OT: NBA jerseys to feature ads in 2017-18
https://twitter.com/matt_dollinger/status/720994184132444160
The NBA made record profits last year and franchises have never been more valuable. There is no need for this.
Based on the early pitch to advertisers on this, the patch is going to be shopped first as part of a larger "exclusive" sponsorship package so the actual revenue will almost definitely exceed $4-6 mil on average.
The NBA isn't quite a total shill - at least they blocked FedEx from naming the Grizzlies the Memphis Express.
Obviously, there is certainly a chance that in 5-10 years the patch has grown or some of the rules have changed and become more ad-friendly.You think? Of course it will. This is the first step. It won't generate much money. This is just how they will desensitize the public to ads on jerseys. A decade from now those ads will go across the chest of the jersey.
Was a huge NBA fan growing up and through college.. then slowly left over the next decade, and last few years watched at best only parts of a handful of games a year. Then late last year and this season teh game has improved so much I was really getting back into it, the NBA is better than its been since the late 90s or early 2000s. But it won't last.
Adam Silver will ruin the NBA, undue the progress David Stern made over 30 years, and go down as one of the worst professional sports commissioners of all time. This (jersey ads) was his first initiative when he became commissioner. He's wants to change the draft, shorten "playing time" in games to 44 min from 48 (but not overall length of games, b/c that would take away advertising revenue - the extra 4 minutes would be sold to advertising), have NBA teams play foreign teams and in foreign countries, possibly playing a tournament in China, launch an NBA Awards show, and god knows what other horrible ideas he hasn't gone public with.
Once again I assume I will drift back to watching one or two NBA games a year, and not give a rats ass who is doing what.