We’ve been aware that the NBA would start putting advertisements on jerseys for a while now. But, until today, we could only imagine what they would look like. Three teams—the Boston Celtics, Sacramento Kings and Philadelphia 76ers—unveiled their jerseys for the 2017-18 season, which include branded patches for sponsors GE, Blue Diamond Almonds and Stubhub, respectively.
First three NBA teams to put corporate logos on jerseys, beginning next season pic.twitter.com/GgDRxTkJOo
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 25, 2017
According to High Snobiety, GE paid the Celtics more than $7 million per year for the sponsorship. Wyc Grousbeck, CEO, governor and co-owner of the Celtics, told Boston Magazine’s Kyle Scott Clauss that six other owners asked him how much GE paid for it.
https://twitter.com/KyleClauss/status/824290503369912323
Stubhub reportedly paid the Sixers $5 million per year for the 2.5×2.5″ patch.
We still don’t know whether or not every team will all start adorning patches at once, or whether it will be up to each individual franchise. If Grousbeck’s claim is true, then it looks like others are at least interested in earning that extra cash.
For now, the patches are fairly small, and don’t really take away from the overall design. We’re also curious to see when the NHL follows suit.
