WNBA teams selling advertising on their uniforms

[insidehoops]

The Phoenix Mercury’s new uniform no longer has the words Phoenix or Mercury. Instead, the W.N.B.A.’s Mercury appears to have been renamed LifeLock, with the 10-inch-by-4-inch name of the identity-theft protection company stretching across the team’s jerseys. A small Mercury logo (the planet, with an M) appears like a badge on the upper left of the jersey. Taking a cue from international sports, where displaying corporate names on jerseys is standard, the Mercury on Monday will announce a three-year deal with Tempe, Ariz.-based LifeLock that is worth at least $1 million annually. NY Times

Worth discussing even if you don't care about the WNBA, because maybe this will be an NBA thing eventually, too

[quasimoto]

Why don't NBA teams do this? Is it a league rule?

[dawsey6]

Oh jesus. This is sad.

[TruthKGRay3412]

Originally Posted by quasimoto

Why don't NBA teams do this? Is it a league rule?

I hope to god this doesn't happen...I would rather not be the walking billboard on the street,and jersey sales will surely go down seeing as other people wouldnt dig that sh!t either.

[niko]

The nba teams have a deal with reebok where they get paid to wear the uniforms, so no - they don't neccesarily have to sell advertising. The WNBA made less money than i did (the whole league in total) so they need new revenue sources.

What products scream out mediocre? or suck?

[Kebab Stall]

This won't happen in the NBA. NBA teams have more than enough fans to gain money from merchandise and tickets and all that stuff. The WNBA on the other hand though.......well, they just don't have any fans, so they need to get the money from somwhere.

[yobore]

why not?

have y'all never watched soccer?

[Valliant13]

Unless they start projecting mens basketball games on the backs on their jerseys no none is every going to care about that league.

[Interminator]

Originally Posted by yobore

why not?

have y'all never watched soccer?

Exactly.

Its nothing wrong with having advertising on WNBA uniforms, but it wont happen in the NBA.

Jersey sales are very important, and nobody wants to buy a Lakers jersey with Trojan Condoms, Jack in The Box, Budweiser, and Home Depot being promoted on the jersey.

[NJQ]

People would still buy the jerseys even if they had advertising on it. Its nice that the big sports in the US don't have advertising on the front but it will happen one day.

[quasimoto]

Originally Posted by Interminator

Exactly.

Its nothing wrong with having advertising on WNBA uniforms, but it wont happen in the NBA.

Jersey sales are very important, and nobody wants to buy a Lakers jersey with Trojan Condoms, Jack in The Box, Budweiser, and Home Depot being promoted on the jersey.

Why not? Soccer/football jerseys sell like hotcakes and if I'm not mistaken Barcelona is the only team which doesn't have commercial logos on their jersey. The whole NBA is based around marketing. They all have Nike sneakers and they all drink Gatorade during timeouts. It wouldn't be a major shock to me if they suddenly started doing playing with ads on their uniforms.

[Interminator]

Because we are Americans, and they are Europeans.

[BigTicket]

It's going to happen in the NBA as well, just a matter of time. Might even be as soon as the next collective bargaining agreement, you know the teams will be getting desperate with the diminishing salary cap.

[niko]

Originally Posted by BigTicket

It's going to happen in the NBA as well, just a matter of time. Might even be as soon as the next collective bargaining agreement, you know the teams will be getting desperate with the diminishing salary cap.

No, it won't because it will make jersey sales go down. Americans don't like advertising on their clothes. It's a different culture.

[depletedW]

This is the next step. Soon all professional teams will have some type of advertising on them. Watch a game in any sport and look at the crazy amount of ads in the arena. Only a matter of time before it spills onto the actual jerseys.