Corporate Ads On College Basketball Jerseys?

[JavaMan]

Jersey Ads a 'Game Changer' for WNBA Franchises
By Blake Benard, Cronkite NewsSpecial to FOX Sports

PHOENIX -- The four major professional sports leagues have shied away from placing sponsored advertisers on players' jerseys but the Women's National Basketball Association has capitalized on the practice since 2011. And the NBA will soon follow the WNBA's example.

The revenue-generating move helps a league struggling to grow a fan base: game attendance is half that of the men's league. Even for successful franchises like the Phoenix Mercury, who have won three WNBA titles, the jersey ad displays are arguably the reason they are still around the Valley.

Amid controversy, the NBA will begin selling ad space on player jerseys starting in the 2017-2018 season.

NBA fans have expressed their displeasure on social media but the advertising trend -- whether on team jerseys or in individual player deals with sponsors -- is gaining momentum.

"You see it in the NFL on practice jerseys. You've seen it in Major League Soccer for a long time..."

Many WNBA players don't understand why fans and players take issue with ads on jersey.

"I don't really understand the opposition to it," Penny Taylor said. "I've played overseas for about 15 years where you can sometimes look like a race car."

The NBA's deal will allow each individual team to sell a 2.5 inch by 2.5 inch space on the left shoulder. According to the NBA, the deal is expected to bring in $100 million dollars annually.

[LINK]

This advertising trend will likely continue to spread throughout all (or most) of professional sports. So how long will it take before colleges start cashing in? Maybe now is the time for us to start lobbying for our preferred or favorite products.

This would be my preference. But, admittedly, I have a bias.

​

 

[Bestiarius]

Will the players start cashing in too? Let the court battles begin.
A U.S. Olympic athlete is auctioning off a patch of his skin for tattoo advertising on eBay -- again

 

[Ukonnfan]

It really doesn't matter to me much. People should know, when a sponsor is on the jersey, it will take a bit of impact off the school name. Maybe it gets removed altogether...Just have a look at the new uniform of Brianna Stewart. What do you remember seeing? Seattle? But, if thats what it takes for a league to survive financially, ok i guess.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Will the players start cashing in too? Let the court battles begin.
A U.S. Olympic athlete is auctioning off a patch of his skin for tattoo advertising on eBay -- again

Hey let the College teams wear "company" logo's /ads and then allow the college kids share in the profits. I can just see Uconn's ad's : Eat at Geno's Mohegan Sun (circular around the waist)
No Tattoo ad's at UConn WBB--

 

[Icebear]

Everything is for sale in the US today.

 

[UcMiami]

This has been the norm around the world for a very long time, and in the USA in certain segments of sport - motor sport is just a walking billboard from the drivers to the cars, to the whole track. Stadiums are all billboards from their names to any flat surfaces they can find. Golfers - walking billboards. Basketball players have been wearing logos on their shoes for decades, and on their garments as well. What is the difference between a swoosh on your shoe and a corporate name on your jersey - The jeans you wear announce the brand, the shirts have the logo on the breast, and that has been true for a very long time. Every car you have driven announces its brand and model, and has done so since almost the first one got built. The radio in the car you drive announces its brand and usually some of the component hardware and software involved with the dolby double dd or the CD technology attached. And the movies you watch and the TV shows all sell product placements to the highest bidder.
Why this should be an issue for anyone I don't know.

I used to have a problem when sneakers that had been one of the cheapest forms of footwear became status symbols and the price skyrocketed from under ten dollars to $25 and up. Suddenly kids were getting beaten up and their shoes stolen after school (for real - I remember the stories making it into newspapers.) Same kind of thing happened with jeans - cheap and very durable clothes until Calvin Klein came along and proved you could sell a $7 pair of pants for $40+ by putting a big brand name and a little distinctive stitching on them and a bunch of marketing dollars behind them. We have gone so far beyond that in the branding of everything that it is a minor footnote.

 

[j66kicker]

What is the level of the WNBA's affiliation with the NBA currently? I know the NBA sold off the WNBA teams - part to the local NBA teams and part to third parties - over 10 years ago, but didn't Adam Silver some out with some WNBA promo or some sort of publicity a year or so ago? (don't know if that implied continued 'governance' or not...?)

Anyway, the NBA's announcement yesterday said they would prohibit uniform ads for alcohol, tobacco, gambling, politics, or the logo of any competitor of Nike's. At least 2 WNBA teams already have casinos as their primary uniform sponsors (the owners, in the case of the Sun). And Adidas is the WNBA official uniform sponsor. Just wondering how that will work with the NBA's restrictions, or if there is any formal relation ship with the NBA at all nowadays.

 

[BroadwayVa]

This has been the norm around the world for a very long time, and in the USA in certain segments of sport - motor sport is just a walking billboard from the drivers to the cars, to the whole track. Stadiums are all billboards from their names to any flat surfaces they can find. Golfers - walking billboards. Basketball players have been wearing logos on their shoes for decades, and on their garments as well. What is the difference between a swoosh on your shoe and a corporate name on your jersey - The jeans you wear announce the brand, the shirts have the logo on the breast, and that has been true for a very long time. Every car you have driven announces its brand and model, and has done so since almost the first one got built. The radio in the car you drive announces its brand and usually some of the component hardware and software involved with the dolby double dd or the CD technology attached. And the movies you watch and the TV shows all sell product placements to the highest bidder.
Why this should be an issue for anyone I don't know.

I used to have a problem when sneakers that had been one of the cheapest forms of footwear became status symbols and the price skyrocketed from under ten dollars to $25 and up. Suddenly kids were getting beaten up and their shoes stolen after school (for real - I remember the stories making it into newspapers.) Same kind of thing happened with jeans - cheap and very durable clothes until Calvin Klein came along and proved you could sell a $7 pair of pants for $40+ by putting a big brand name and a little distinctive stitching on them and a bunch of marketing dollars behind them. We have gone so far beyond that in the branding of everything that it is a minor footnote.

If you don't love your mother get another---Burma Shave. (Every highway a Burma Shave ad in the 1930's)

 

[BroadwayVa]

If you don't love your mother get another---Burma Shave. (Every highway a Burma Shave ad in the 1930's)

Long before Calvin Kline---everyone had to have a shirt with a little 1/4 twist--
Before that Bobby sox, Zoot suits (big item in NY), Skirts with the big bear near the long hem--then the "new look" hem around the ankle (like 1890 how new was that?)
Beemer's the car for the guy who made it (made what?)
Every one in 1660 NY dressed alike (by gender), while guillotine was dropping most had the same style of clothing (by accident, hardly)
A number of years ago my wife purchased a pair of Sports shoes (sneakers) for 60 buck (actually very very cheap they were going for over 100) I freaked out, in my less than poor youth we'd get them at Goodyear's discount store in Naugatuck for less than a dollar---but she actually paid less than half the tag price. Whew!

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

NO!

 

[BroadwayVa]

If you don't love your mother get another---Burma Shave. (Every highway a Burma Shave ad in the 1930's)

Long before Calvin Kline---everyone had to have a shirt with a little 1/4 twist--
Before that Bobby sox, Zoot suits (big item in NY), Skirts with the big bear near the long hem--then the "new look" hem around the ankle (like 1890 how new was that?)
Beemer's the car for the guy who made it (made what?)
Every one in 1660 NY dressed alike (by gender), while guillotine was dropping most had the same style of clothing (by accident, hardly)

 

[BroadwayVa]

It really doesn't matter to me much. People should know, when a sponsor is on the jersey, it will take a bit of impact off the school name. Maybe it gets removed altogether...Just have a look at the new uniform of Brianna Stewart. What do you remember seeing? Seattle? But, if thats what it takes for a league to survive financially, ok i guess.

What I remember seeing is Breanna Stewart--the uniform was incidental.

 

[FairView]

Create some rules to keep it respectable, then take the money and run.
While the educational, economic, age and social demographics of the Boneyard may not mesh with logo placements everywhere, we are the exception in today's society.

Done properly, it can be harmless. Heck, the swish has been on college uniforms for years – and it's not like Avery Brundage can spin in his grave any faster.

But there really should be well-thought-out rules to prevent a circus. We need to remember that student athletes are wearing these ads, so they must be positive, above-board and straightforward. We certainly wouldn't want to end up going down the road of PINK, which grew an entire brand with backside billboards (not that there's anything wrong with that in general, just not here).