NBA Jersey Ads: Eye Sore or Marketing Genius?

Corporate sponsorship is nothing new in sports. Whenever we go out to any sort of sporting event, whether it’s professional or amateur, consumers are reminded of the sponsors of the team with their ads. They are located pretty much all over the stadium.  From our beer cups (which are always smaller than they should be) to the outfield wall signs, advertising in sports is a huge commodity.

Things are about to get even larger starting in 2013! Begging in 2013, the NBA will now allow small (2×2) patches advertising sponsors on a team’s jersey. The NBA estimates $100 million per year in revenue from the patches, which equates to companies spending $2,710 for each player patch or $676 per square inch for every single regular-season game. While this practice may at first raise eyebrows, we have to remember that advertising on team jerseys is nothing new.  European soccer clubs such as Real Madrid make tens of millions of dollars in revenue per year off of sponsorship.  It also isn’t a new concept in the U.S.  WNBA and NASCAR teams both have sponsorship patches all over their uniforms. So in two seasons when you see LeBron James pull off an incredible dunk, you may just get that urge to go out to the supermarket and get a nice refreshing delish tasting red bull.