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July 20, 2012
The Yormark-ization of the NBA: ads on uniforms likely coming in a year (Barclays, anyone?)
Atlantic Yards Report
We haven't read the article yet, but we have this creeping feeling that "Yormark-ization" is not a good thing.
Paul Lukas reports on UniWatch the the NBA likely will permit jersey ads beginning in 2013-14, measuring at least two inches square, though there must be an e-mail vote in September.
While uniform ads would not be required, deputy commissioner Adam Silver says, “My sense is that every team would do this in some form.” (Would Barclays, after buying arena naming rights, want a piece of the uniform--(and further criticism?)
...What's wrong with it? Lukas writes:
I’ve never once said I’m opposed to advertising; I’m just opposed to advertising where it doesn’t belong. This content you’re reading here is available for free. To help offset my costs, I sell advertising, which is what media enterprises have been doing to offset their costs for centuries. But NBA teams already have lots of revenue streams — ticket sales, TV rights, merchandising, concessions, arena naming rights, and so on. Do they really need the revenue from uniform ads, or are they just greedy? (Yes, that question is rhetorical.)
Does Mikhail Prokhorov need the money?
Yormark in the lead
When this issue emerged earlier this year, Sporting News reported 3/5/12:
“Obviously, it’s a league decision, but as someone who spent seven years at NASCAR, I know the value of putting a brand on the playing field and the uniform, so it is certainly something I would support,” said New Jersey Nets CEO Brett Yormark. “You can monetize this in ways you can’t monetize any other kind of marketing inventory. And, of course, we’re in the No. 1 market in the country, so ...”
Related coverage...
Uni Watch, Hopefully I Won't Be Writing About Uniforms Anymore by Then Anyway, but Still...
This is a genuine red-alert crisis, people — even if you don’t care about the NBA (I don’t much care about it myself), this move would open the door for uniform advertising in the other Big Four leagues. The threat is real, and the time to respond to it is now: Tweet to @nba with the hashtag #NoUniAds, send an e-mail to the league, call the league office (they’re in the book: 212-407-8000). Do all of those things, and tell them in no uncertain terms, “NO UNIFORM ADS!” And if the ads will make you less likely to buy a retail jersey, be sure to tell them that too.
Remember, folks, all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Your uni-verse needs you. You know what to do.
Posted by eric at July 20, 2012 11:25 AM