NHL Says Uniform Advertising Is Coming
European sports fans are used to it, the NBA has talked about it, and now the National Hockey League (NHL) may be the next major sports league to adopt advertising on uniforms.
According to an article by CTV, John Collins, the NHL's chief operating officer, said that uniform sponsorship is "coming and happening." He did not say when this would happen, though.
Like the NBA, the NHL hopes that selling advertising on uniforms will increase ad revenue. Other leagues have seen success in this department. English Premier League team Manchester United made a $560 million, seven-year deal with Chevrolet for uniform sponsorship this summer.
The NHL has said before that it wants another major sports league, like the NBA, to use uniform sponsorships before it adopts the practice, but now the NHL seems to be moving closer to it.
Collins told Sports Business Daily last week that jersey branding by manufacturing companies is already a form of jersey sponsorship. NHL team logos can be found on a wide variety of items, such as drinkware, baby clothes, adult pajamas and more. Collins also stated that the league is testing digital replacement technology for advertising on the boards of the rink.
Some fans have voiced their opinion on the matter. Some say that using advertising will tarnish the historic uniforms; others see it as an inevitability. With the NFL already using uniform advertising on practice jerseys, and the NBA openly discussing the use of advertising in the near future, it looks as though uniform sponsorship could become more prevalent.
Related story: NHL Wants Another Pro League to Test Game Jersey Advertising First
Brendan Menapace is the content director for Promo+Promo Marketing.