NBA Plans On-jersey Advertising
Soccer fans are already used to seeing ads on their favorite teams' jerseys, but now basketball fans can expect to see ads on NBA teams sometime in the near future. According to a report by the Sports Business Journal, if the NBA does start selling corporate advertising on uniforms, the networks that show nationally televised games such as ESPN and Turner will get spending guarantees related to the ads. This was part of the league's nine-year, $24 billion media deals.
If a national brand advertises on game jerseys, ESPN and Turner will also get commitments from that company to buy television advertising during the sponsored team's nationally televised games.
National brands advertising on a more popular team that gets more nationally-televised games means the networks will make more money than with a regional brand advertising on a small-market team with fewer nationally televised games.
The teams have the right to sell their jersey advertisement, which is estimated at around $800,000 for small-market teams to more than $10 million for more popular teams. The cost of sponsoring a uniform depends on the specific team's national exposure.
In addition to the discussion over regular season games, Turner plans to sell corporate advertisements for the NBA All-Star Game jerseys beginning in 2017—the first season of this newly inked media deal.
Plans are still unclear as to when and how ads will pop up in the regular season, but according to one network executive, that discussion will begin when a potential advertiser decides to sponsor a jersey.
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