After years of discussion, NBA teams will finally allow corporate logos to be inscribed in player jerseys starting in the 2017-2018 season.
NBA teams will now be able to accept suitors, which likely will be multinational companies, to occupy 2.5-inch-by-2.5-inch space on player jerseys, which makes the league the fourth major U.S. sports league to proceed with this strategy, ESPN reported.
Commissioner Adam Silver is very positive that this move will further increase the league's power as well as increasing their fan base. Not to mention, this will increase the league's revenue as well which just closed a $24 billion TV deal in 2014.
"It's my hope, independent of whatever additional revenues are generated through this patch program, that the greatest impact will be in this amplifying effect of companies choosing to associate directly with a team jersey, then going out and promoting that relationship to the largest market," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a press conference.
Also, Silver said that this deal will net the league at least $100 million a year additional to the $7 billion projected earnings for the 2017-2018 season. Moreover, Nike will be taking over the jersey production, taking the crown from Adidas. 29 teams are said to don the Nike logo while the Charlotte Hornets will likely use the Nike subsidiary brand, Jordan since it is owned by Michael Jordan.
Also, this program will be tested for three years, as Silvers noted that they want to see fan reception first before making this the new norm.
However, fans are not too pleased with the move as they see it as just another cash grabbing scheme for the NBA, New York Daily News' Gersh Kuntzman wrote. Compared to how much the league is earning, $5.2 billion per season plus $900 million in operating profit, this will only look like chump change, the writer added.
This move will significantly change the league's image, from being a sport adored by everyone to a platform for advertising, he added. Hence, he is urging fans to boycott the league's latest move. Here are some popular opinions regarding the subject matter courtesy of ESPN.