NBA’s Move on Sponsorship Logos is the Biggest Thing at the Moment

by Jeff M. Writer

The NBA board of governors has recently approved a three-year pilot program that would allow teams to sell a corporate logo on their jerseys. The board announced that teams can now place sponsorship logos on player uniforms starting from the 2017/18 season.

In contrast to a much larger advert space on soccer jerseys, companies looking to advertise their brands in the NBA will only have a 2.5-inch-by-2.5-inch space on team’s jersey.

That’s quite small but it’s still large enough to be noticed by any keen viewer. Again, since the project is still in its trial phase, the coming years will determine if the status quo will be maintained or the logo size will be increased.

But generally, this is good news for the NBA, basketball players, TV partners, branding companies and other stakeholders in the sports industry. Here are 4 good reasons this move is the biggest thing at the moment.

1. The NBA will get more attention

This is a move corporate companies looking to expand their reach have always prayed for. Therefore the following months will see a lot of deals, collaborations and endorsements. This will in turn lead to greater engagement with fans as companies will have the opportunity to extend their followership to the NBA.

As expected, the new partnerships that would be formed will amount to additional revenue for the NBA. Although the league’s overall revenue stands at $7 billion, an additional $100 million through jersey adverts is a further boost to their revenue base.

2. Branding companies will receive massive boost

This decision is a strategic victory for not just NBA teams and their players. Companies specializing in jersey customization too will see a spike in their revenue over the next couple of years. The reason is not far-fetched.

Since teams will look to print new logos on their jerseys starting 2017/18 season, more customizing companies will be brought into limelight. And the partnership might as well last for as long as the decision isn’t rescinded at the end of the patch program. If this move yields great results, other major US sports leagues might just follow suit.

3. Brand awareness for corporate companies

Another exciting opportunity for corporate companies is brand awareness. According to Adweek, brands looking for ways to integrate themselves into professional sports now have another option in the NBA.

The media landscape is rapidly changing, and people are now watching less live television outside of sports. Consequently, this limits the rate at which people are watching TV commercials. So the idea of placing sponsorship ads on jerseys is a move in the right direction.

4. More revenue for NBA teams and players

The NBA will not be the only one to benefit from this new move. NBA teams will also take a sizeable share of the largesse. This is because each of the teams will be responsible for selling their own sponsorships. Also, the money will be counted as basketball-related income and will therefore be shared with the players too.

The real commercial prospect rests in the fact that companies choosing to associate directly with a team jersey go the whole length to promote that relationship to the international market.