Dive Brief:
- Now that the NBA allows advertisements on player jerseys, fans are going to begin seeing more brand logos on the court. And StubHub has become the first brand to ink a deal to advertise on NBA jerseys with the Philadelphia 76ers.
- The ticket-selling website will have a 2.5 by 2.5 inch logo on 76ers player jerseys next season.
- Digiday reported the deal is for three years at $5 million per basketball season.
Dive Insight:
Unlike other professional sports around the world, the big three in the U.S. – football, basketball and baseball – aside from manufacturers' logos are relatively advertisement-free on uniforms. That is, until the NBA broke ranks with its decision last month that offers its franchises a new revenue stream and a new way for marketers to reach a valued audience. Given that live sports is one the last appointment viewing things that happen on TV, having your brand's logo flying across the court with the players is an investment that could prove lucrative.
“Our partnership with StubHub continues to generate progressive and forward-thinking platforms created to improve the fan experience and advance our industry,” Philadelphia 76ers CEO Scott O’Neil said in a statement. “The essence of our relationship with StubHub is our shared culture and ambition to innovate, which drives us to reimagine traditional partnership activation and continually ask, ‘what if?’”
It’s speculated that the other major sports leagues will be closely watching how fans react to brands on NBA jerseys because of the potentially massive, and somewhat unknown, revenue streams.