Do you hate the idea of ads going on NBA jerseys? Well, too bad, because the league is getting closer to making it happen.
Darren Rovell and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com report the league sent a memo out to owners this week saying they’ll be discussing putting logos on uniforms at an owners meeting.
Sources said the NBA’s planning committee is seeking comments from teams in advance of the April Board of Governors meeting. The committee will continue to meet with team feedback, which will determine if the proposal makes the April meeting agenda.
Under the league proposal, which must be approved by the Board of Governors in April to come to fruition, teams will be able to sell one corporate logo on their uniforms for the 2017-18 season. That would give teams a year to sell, and it would line up with the league’s new apparel deal with Nike.
So that’s a big deal.
The proposed deal would account for market size as 50 percent of the ad revenue would be kept by teams while the other 50 percent would go into a revenue-sharing pool. The proposed deal would make the NBA the first major North American sports league to put ads on jerseys – although there were rumors the NHL was considering something similar, although commissioner Gary Bettman denied it.
As ESPN notes, this could create an awkward branding situation. A player like LeBron, for example, who has a lifetime deal with Nike worth hundreds of millions, may be forced to wear an Adidas logo on his jersey – which would show up on pictures and NBA licensed merchandise. I can’t imagine current sponsors would be thrilled with that, although I’m sure they’ll bite on throwing down cash to be on a jersey.
The deal still has to be proposed and approved, but it’s hard to imagine it won’t be as soon as it can. It’s an easy way for the NBA to generate easy revenue, so it seems more of question of when not if.
[ESPN]
