NBA "Likely" going to advertisement on jerseys

[guest23]

This is something that WNBA teams and soccer teams need to do due to lack of popularity.

Soccer teams don't do it due to a lack of popularity. If that was the case, teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid wouldn't have jersey sponsorship.

they do it because both clubs are under an avalanche of debt...much like many other sectors of the global economy, over the last decade there has been an unsustainable debt bubble within pro sports...like many other businesses, these franchises have been able to temporarily maintain the unsustainable economics temporarily by rolling over debt, finding incremental revenue sources (e.g. selling everything as ad/sponsorship space), or just selling the franchises and cashing out.

the nba need only look at these clubs to see while ads on unis are untapped revenue, they will do nothing but prolong the inevitable financial tipping point that the owners through their own greed and lack of financial restraint have priced out a sizable portion of their consumer base out of the market in the quest for never ending revenue.

for the lack of a better term we're in the era of "peak sports"...assets that were once undervalued for decades are now becoming over leveraged and over valued...no industry in history has ever seen indefinite growth and pro sports are not exempt, hence many of the high profile bankruptcies and other marquee franchises that are or have been in financial straits.

aside from my digression, ads on everything/everywhere sporting (including the nfl) throughout our lives are simply inevitable as long as pro sports will be viewed as other commercial enterprises (profits at all costs)...the one saving grace for so many decades is that franchises were once considered playthings of the very wealthy so there wasn't a need to extract maximum revenue at ever opportunity.

[Kevin W.]

This is something that WNBA teams and soccer teams need to do due to lack of popularity.

Soccer teams don't do it due to a lack of popularity. If that was the case, teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid wouldn't have jersey sponsorship.

Like it or not, soccer is not a major sport in the United States.

MLS attendance has been steadily rising since its beginning: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Soccer_attendance#Season_averages

It gets better average attendance than the NBA: http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/story/2011-11-07/mls-passes-nba-as-third-best-attended-american-sport

[nash61]

The MLS and the CFL aren't the only ones.

[McCall]

This is something that WNBA teams and soccer teams need to do due to lack of popularity.

Soccer teams don't do it due to a lack of popularity. If that was the case, teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid wouldn't have jersey sponsorship.

Like it or not, soccer is not a major sport in the United States.

MLS attendance has been steadily rising since its beginning: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Soccer_attendance#Season_averages

It gets better average attendance than the NBA: http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/story/2011-11-07/mls-passes-nba-as-third-best-attended-american-sport

You can post attendance comparisons all you want, but if you asked 100 regular, everyday sports fans questions about the 4 major leagues and MLS, a very small amount would know anything about MLS aswear the vast majority would be able to tell you more about any of the 4 majors. It's just not as popular, plain and simple.

[Gothamite]

Don't most soccer sponsors use one-color versions of their logo on the front?

Some do, some don't. It looks meh when they do, it looks absolutely terrible when they don't.

For years, Tottenham wore a big red sponsor logo on their chests. Not only is red not one of Spurs' colors, but it's the color of their hated local rival.

Lots of supporters I knew were pretty pissed off about that; it would be like the Clippers wearing a purple-and-gold sponsor logo or the Chicago Bears putting a BP logo on their jerseys.

[DHester23]

People keep mentioning how European soccer jerseys have tons of ads on them (I will add that they look awful). One thing I read about that is European teams don't get the insane amounts of revenue from TV that North American pro teams do, and that's why they need that as a revenue stream. Maybe someone across the Atlantic can confirm that.

Here's the thing, one article mentioned that this will generate roughly $ 3million per team. Jesus, is it even worth it? I know it's money, but how much will this impact jersey sales?

[Kevin W.]

Except European soccer jerseys don't have "tons of ads." They usually just have one.

[McCall]

Well, I guess there's a sigh of relief as Bud Selig said "baseball uniforms are really important". So no ads in the future for baseball. Hopefully soon Goodell and Bettman will come out with similar responses.

[Kevin W.]

If the one league that won't even allow manufacturers' logos on their uniforms is allowing advertisement, I'm sure we'll see something in the other three leagues eventually.

[dfwabel]

Well, I guess there's a sigh of relief as Bud Selig said "baseball uniforms are really important". So no ads in the future for baseball. Hopefully soon Goodell and Bettman will come out with similar responses.

However if the MLB season starts in Japan, all that conjecture goes away.

[McCall]

If the one league that won't even allow manufacturers' logos on their uniforms is allowing advertisement, I'm sure we'll see something in the other three leagues eventually.

Ok wise one.

[Kevin W.]

If the one league that won't even allow manufacturers' logos on their uniforms is allowing advertisement, I'm sure we'll see something in the other three leagues eventually.

Ok wise one.

Hey, I said eventually. Who knows how long it'll take?

[OnWis97]

Well, I guess there's a sigh of relief as Bud Selig said "baseball uniforms are really important". So no ads in the near future for baseball. Hopefully soon Goodell and Bettman will come out with similar responses.

FTFY

[TheOldRoman]

This is something that WNBA teams and soccer teams need to do due to lack of popularity.

Soccer teams don't do it due to a lack of popularity. If that was the case, teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid wouldn't have jersey sponsorship.

Like it or not, soccer is not a major sport in the United States.

MLS attendance has been steadily rising since its beginning: http://en.wikipedia....Season_averages

It gets better average attendance than the NBA: http://aol.sportingn...-american-sport

Attendance means little here. Finding 18,000 in a metropolis who care about a team isn't impressive. When MLS comes close to pulling down the TV ratings even the NHL gets on a regular basis, then it can be in the discussion. I don't follow soccer or know the schedule, but a quick look at the Chicago Fire shows that they rarely play more than once a week and nearly all of their games are on Saturday or Sundays. That not only means higher attendance, but has the NFL scheduling advantage that the huge majority of people are off work and free to watch, and they know that the team will be playing that given day each week, so that might inflate their ratings. Regardless, I don't think you are going to find as many fans of an MLS team as you would that city's NBA/NHL counterpart.

[BigEd76]

The MLS and the CFL aren't the only ones.

The Arena League has ads too.

[Wilt]

Someone made an interesting observation on COF forum that ads on MLS jerseys look cleaner than on many European teams as (apart from few details) they are either in team's colours or black/white. I don't know if there are some official guidelines behind it but perhaps NBA could introduce something similar.

When it comes to ads in European football, Premier League and Champions League participants cannot have more than one ad. In France, on the other hand, many teams go NASCAR-style. In Italy smaller teams have several ads as well. The big teams, however, stick to one ad as the big brands like Pirelli, Jeep or Fly Emirates require exclusivity.

And few NBA mockups from Zczuba.pl website

[The_Admiral]

This is something that WNBA teams and soccer teams need to do due to lack of popularity.

Soccer teams don't do it due to a lack of popularity. If that was the case, teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid wouldn't have jersey sponsorship.

Like it or not, soccer is not a major sport in the United States.

MLS attendance has been steadily rising since its beginning: http://en.wikipedia....Season_averages

It gets better average attendance than the NBA: http://aol.sportingn...-american-sport

Attendance means little here. Finding 18,000 in a metropolis who care about a team isn't impressive. When MLS comes close to pulling down the TV ratings even the NHL gets on a regular basis, then it can be in the discussion. I don't follow soccer or know the schedule, but a quick look at the Chicago Fire shows that they rarely play more than once a week and nearly all of their games are on Saturday or Sundays. That not only means higher attendance, but has the NFL scheduling advantage that the huge majority of people are off work and free to watch, and they know that the team will be playing that given day each week, so that might inflate their ratings. Regardless, I don't think you are going to find as many fans of an MLS team as you would that city's NBA/NHL counterpart.

Oh yay, the "if you stare at the magic eye picture the right way, MLS gets better attendance than the NBA" thing again!

Yeah, that MLS attendance looks great until you compare the length of schedules, capacity, and most of all, NBA price points to MLS price points. The NBA doesn't have a team that opens up like half a football stadium to anyone who feels like dropping in.

There are serious attendance problems around the NBA, as about a third of the league has been left to die on the vine, but MLS is not breathing down anyone's neck. Not even the NHL's, whose attendance figures are actually pretty damn good around most of the league.

[phutmasterflex]

I won't like it, but maybe it won't suck as much if the ad logo matches the uniform colors.

[Firefly]

I'd be more upset at this news if my nerd rage wasn't already sponsored by Dr. Pepper.

Dr. Pepper! When you hate something that impacts you in no way, reach for a Dr. Pepper!

[fouhy12]

This is only the beginning! One day, we will name our kids after companies for money. Meet Pepsi Motorola Smith!

That's awesome! Can I put it in my sig?

Also, this is just stupid. They should put the manufacturer logo on the jersey, that would be ok. Anything else is too much for a pro jersey. If any of the other pro leagues do this, I will scream.