Adam Silver Says NBA Jerseys Will 'Most Likely' Have Sponsor Ads Within 5 Years

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1999142-adam-silver-says-nba-jerseys-will-most-likely-have-sponsor-ads-within-5-years?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=nba


Adam Silver Says NBA Jerseys Will 'Most Likely' Have Sponsor Ads Within 5 Years
By Joe Flynn , Featured Columnist Mar 19, 2014


NBA commissioner Adam Silver has only been on the job for two months, but he has already found a pet project to consume the beginning of his reign. And that project is the introduction of sponsored uniforms.

According to AdAge.com's Michael McCarthy, Silver attended the 2014 IMG World Congress of Sports presented by SportsBusiness Daily/Journal and was asked if he felt the NBA would introduce ad space on jerseys within the next five years; to which he answered "definitely." He quickly thought about it and changed his answer to: "Most likely."

If this talk sounds familiar, it is because Silver said much the same thing during 2014's All-Star Weekend, per ESPN's Arash Markazi:

Adam Silver says sponsorship on jerseys will ultimately happen. "It makes good business sense."

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) February 16, 2014
Clearly, the new commissioner believes that sponsored jerseys will be on the backs of NBA players at some point in the near future. It's no longer a question of if, but when. And while Silver is not yet fully committed to the five-year timetable, he seems to view it as a near certainty.

Silver's interest in sponsored jerseys shouldn't come as a surprise. He has been openly discussing the idea since at least 2011, when he claimed that advertising space on jerseys could be worth $100 million, via ESPN.

Cork Gaines of Business Insider believes the league's recent commitment to sleeved jerseys might have been designed with ads in mind:

In addition to the increase in surface area on the front compared to a traditional jersey, the design includes fewer contrasting colors and less area being covered by graphics, lettering, and numbers. It would seem that this is exactly what you would want to change if you were going to eventually add an advertisement patch to the front of the uniforms.

Interestingly enough, Silver also pointed to the growing popularity of the English Premiere league in the U.S. as an indicator that American fans will tolerate sponsored jerseys, according to McCarthy.

Indeed, the growth in American soccer viewership may have helped soften the resistance of many American fans. Youngsters growing up watching the Premier League are already used to the idea of massive sponsor logos splashed across the chest of their favorite players, and Major League Soccer has already adopted that European style.

Lets face it: No professional sports league is going to turn down that much advertising money. Tradition means nothing in the face of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

Sponsored jerseys are coming.



bob
MY NOTE:  Please God let this just be another BS Bleacher Report.  Between Adam Silver's claim that "there is no tanking in the NBA" and this Mr. Potato Head (aka David Stern) is starting to look like he should be the NBA's Mt. Rushmore, not LeBron. I hope Wyc has the class to demand that teams have the option of "opting out" of this.


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M-mmmm. Can't wait. The NASCAR look.

I've always considered this inevitable, unfortunately.

I doubt if individual teams will be able to opt out, and I think it will likely be league-wide contracts with advertisers. Otherwise, it will be more of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer -- big markets getting yet another source of revenue while small markets pick up pennies.

Sighs... Such nonsense.

NBA games already have commercials. And at the games, there's adverts all over the place. But the NBA is purely a business, the "sport" aspect of it seems long gone.



KJ

The league already had that malarkey about putting the players' nicknames on the backs of their jerseys. Remember the Miami game? What's next? Jesus Supershuttle? "Burger King" James? "Visit Big Easy" Beasley?

This is happening despite the fact that the new CBA was written to limit payroll, which puts more money in the owners' pockets.



bob



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Ugh.... If it happens the only holdout to tradition is the celtics lack of cheerleaders.. After that, it's all modernized...

Pretty much in keeping with society as a whole and pro basketball in particular.  Anything for a buck.

Tom Brokaw wrote a book entitled "The Greatest Generation."  That generation endured economic hardship, was appreciative of whatever work it could get, took extra jobs to make ends meet, fought their battles with comparatively primitive tools compared with today, banded together to achieve collective goals, adhered to selfless values, and was a model of frugality and humility.  I will always feel privileged to have witnessed that generation in action.  Nothing that anyone could ever say or do could diminish the early and enduring impact of that generation on my life.

Same goes for pro basketball.

Sam

"Ugh.... If it happens the only holdout to tradition is the celtics lack of cheerleaders.."

The Celtics have cheerleaders or dancing girls or whatever you want to call the eye candy that gyrates on the floor for our viewing pleasure.

I was actually proud that the Celtics for a long time had no dancing girls.    I was also proud that they played in a gloomy old dump like the old Boston Garden.

Bill Walton once called the old Garden the greatest basketball gym in the world.

No corporate boxes, no jumbotrons, no music during play, no celebs mugging for the cameras in their 2K courtside seats, no dancing girls, no air conditioning. The  beer was warm. The food lousy.   You went there for one reason and one reason only--to see great basketball.

The Celtics for a long time bucked the modern trend, something that was even more despicable since it was started by Jerry Buss and his Lakers.

Thank you Red.  It was great while it lasted.