May 17, 2016
Courtesy/Sixers
See, even the Founding Fathers are down with the StubHub logo on the Sixers jerseys.
For the last three years, the first issue Philadelphia 76ers fans encountered when deciding whether or not to purchase their favorite player's jersey was answering the of whether or not he'd still be on the team beyond the current season.
Soon, they'll have to also decide if they want a jersey that more or less serves as an advertisement for another, different corporate entity than the Sixers, whose name is already plastered in bold, block lettering across the front.
That's because, on Monday, the team that came in last place this season won the race to become the first major American professional sports franchise to sell ad space on its jerseys, announcing a three-year trial deal with second-market ticket retailer StubHub.
We're partnering with @Stubhub as our official jersey patch sponsor! #StubHubSixers
— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) May 16, 2016
[ 👕 » https://t.co/RQEXl0BPUj ] pic.twitter.com/95jofobxj8
"We definitely wanted to work with a partner that was endemic to the business, so it was kind of a natural fit," Sixers CEO Scott O'Neil said of the organization's decision to partner with StubHub. "It's someone who was already in the [NBA] space and part of the experience. Of course, you look for organizations that are really consistent and think the way we think -- very innovative, a disrupter, not afraid to try new things, challenge the status quo, competitive, like to be first -- all those characteristics that drive our organization ... so it was a really easy call."
The announcement came less than one month after the NBA's Board of Governors formally approved the idea of placing advertisements on the jersey starting in the 2017-18 season.
The idea of promoting sponsors on uniforms, however, is hardly a new one (see: MLS, NASCAR, WNBA). But it may be a somewhat foreign one when it comes to the more popular team sports.
Just look at what's being done overseas by European soccer teams, which includes some of the most valuable sports franchises in the world, as well as hockey and basketball teams, whose jerseys are littered with sponsorships.
"I've been to hockey games; I've been to basketball games; I've been to futbol matches over in Europe," O'Neil said. "All their jerseys are adorned with [corporate] logos and they've done OK building fan bases."
Because the revenue generated by these kinds of sponsorships is huge -- like, nine figures huge -- it was only a matter of time before they made their way across the Atlantic and into major American sports.
Between the new deals to place the Chevrolet logo on the front of the shirt and to have Adidas manufacture the kits, Manchester United's uniform alone is now worth more than $200 million per year. But United is just one team benefiting from the skyrocketing revenue being generated by kit sponsors.
This coming season, the total value of the logos on the front of the shirts of the 20 Premier League clubs will be $325.1 million according to SportingIntelligence.com. That is up 90.5% in just four years.
[businessinsider.com | July, 2014]
Part of the reason Premier League jersey ads cost so much has to do with the number of viewers tuning in to watch those teams play -- including an American audience. But it also has to do with the relative size of the sponsor's logo on the jersey.
Here's a look at the kit worn by ManU this season.
The ones approved by the NBA, however, will be much smaller than those -- and won't come close to taking over the Sixers logo's prime real estate on the center of the jersey -- but the league is still expecting them to generate close to $100 million annually.
Despite their relatively small size at about 2½-by-2½ inches, Sixers CEO Scott O'Neil understands that some fans will be outraged by advertisements appearing on the team's jerseys.
"I think there will be a fringe -- like with most things people are passionate about -- there will be a fringe element that will reject these," O'Neil admitted. "I'm sure a few people will take issue. At the end of the day, though, this is historic and groundbreaking and certainly first, but it's also been going on in Europe since the beginning of time. I think the Roman gladiators had a StubHub patch on their armor."
Like winter, however, non-team logos were already on their way and fans were helpless in trying to stop them from appearing on NBA jerseys in 2017.
When the current Adidas deal ends following the 2016-17 season, Nike will take over as the official NBA outfitter. And as part of their deal with the league, their extremely recognizable logo will appear on the upper right of the jersey, much like it already does on the sleeves of NFL jerseys. Currently, the Adidas logo only appears on replica jerseys, not the authentic jerseys worn by the players on the court.
The appearance of outside sponsors' logos being worn during games, however, is exclusive to the NBA, at least for now. Whether or not the other leagues -- specifically the NFL, NHL and MLB -- embrace this kind of advertising will largely depend on two things: revenue and reaction (and definitely in that order).
Considering that the color palette of the StubHub logo, set to appear opposite the Nike Swoosh, matches that of the Sixers, the end result is nowhere near as harsh on the eyes as, say, this...
And that's a good thing because all the jerseys sold at the Sixers official team store in the Wells Fargo Center -- and online -- will include the StubHub patch. Other retailers, however, will still be selling jerseys without the advertisement. At least for now.
"I think it's a huge advantage for teams in the fact that the only place you can get an 'authentic' jersey -- the one Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens [Noel] will be wearing -- is in our arena or in the team store online. That's fantastic," O'Neil added.
The Sixers CEO also said he's surprised that's going to be the policy, and thinks fans actually prefer the jerseys with the logo. If you find yourself laughing at that notion, it actually makes quite a bit of sense when you hear his reasoning behind that assertion.
"I have a focus group of three with my three daughters, and I've done some very extensive research," he said with a laugh. "And I don't think they'd bat an eye; they want to wear what the players have. I think that's where most kids look and I think most people wearing jerseys are kids."
It's true. Kids want to wear what their favorite players are wearing. And the closer it is to an exact match, the happier they are.
By the time the logos arrive, however, those kids may have a new favorite Sixers players. Depending on how some ping pong balls fall on Tuesday night, the team could have as many as four first-round picks in next month's draft, including the first-overall pick.
"Well, I figure since we were first today [with the jersey announcement], how about we're first again tomorrow?" O'Neil said of the Sixers' chances in the NBA Draft lottery. "I'm ready. It's been three long years of waiting, waiting, waiting and now we get to go. ... We're really well-positioned to move from 'Process' to progress and I'm excited about it."
And if you're a real Sixers fan, it's that with which you should be concerned, and not a slight tweak in their outfit.
The uniforms the Sixers currently wear is different from what they wore 10 years ago and will no doubt change again in the next 10 years.
You don't root for the jersey. You don't cheer for the logo. It's about what those things represent, and the players who wear them.
So when the Sixers win just 10 games, a small logo on the jersey is not what's keeping you from supporting the team. It probably has much more to do with the 72 losses.
This would just be a convenient excuse.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @matt_mullin
