Nike will have some advertising competition in the NBA next year. A number of NBA teams have already signed agreements with corporate sponsors for patches on their team uniforms. The SportsBusiness Journal reports that current deals range in value from $4 million to $10 million annually.
NBA teams that currently have deals are as follows:
- Philadelphia 76ers (StubHub)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (Goodyear)
- Boston Celtics (GE)
- Utah Jazz (Qualtrics)
- Sacramento Kings (Blue Diamond)
- Brooklyn Nets (Infor)
The NBA has been experimenting with advertising patches for a while now, first with the Kia patch on uniforms in the 2016 All Star Game. While corporate executives may think this is a great opportunity to enhance brand awareness, what say the fans? A study by YouGov suggests its a matter of age. According to their results, millennials are much more open to the idea of jersey advertising compared to their elder counterparts.
This suggests that if you are fortunate to live long enough, future NBA jerseys may eventually look like this:
Sources:
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2017/06/12/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/Hornets.aspx
https://today.yougov.com/news/2016/05/31/nba-ads-jerseys/