Baby steps. That’s what George Mason University marketing professor Chris Joiner says the NBA should take when introducing ads on team uniforms.
Yes, ads on uniforms of teams in North America’s four major pro sports are inevitable, especially after the NBA opened the door by allowing teams to place 2.5-inch by 2.5-inch ads on game jerseys.
As Craig Esherick, associate director of George Mason’s Center for Sport Management, said, “It’s free money” for the teams.
The Philadelphia 76ers, the first team to strike an ad deal, will get $15 million over three years from ticket resale company StubHub, ESPN’s Darren Rovell reported.
But Joiner said teams should roll out those ads carefully so as not to insult those fans who find uniforms as much a part of a team’s identity as the players for which they root.
“They should announce the move as taking place in a series of gradual steps,” said Joiner, whose expertise is consumer psychology. “If a team first has a sponsorship on a small number of home game jerseys, then away jerseys, then all home jerseys, etcetera, it will ease the changeover.”
“Once it’s seen as inevitable,” Joiner said, “it will rapidly be seen as normal.”
How normal? Consider:
Ads on uniforms are really not that unusual
Major League Soccer teams in North America, WNBA teams and all European soccer teams already have uniform ads. “So American sports fans should be familiar with it as a concept,” Joiner said. “Sponsorship is highly visible on the PGA tour, too, and certainly in NASCAR.”
Besides, teams need to keep up with rising player salaries and arena expenses
“This is an opportunity for team owners to stay ahead or even with these rising costs,” says Esherick, the former Georgetown University men’s basketball coach.
A word of caution
“I wouldn’t advise the NBA to free up space on players’ derrieres for logos as some teams did, and still do in Europe,” said Chris Elzey, director of Mason’s Sport and American Culture minor and a former pro basketball player in Europe. “I played for a club in Poland whose main sponsor was a water and beverage company. The logo was a smiling Mazurka dancer in traditional attire holding up a pitcher. I didn’t mind wearing the logo on my jersey, though it certainly didn’t strike fear into opponents’ hearts.”
Bottom line
“It is certainly clear that the professional sports leagues are interested in, and are very good at, generating all sorts of revenues from their respective sports,” Joiner said. “[Uniform ads] are another potential lucrative source of additional revenues. Once the NBA has proven successful with the move, other leagues will follow.”
Chris Joiner, associate professor of marketing, has a PhD in marketing from the University of Minnesota. He can be reached at 703-993-4235 or cjoiner@gmu.edu.
Chris Elzey, co-director of Mason’s Center for the Study of Sport and Leisure in Society and director of the Sport and American Culture minor, has a PhD in American studies from Purdue University. He can be reached at 703-993-1250 or celzey@gmu.edu.
Craig Esherick, director of Mason’s Center for Sport Management, has a bachelor’s degree in finance and a law degree from Georgetown University. He can be reached at 703-993-9922 or cesheric@gmu.edu.
For more information, contact Michele McDonald at 703-993-8781 or mmcdon15@gmu.edu, or Damian Cristodero at 703-993-9118 or dcristod@gmu.edu.
About George Mason
George Mason University is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls more than 34,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility.