Ads on NFL uniforms: No longer a question of if, but when
The Philadelphia 76ers have announced that they’ll begin allowing StubHub ads on their uniforms starting in the 2017-18 season, the first of the United States’ “Big Four” sports to allow advertising on uniforms, and the only surprising aspect about that announcement is that it took this long. The Sixers have, at long last, led the way in something, kicking loose the first stones of an avalanche that will surely result in ads on NFL uniforms before too much longer.
Why? Because the NFL loves money, and it can make a whole lotta money off the most valuable real estate in sports.
There’s always been a strange cognitive dissonance about ads on uniforms. Professional sports leagues have operated for decades under the creative fiction that advertising on uniforms is some sort of infringement on aesthetic purity, a sentiment that’s as laughable as the idea that college athletes don’t deserve a share of the billions they generate. The truth, of course, is that every uniform already allows advertising in the form of the manufacturer’s logo. (You could argue that the uniforms themselves are advertisements for the NFL Shop, and vice versa, but that’s going down a symbologic rabbit hole we can leave closed for now.)
Consider a few facts: most major sports already allow advertising on their uniforms. Soccer teams around the world, including the United States, proudly sport the logos of their chief sponsors. NASCAR teams and drivers are so associated with their sponsors that fans often refuse to buy competitors’ brands. Golfers have sport the logos of high-end companies on their shirts and bags as well as their visors. Most notably for the purposes of this discussion, most teams already allow ads on practice jerseys, as you can see from these photos from the last couple days:
Plus, NFL Europe (RIP) allowed ads on uniforms, like you can see here with Kurt Warner:
Or here in a scrum:
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver estimated that ads on NBA uniforms could bring in $100 million a year. That’s money that other leagues are simply leaving on the table. Consider the fact that NFL uniforms have far more space available for ads–you could show IMAX movies on some guys’ shoulder pads–and the fact that regular-season NFL games outdraw the NBA Finals ratings-wise, and you’re looking at far too much cash for the NFL to turn away too much longer.
It comes down to a simple proposition: are you really going to stop watching the NFL because Tom Brady’s sporting a Dunkin’ Donuts patch on one shoulder? Of course not.
One key, of course, is matching the right sponsor with the right team. The NFL will have its say in advertiser selection, to avoid some Texas offramp strip club sponsoring the Cowboys or some Bay-area pawn shop hooking up with the Raiders. You’ll be looking at multi-year agreements; this won’t be like NASCAR, where advertisers can switch from week to week and certain unfortunate cars might run without ads at all. Dozens of companies are willing to spend millions for 30 seconds of Super Bowl ad time; you think there won’t be a line out the door to buy three hours’ worth?
So, yes, ads are coming to NFL uniforms. Maybe not next year, but soon, and for the rest of our viewing lives. At least we can take heart in the fact that we won’t be watching, say, the Citibank Giants play the Coca-Cola Falcons. Yet.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
