseys, this is a decent remedy, as long as the tv timeouts continue to be reduced.

[aornelas93]

Adam Silver is allowing too many changes to the game we grew up with. Sleeved, advertised jerseys, and a shorter game is not what the NBA should be about. They're just catering to what these corporations want and completely ignoring the fans.

[Bullsforever]

those yellow neck tags are more then enough crap, thank you

[JayMac]

Adam Silver is allowing too many changes to the game we grew up with. Sleeved, advertised jerseys, and a shorter game is not what the NBA should be about. They're just catering to what these corporations want and completely ignoring the fans.

Just like all of the other leagues are doing. All leagues are changing and not for the better.

[taantumus]

From a practical standpoint, they are diluting their identity; how much it matters is another question. One of the early stories (that had us believing 2014-15 would be the year) said that the adds stood to generate $100,000,000 per year. That's a lot of money. Of course, divided by 30 teams, it's just over $3,000,000 per (not accounting for the value of an add on a Lakers jersey vs. a T-Wolves jersey).

I wonder, is diluting the team's identity--sharing it with some product sponsor--worth it for amount they pay players that some of us have never heard of? I guess it is....it occurs to me that the league would be better off not sharing its uniforms with corporate sponsors for that reason (though smarter people than I have probably already figured this out). When Phils says that "identity is dead", he may not be totally right, but it is watered down. They are no longer going to be the Chicago Bulls,. They are going to be the McDonalds Chicago Bulls, at least to an extent. And while most fans won't care (hell, I'd bet nearly half of the people on this uniform/logo board don't care), a part of me wonders whether this is ultimately a disservice to themselves.

As I said on the previous page, I don't think NBA teams really need the ads, as teams make money hand over fist. I'm not in any way pro ads, I'm merely saying that it's ridiculous to claim that this will destroy the identity of a team. Does a small Verizon patch really muck up the glorious traditions of Charlotte Hornets, formerly known as Charlotte Bobcats? Not to be confused with Charlotte Hornets, later known as New Orleans Hornets, Oklahoma City Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans.

You might think that they will be McDonald's Chicago Bulls and, maybe to you, they will be. But I feel like European soccer teams have survived pretty well despite advertisements. Real Madrid is Real Madrid, the sponsor is part of the shirt, not really part of the identity.

Sure, there are other examples, like some European basketball teams (Armani Jeans Milano, Efes Pilsen) that are pretty gaudy. But nobody thinks NBA is going to go that far.

[Phils Phan]

Soon the NBA will be players representing companies instead of teams.

Franchises will be replaced by billboard, soon the whole game will just be one big ad with fans desperately trying to convince themselves "it's not that bad, sure everything is covered by corporate logos but if you ignore all that everything's fine and dandy!"

[hockey week]

It seemed inevitable. Well, time to go stock up on adless jerseys while you still can! I just hope this doesn't mean in15 years the Phoenix Capri-Suns play the Denver Chicken McNuggets.

I honestly think as long as they are civic entities that both represent and are supported by cities, their governments, and their taxpayers, they shouldn't have ads on the jerseys.

If they want to be the Nabisco Bulls and the McDonalds Lakers, fine, put the ads everywhere, but so long as they represent Chicago and Los Angeles, they should be forbidden to mix the city with the corporations

[Phils Phan]

It seemed inevitable. Well, time to go stock up on adless jerseys while you still can! I just hope this doesn't mean in15 years the Phoenix Capri-Suns play the Denver Chicken McNuggets.

I honestly think as long as they are civic entities that both represent and are supported by cities, their governments, and their taxpayers, they shouldn't have ads on the jerseys.

If they want to be the Nabisco Bulls and the McDonalds Lakers, fine, put the ads everywhere, but so long as they represent Chicago and Los Angeles, they should be forbidden to mix the city with the corporations

Yeah seriously, oh gosh golly we're struggling so much we can't have the city name on our unis anyways, btw guys can we borrow 500 million for a new stadium?

[tubby34]

Players in warmup jackets should be in advertisements of they want it so bad, and the TV partners should be forced tonshow a player coming off the bench as often as possible.

There's your ad money.

[Phils Phan]

Players in warmup jackets should be in advertisements of they want it so bad, and the TV partners should be forced tonshow a player coming off the bench as often as possible.

There's your ad money.

This is perfectly reasonable, which is why the NBA will completely ignore this possibility

[masterchaoss]

To bad I live in la because I would so start a protest in front of the NBA offices over this.