When the Westchester Knicks take the court next week for a preseason matchup against the Delaware 87ers that kicks off their inaugural campaign as the New York Knicks’ D-League affiliate, they’ll do so wearing uniforms that prominently display the name and logo of Chase Bank, offering another glimpse into what advertisements on jerseys could look like at the NBA level in the future.
The team announced its marketing partnership with the bank via Facebook on Friday morning.
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“As part of the relationship, Chase will receive prominent logo placement on the Westchester Knicks jersey,” the team wrote in a statement. “The Chase logo will appear on both the home and road jerseys.”
Here’s what it’ll look like in Westchester’s home whites, as modeled by Greek swingman Thanasis Antetokounmpo:
And here’s what the whole slogan-bearing squad looks like:
For the purposes of captioning, from left: Antetokounmpo, former Marquette guard (and brother of O.J. Mayo) Todd Mayo, former St. Joseph’s guard Langston Galloway, former Utah State guard Kris Clark and former St. John’s big man Orlando Sanchez.
The partnership also gets the Chase logo on the D-League Knicks’ home court:
… albeit in a slightly less logo-heavy way than the multi-brand home deck that the Texas Legends, the Dallas Mavericks’ D-League affiliate, will be playing on:
The Legends will also have a below-the-numbers ad this season, though their partner is something a little bit different from a financial institution — a separate state in another country:
The NBA Development League’s Texas Legends and the state of Chihuahua, Mexico have announced a historic partnership that will change the name of the Legends home court to Chihuahua Court, will include significant branding on the team’s jerseys and will relocate the Legends training camp in Chihuahua.
The state of Chihuahua will be the presenting partner of the Legends. The team will play on “Chihuahua Court at Dr Pepper Arena” and the logo “Chihuahua Vive” will be displayed prominently at center court. Additionally, Chihuahua will receive significant visibility both in-arena and through the Legends media with prominent signage. Chihuahua also becomes the first state in Mexico to host a NBA D-League team’s training camp as the Legends will visit Chihuahua from November 7 through November 10 as they prepare for the upcoming season.
Legends head coach and part-owner Eduardo Najera was born in the state of Chihuahua, which ties a nice little bow on this particular partnership. It’s just a little bit of a shame that Chris Douglas-Roberts is back on the big-league level with the Los Angeles Clippers these days; that hair would really make the “¡Ah Chihuahua!” logo pop, I think.
Jersey advertisements are nothing new in the D-League, which has been experimenting with on-uniform branding in some form or fashion since 2010. But each new revelation of marketing partnerships featuring baked-in jersey ads seems to bring us closer to the day when minor-league experimentation gets brought to the big-league level, a move that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has called “inevitable” and for which the NBA and its broadcast partners are preparing, even if it’s not imminent.
While the proposed designs for NBA jersey advertisements have reportedly featured 2-1/2-inch by 2-1/2-inch patches that would appear on the chest of uniforms like the new ones introduced this offseason by the Charlotte Hornets, the Knicks’ and Legends’ unis have the logos of the D-League and apparel-maker Adidas in those spots, with the partner’s logo down beneath the team name and numbers. Silver said in September 2013 that the NBA is “nowhere near the point where we’d eliminate team names” from jerseys, as the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx did when agreeing to display “MAYO CLINIC” on their players’ chests; this sure seems like a way for all parties to bridge the gap.
I’m not really a fan of jersey ads, but it sure seems like this ship has sailed; at this point, I suppose, all we can ask is that the logos are at least integrated well. To my eye, the Knicks’ jersey does a better job of that than the Legends’, but then, I’m far from a uniform-aesthetics expert or zealot; I’m sure someone with a sharper fashion sense and eye for design might have a different opinion. At the very least, I guess we can be grateful that they’re not drab grey short-sleeved jobs that make you look like you’re wearing a backpack. Thank heaven for small mercies, and all that.
Hat-tip to Chris Reichert of Ridiculous Upside.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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