04/18/24
May 27, 2005
Advertising on NBA uniforms: Would advertisers pay more for the slow guys on the perimeter because it would be easier to read their logo?
posted by graymatters to basketball at 03:21 PM - 23 comments
Its a natural progression really. Look at baseball-the players are more or less walking billboards--Everything has a logo on it From the bat,glove right down to the sunflower seeds. Doesnt European Soccer teams have logo? Correct me if I am wrong, that wasnt "liverpool" written across there shirts in that soccer game I watched for a while a couple days ago.....
posted by daddisamm at 04:01 PM on May 27, 2005
Oh great. Soon you'll be able to go to an NBA game and watch 10 commercials running around on the court.
posted by roberts at 04:31 PM on May 27, 2005
Note in the story that at least one owner is willing to consider selling his team's name. The New Jersey Ham Fighters?
posted by graymatters at 05:15 PM on May 27, 2005
NBA ticket prices are already stratospheric, right? And TV money is unlikely to grow substantially. Clothing and other branded merchandise probably fall into the same category. Other than new places to sell ads, the only major revenue source the league can pursue is non-North American fans.
posted by billsaysthis at 06:48 PM on May 27, 2005
NBA ticket prices are already stratospheric, right? And TV money is unlikely to grow substantially. Aargh. This is the same thing they were spewing on PTI yesterday. It has nothing to do with owners eating spam 3 meals a day. Whether tickets were $0 or $100, teams are companies and companies seek to maximize revenue. If they can sell ads on uniforms without losing more money on lower jersey sales, it will happen. As always: player salaries are completely uncorrelated with ticket prices.
posted by yerfatma at 09:59 PM on May 27, 2005
wouldn't this bring up some sticky situations if the sponsors for the teams are in direct competition with the companies that endorse individual players?
posted by goddam at 11:30 PM on May 27, 2005
I can hear the interview now, "I'd like to thank Dodge, Pepsi, Champion spark plugs, MBNA, Pennzoil, Domino's Pizza, Nike, NAPA, The owners, David Stern, blah, blah, blah". Just put stickers on the backboards and logos on the court.
posted by dbt302 at 12:30 AM on May 28, 2005
goddam - yeah, shades of 1992 in barcelona with some players on the the USA men's team covering up the reebok logo on their sweat suits with an american flag.
posted by gspm at 08:42 AM on May 28, 2005
This hammy pull is brought to you by "Laughy Tafy"........
posted by daddisamm at 10:25 AM on May 28, 2005
What foolish company would pay money to advertise on a Atlanta Hawks uniform? If they were smart, they'd only push to advertise during the playoffs, since the NBA regular season only involves going through the motions for many teams most nights (Forgive me, but I don't like the NBA). If advertising starts showing up on NFL uniforms, that would stink. Actually, keep the ads off ALL of the uniforms.
posted by dyams at 10:51 AM on May 28, 2005
Yerfatma, I agree completely. I only meant that owners, being interested in increasing revenues, need to find other sources than TV or tickets since those are probably near max today. Do you disagree?
posted by billsaysthis at 04:37 PM on May 28, 2005
anyone want to guess why they're considering this NOW? I mean, the NBA's been around for a long time and they haven't put ads on uniforms to date. Any idea what's changed?
posted by Mike McD at 10:06 PM on May 29, 2005
Mike, Nascar's blowing out the doors with advertising covering every square inch of cars and driver uniforms and with Glazer buying ManU perhaps somebody noticed the big ads in the space where American uniforms have the team name or logo and that might be putting ideas into their tiny little heads.
posted by billsaysthis at 10:23 PM on May 29, 2005
Any idea what's changed? Well, they are putting in a new CBA so if negotiations mean that the owners have to give something up to the players then they, in turn, may want to look at new ways to make revenue.
posted by gspm at 09:52 AM on May 30, 2005
it goes on every day in almost every other country but here.
posted by HOE.O.K. at 10:54 AM on May 30, 2005
the US
posted by HOE.O.K. at 10:55 AM on May 30, 2005
I would suggest that the advent of personal video recorders are a factor. Suddenly the TV business model is undergoing a fundemental change. The value of commercials is slowly being eroded as pvr's proliferate and more and more viewers cut out the commercials (as a sidenote, TIVO and Replay TV handicapped themselves to make nice with the broadcasters and you can't easily cut out commercials, but my new sony vaio laptop has a pvr that recongnizes dead space and allows me to skip over commercials entirely). In the new world, advertisements on unis make perfect sense. Even if you have a pvr and skip commercials you're still exposed to the logos as you watch the actual game. Personally, I can't wait for the day when a basketball game is actually played in an hour, and I suspect the pvr is bringing that day closer.
posted by Mike McD at 12:56 PM on May 30, 2005
Its really a dumb idea anyway...i mean last time i checked i wasnt going to the supermarket to buy a product that was advertised on someone's *rear-end*...its stupid, i dont know what the studies say... but like daddisamm said its not like we arent already flooded by them anyway, their shoes, socks...ect...
posted by watiny21 at 11:38 AM on June 01, 2005
Mark Cuban is going full-bore for it. I honestly don't care.
posted by dusted at 12:28 PM on June 01, 2005
Watiny, I agree with you on a personal level but perhaps we aren't the targets. After all, Nascar's been doing this for years and one would think that the companies involved would understand after this much time the ROI.
posted by billsaysthis at 02:57 PM on June 01, 2005
Market tests show it takes the average consumer seven looks at a logo before they recognize it. Commercialism and probably capitalism itself are all about shoving a product or service down our throats at every turn so when it's time to buy, we have a head-full of companies rolling around. From there, most of us talk to a family member or friend about a given brand and then make our buying decisions. The shame of all this to me is that we're talking about sports and corporations in the same breath, but that happened a long time ago and it's not going to change. I'm surprised it's taken this long and I think Mike and gspm are both correct on why this coming about now. Anyone remember when a football game only took 2 hours to play?...well 2 hours to play 60 minutes. I don't think any of us like this crap but it is what it is. daddisamm, you're right about European soccer, Liverpool, etc., but it's really every "major" soccer league in the world, including MLS, although most MLS teams have logos on their shorts or shirt sleeves. Anyone see the split screen commercials during live play this year for MLS? Pure class. And while we're on the subject, I think the lack of advertising opportunities is the main reason soccer will never be very big here in the states. The reasoning behind this is tv guys are ultimately paid by the advertisers. If you have a sport that limits sponsorship slots because there are no timeouts and the only natural break in the game is 15 minutes at halftime, these same tv guys will slam the sport because it will never pay as well as an American sport. If it won't line his or her pocket, why promote it? That negativity flows through general public and before you know it the most popular game in the world "isn't a sport." Sorry for the diatribe. Anyway, I hate to see it but I don't think it will take baseball and football long to follow the NBA once this whoring of polyester begins.
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 04:58 PM on June 01, 2005
TliNY, good analysis. The alternative to ad revenue, generally, is direct pay (subscription, PPV) and I think if someone like Fox Soccer Channel could get enough of the rights, they could get say $4.95/month premium fee. I would pay it if they added Champions League, Spain, Italy, FA Cup (Portugal would be sweet, as would the corresponding national cups and more of the Copa Libertadores than they seem to show) to the EPL, MLS, Germany, France, Brazil, Eredivisie, Argentina they already have. Especially if it also meant they got rid of those incredibly annoying Relacore/crap weight loss pills adverts. Of course then I would never be able to work again either.
posted by billsaysthis at 09:10 PM on June 01, 2005
I know it's sacrilege, but I kinda like the the giant bag of ugly this opens up. There's something beautiful about how every square inch of a NASCAR uniform and car are sold off in pursuit of filthy lucre. I'd feel differently if NBA uniforms weren't already the ugliest of any major sport.