Coming Soon to a Court Near You: Advertisements on NBA Jerseys

The NBA recently announced that team jerseys may become ad-space for commercial logos and brands as soon as the 2017-2018 season. In recent years, the league has become relaxed as it pertains to jerseys, allowing variations on traditional styles like allowing sleeves, as well as allowing teams use of multiple ‘alternates’ throughout the season. Many teams in the south, especially in Texas and Florida have taken to using the Spanish names of the franchise quite frequently, such as Los Spurs or El Heat.

The league’s approval of commercial advertisements on jerseys will come as part of a three-year pilot program which will allow sponsors to place a logo on the front left of game jerseys, opposite the Nike logo. Patches will be restricted in size, measuring, at most, 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches. Commissioner Adam Silver said that, “…sponsorships provide deeper engagement with partners looking to build a unique association with our teams…We’re always thinking about innovative ways the NBA can remain competitive in a global marketplace…”

Consumer jerseys will not have sponsor logos on them; however, teams may opt-in to sell those jerseys if they so desire. It has been estimated the the league could collectively make $150 million or more. Other North American sports such as the MLB, NHL or NFL could make their own separate decisions within the coming months. As of right now, the other major leagues only allow the jersey-maker’s logo to be present on the jersey itself, just like the NBA until the recent news. Depending on whether or not the other leagues forecast the profits in the same way, it seems inevitable that leagues will choose the commercialization route as it could enhance revenues for teams as well as players.

With the recent flurry of free agency money being spent in the NBA combined with the rise of the NBA salary to $90 million, the influence of or desire for money in professional sports will not be disappearing anytime soon. It remains to be seen as to whether or not the hidden element, namely the fans and their access to teams, gear, and quality gameplay, will benefit from such a maneuver or not. Even though the NBA along with its owners have openly condemned the so-called ‘Super Teams’ that have brought home many championships recently, such teams are becoming more and more commonplace in the NBA. However, correlation does not mean causation.