Advertising on NBA Jerseys?

The NBA Board of Governors are currently talking about the possibility of have advertisements on NBA jerseys. Commissioner Stern recently commented on the possibility by saying, "There's a pretty big division of opinion right now as to whether we should take that step. As a personal matter, I am not in favor of it, but I'm not standing in the way of it. If my board wants to do it, we'll do it."

The advertisement that is in question is a 2-inch-by-2-inch patch that would start in the 2013-2014 NBA season. The patch on all team's jerseys could bring an estimated $100 million dollars of shared combined revenue for the teams in the league.

Most other leagues have advertisements on jerseys as a form of revenue. Stern said, "of all the leagues in the world, the NBA is the only one that has its own logo on it." The strength of a logo is important for all businesses. The question for the NBA is whether or not adding advertisements to jerseys diminishes the NBA logo. It is quite an accomplishment that the NBA is the only league with their own logo presented on their jerseys. It will be interesting to see how important that distinction is to the NBA Board of Governors.

Maybe exaggerated a bit... hopefully....

Final Thought
As much as I would like to see the NBA jerseys stay free of advertisements, I feel it may be good for the NBA. The revenue that would be generated by jersey advertising would be quite significant, especially for the small market teams. Jersey advertising for the NBA should reinforce the idea to the common fan that at the end of the day, the NBA is a business. They are a business that strives to makes as much money as possible just like any other business. If the revenue for jersey advertising is enough of a benefit that it outweighs the negatives of having the advertisement, then the NBA needs to allow the advertisements.

 @dmrosen7