It seems as if NBA jerseys will soon feature corporate logos. The NBA recently announced that Kia would sponsor this year’s All-Star uniforms. This potentially marks the first step in corporate sponsorship appearing on team jerseys. There is debate as to whether this will be good or bad for the league. While teams, players, and TV networks will likely benefit from the added sponsorship revenue, the vast majority of fans oppose the idea. Fans are against the idea of having corporate advertisements replace team logos. Additionally some fans might see this as another attempt to further deepen the pockets of owners and execs.
The NBA will not be the first league to adopt jersey sponsorship. Jersey sponsorship in soccer is entrenched as part of the game. As opposed to basketball though, soccer, with the exception of a halftime intermission, features no commercial breaks. Thus because of the quicker and continuous flow of action, fans are more tolerant. Basketball on the other hand generates a vast portion of their advertisement revenue through TV commercial breaks.
Jersey sponsorship raises several questions. One major question is how will the stakeholders involved – the league, teams, players, and TV networks – share the added revenue? Each party involved will push to obtain a bigger slice of the pie. It remains to be seen what sort of arrangement will be worked out. It figures to be a hot topic and lengthy debate however.
Another interesting question is how will corporate jersey advertisement effect jersey sales. One of the reasons fans buy their team’s jersey is to visibly announce their affiliation. Should corporate logos come to replace team logos, it is plausible that jersey sales decline.
With fans being against the idea, the league and team owners will have to find ways to appease fans. Shortening the already numerous and lengthy commercial breaks might go a long way in appeasing fans. Teams will be able to make up some of the lost sponsorship revenue through the jersey sponsorships. Fans on other hand will be able to enjoy a better product on screen and in the arena. Another way might to use the added revenue to offset and lower the high cost of attending games. This might be less likely seeing as how even with high ticket costs, NBA attendance has steadily risen over the past couple of years.
NBA jersey figures to bring several benefits to the many stakeholders involved in the sport. The league and owners will benefit from added sponsorship revenue while the players might also get a cut of the pie in the form of a higher salary cap and hence higher salaries. It remains to be seen if fans will benefit as well. While they might initially resist advertisements on jerseys, with time they figure to at the very least tolerate them. Ultimately what fans want most is for their team to win games.
