Advertisement in the form of corporate logos on NBA jerseys reportedly is imminent. Josh Ourand and John Lombardo of Sports Business Daily reported the selling of space on jerseys for advertisement is "inevitable" following the NBA's new TV deals with TNT and ESPN.
"Sources familiar with the TV deals admit both networks pushed hard to be allowed to sell ads on team jerseys outright, but the league balked at handing over the potentially lucrative rights," Ourand and Lombardo wrote Monday. "Under the new TV deals, NBA teams maintain the rights to sell the jersey advertising, which has an estimated value ranging from around $800,000 for small-market teams like the Memphis Grizzlies to more than $10 million for large-market teams like the Los Angeles Lakers."
The networks, though, will have some rights in regard to selling sponsorships on the jerseys. Sports Business Daily reported the networks would get "certain spending guarantees related to those contracts" of the corporate advertisements.
"According to sources involved in the discussions, if there's a national brand with a jersey deal that would have bought time on ESPN or TNT's NBA game telecasts - think Coca-Cola or Samsung - the two networks would get specific commitments from that company to also buy TV advertising during any nationally televised games featuring that sponsored team. ...
"Specifics of the TV buy component have not been hammered out, but the level of spending required by a company sponsoring the jersey would depend on how much exposure the team has on national broadcasts."
The new TV deals, which don't go into effect until 2017, also allow TNT to sell corporate advertising on the All-Star Game jerseys. As for when more details about the jersey advertisements will be ironed out, one network executive said, "as soon as someone buys a jersey."
For more about the jersey advertisements, read HERE.
