It is perhaps the last clean piece of real estate on the sports landscap.the jerseys of the four professional teams in North America. A practice which is well accepted globally, brand advertising on the front of jerseys, still is off limits in the States with the NHL, NFL, MLB and the NBA as well as in the college ranks. Even minor league baseball and hockey have stayed away from jersey branding to date. Yet with Liverpoo.s record announcement of jersey branding this week, following Manchester Unite.s deal with AON earlier this year, can the pro leagues here hold off much longe. The test marketing has been there no.MLS has integrated jersey sponsorship into their branding campaigns effectively, the WNBA has taken on the issue with success, the upcoming UFL season will have helmet sponsorship, and now the NFL with practice jersey signage (the value Spongetech received for being on the front of the Bengals jersey for the HBO series.Hard Knock. in the preseason was a good testament to tasteful and effective) and the NBA (with the Nets being first in the signage pool) has followed suit. With so many teams now effectively using alternative jerseys, throwback jerseys, commemorative patches, and other new licensed product, can jersey signage be far away in the State. One thing the leagues have done, even in these challenged times, is still build a demand for that space by not letting be sold to the first bidder. The leagues are also best at protecting marks and doing the long term planning for their on-field and on-court look, so any decision will be carefully placed and effectively marketed and messaged to the consumer. Perhaps the first move will come as part of a media package when the next major TV and digital rights deal is negotiated by one of the four leagues. Perhaps it will be a mega brand which will try a buy-in all at once for an entire league, hence keeping the uniformity (no pun intended). Maybe it will be the start of a patch program which has been done effectively in tennis and golf for years. One thing is for certain, when teams look at the amount of money Liverpool pulled in for their sponsorship, the discussion has had to have been rekindled again. As brands cut back in hospitality, they need to find creative ways to support their programs through effective exposure, and at some point the virgin jersey space will become the next big option.
Some other good reads…Bloomberg has a very good piece on the reasons why the Premier League will not let Liverpool default on payments...espn.com had a good piece on the mystery of Spongetech's brand plan…the Pasadena Star News had a story on the death of the Blockbuster video chain…and newjerseynewsroom.com had a profile of MAXX Sports head Mark Lepselter.
